Re: To Mr Bellinger re: Building Homes with Healthy Soundscapes

----- Original Message ----
From: Lesley Groff <lesley@nysgllc.com>
To: J. Epstein <jeeproject@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:36:32 AM
Subject: FW: To Mr Bellinger re: Building Homes with Healthy Soundscapes

-----Original Message-----
From:   Steve Bellinger [mailto:stevebe@earthlink.net]
Sent:   Mon 3/19/2007 8:48 PM
To:     Tramo, Mark Jude
Cc:    
Subject:        Background Music

Your work fascinates me.

Are there any studies which show that life in more pleasant/healthy 
if your are constantly exposed to background music?

We are setting up a group of homes and are wondering how to add sound.

Your input would help immeasurably.

Thanks,
Steve Bellinger
****************************
3/20/07

Dear Mr Bellinger,

Thank you for your email and for your kind words. What type of homes are you building?

Yes, there is limited evidence, collected from specific clinical settings (hospital, nursing home, and patient home), that background music and other types pf controlled sound stimulation can be beneficial with respect to behavioral and physiologiolgical endpoints; however, "constant" stimulation, to my knowledge, has not been tried and, a priori, is more likely to be harmful than beneficial (which is probably why there are no, or limited, data).  The question of how to administer and control sound is a vexing one, especially since proper administration seems so likely to work when done properly.

Some of my colleagues at The Institute for Music & Brain Science, especially Drs Krause and Hanser, would be interested to know about your efforts and, possibly, helping/collecting data for your and others' future projects.  This is the type of prospective work, unlike studies in existing, small settings, that could have a tremendous impact on thousands of well and ill individuals in decades to come.

You might find a visit to www.BrainMusic.org of interest.  All of us on our Institute's Board look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,
Mark Jude Tramo, MD, PhD
Director, The Institute for Music & Brain Science
Dept of Neurology, Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts General Hospital
Steering Committee, Harvard University Mind/Brain/Behavior Interfaculty Initiative
Research Affiliate, M.I.T. Dept of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Advisory Board, National Center for Human Performance
Best Doctors in America®/ America’s Top Physicians®/Best of Boston®
Songwriter Member, ASCAP

Mailing Address:  175 Cambridge St, Suite 340, Boston, MA 02114 USA
Email  MTramo@HMS.Harvard.edu
URL  http://www.BrainMusic.org
Fax 781-990-1397

Cc:
Dr Krause
Dr Hanser
iMABS Board

END