Researchers may have just found another way to treat epilepsy — through music.
Studies show that patients with epilepsy have different brainwaves compared with non-epileptics. They tend to synchronize with music, and that can help prevent seizures.
About 80 percent of epilepsy seizure came from the same region of the brain where music is being processed, the auditory cortex at the temporal lobe. Considering this fact, the idea of the research came to Dr. Christine Charyton of Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, according to the Engadget.
"My Favorite Things" by John Coltrane, Mozart's Sonato in D minor and Adante Movement II, were the songs Dr. Charyton's team used during the experiment, Gizmodo reported. There were two scenarios and two subjects.
21 epileptic patients admitted at the Wexner Medica Center between 2012 and May 2014 were monitored, along with individuals who didn't have epilepsy, as per Medical News Today. The brainwave patterns of the subjects were studied through an electroencephalogram of EEG.
All participants were tasked to listen to 10 minutes of silence, before listening to one of the songs, then followed by another silence for 10 minutes. They listened to the remaining two songs, before again listening to another 10 minutes of silence.
The results? Brainwave activities of both participants were heightened while they listened to music, but it was expected though.
The thing is, in epileptic patients, their brainwaves synchronized with the music, especially if the epilepsy is originating from the temporal lobe.
"We knew that musicians synchronize more with music but we were not sure how persons with epilepsy would respond," Dr. Charyton told the Medical News Today.
"Persons with epilepsy synchronize before a seizure. However, in our study, patients with epilepsy synchronized to the music without having a seizure" she added.
Based on the results of the study, researchers suggest that if music is combined with the existing treatments, it could be a "novel intervention" that may help prevent seizures in epileptic patients.
Stress causes seizures. However, subjects of the study said they felt relaxed while listening to the music.
This study was already the first step to see how music can impact the brain. The team said that they would continue to do more research to point out exactly at which music may stimulate that synchronization to prevent seizures in epilepsy.
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