{"id":3882,"date":"2024-03-27T20:01:41","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T20:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medschool.prd.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/?p=3882"},"modified":"2024-03-27T20:01:41","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T20:01:41","slug":"good-vibrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/good-vibrations\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Vibrations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Illustration by Diana Duren<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For decades, Music Row and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, two Nashville institutions a short distance from one another, existed separately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t a wall between them, but there weren\u2019t strong bridges either,\u201d said Roland \u201cRon\u201d Eavey, MD, SM, emeritus faculty member, former chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and former director of the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center.<\/p>\n

Eavey\u2019s predecessor, Robert Ossoff, DMD, MD, professor emeritus of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and founder of the Department of Otolaryngology, made the connection between medicine and Music Row. Instead of treating patients in a one-off capacity, he created the Vanderbilt Voice Center in 1991 to focus on professional musicians and \u201cpreachers, teachers, lawyers\u201d and anyone else with vocal issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of waiting until someone\u2019s voice broke down and acting like a repair shop \u2014 just bring the car in the garage and we\u2019ll fix it up \u2014 Dr. Ossoff knew that if we had a relationship with the [record] labels and the young talent, we could inform them how to best protect their voices so they didn\u2019t have to break down and come into the garage,\u201d Eavey said. \u201cThe Voice Center was created to keep Nashville singing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like a mini-Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the walls of the Voice Center are lined with gold records of Music Row luminaries who are grateful for the care they\u2019ve received, either before they had a vocal issue or afterward.<\/p>\n

In 2009 Eavey took over where Ossoff left off and built another bridge between Vanderbilt and Music City, as Nashville is affectionately known. Together with Reyna Gordon, PhD, they established the Vanderbilt Music Cognition lab, a research hub located right on Music Row that connects neuroscience, psychology, genetics, education, audiology, speech-language pathology, engineering, music and medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, well, people use their ears, noses and throats to communicate. Then I thought about it more deeply: If one person says \u2018I love you\u2019 to the other, they can create new humans. And if one person says \u2018I hate you\u2019 to the other, they can kill each other, and we remove humans from the planet,\u201d Eavey said. \u201cAnd this is a big jump, but in a way, the ear, nose and throat (ENT) structures we take care of are responsible for world peace. I wanted to study behavior changes in humans within the ENT purview, so I picked music. Where better to do this? We\u2019re in Music City, and we\u2019re Vanderbilt. It was too good to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stories on the pages that follow \u2014 medical students, residents and researchers who use music to heal and entertain on<\/p>\n

and off campus \u2014 are examples of how music and medicine exist in harmony<\/p>\n

within Vanderbilt and out in the Music City community.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic isn\u2019t just background wallpaper. There\u2019s also a medicinal and emotional characteristic to it, and a chemical bonding that seems to exist between music and medicine and Vanderbilt,\u201d Eavey said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Take Note <\/strong><\/h6>\n

VUSM alum in tune with Nashville Symphony Chorus<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
AJ Sermarini, MD\u201923, sings with the Nashville Symphony Chorus. Photo by Anne Rayner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though he sang in school and competitive choirs throughout middle and high school, and at Princeton University with the Glee Club, Chapel Choir and a traveling a cappella group, it took AJ Sermarini awhile to get back into music after he moved to Nashville to attend Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to settle into the groove of lectures, anatomy lab and drinking from the proverbial fire hose as M1s do,\u201d the tenor said.<\/p>\n

Just when he felt ready to explore options in his new city, the COVID-19 pandemic pressed pause on all live music. Once the vaccine came out and masked music became an option again, a friend forwarded him an email about auditions for the Nashville Symphony Chorus (NSC).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an immediate yes,\u201d said Sermarini, who also sang in the medical school band Funk Bolus. \u201cAfter more than two years of singing in the shower, I might finally get to sing in a group again \u2014 and for an audience other than my shampoo bottles,\u201d he thought at the time.<\/p>\n

With the NSC, Sermarini has live\u00a0 recorded two pieces, sung with world-renowned soloists and worked alongside the Nashville Children\u2019s Chorus at the live Home Alone screening during the holidays. Since graduating from VUSM in 2023, he continues to sing with them as much as possible, though his schedule is less predictable now that he\u2019s an anesthesiology intern.<\/p>\n

\u201cSinging with the Nashville Symphony Chorus throughout medical school and the beginning of residency has offered me a mental break from my studies and the stress of long, difficult days in the hospital,\u201d said Sermarini, who\u2019s from Boyertown, Pennsylvania. \u201cFor a few hours of rehearsal every week, I stop thinking about medicine and focus on the music. Almost nothing outside of the hospital allows me to fully disconnect in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though being a medical intern and singing require different skill sets, Sermarini sees some similarities: Both are team efforts that require him to listen to others and himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cTelling my vocal cords that the next note is a major fourth above the note I\u2019m currently singing is really different than adjusting my needle on an ultrasound image when I\u2019m performing a nerve block, but both require me to constantly listen to my surroundings and listen to myself,\u201d he said. \u201cChoir, and intern year, have been all about staying vigilant but also checking in on myself and taking note of areas I need to improve in. How did that movement in Handel\u2019s \u2018Messiah\u2019 go for me? Was I rushing? Was I blending well with the altos? At work the next day, I ask myself, \u2018How did that central line go? Was my ultrasound visualization good? Am I comfortable with the steps of the procedure?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Sermarini said singing has allowed him to connect with others in a way nothing else can.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is something so special about studying a piece of music on your own, learning your notes and rhythms, and coming together in a room of dozens of other people to make beautiful harmonies and something more beautiful than any of us could make individually,\u201d he said. \u00a0 \u00a0\u2013 Danny Bonvissuto<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A symphony 20 years in the making<\/strong><\/h6>\n
\"\"
Jim Gore, MD. Photo by Donn Jones.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rheumatologist Jim Gore, MD, sat near the stage at McAfee Concert Hall at Belmont University in May 2023 listening to the Tennessee Youth Symphony playing the wistful second movement of the \u201cKentucky 1862\u201d symphony that pays homage to the rolling hills of Kentucky during the Civil War.<\/p>\n

When the talented high school musicians completed the \u201cRed Morn on Rolling Hills\u201d movement, the audience enthusiastically applauded, the musicians rose to their feet, and the conductor, Anna Maria Miller, turned and gestured to Gore to stand.<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago, Gore, who has had very little formal musical training, came up with the melody for the symphony. With the help of Blair School of Music Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs Michael Slayton, DMA, the music in his head became a reality in 2020.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, Gore took online college-level music theory classes, and the instructor had other classes that he posted online \u2014 one of which was \u201cwrite your own symphony, and I thought why not,\u201d he said. Slowly a melody he had come up with 20 years earlier began to expand in his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second movement had kind of softer pastoral sounds that made me think of the rolling hills in central Kentucky. I thought it would sound really nice if a flute started off playing the melody, then the orchestra came in behind it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In 2019 he asked a friend who worked at Blair School of Music if she knew anyone who could teach him music composition. The friend put him in touch with Slayton, chairman of music composition at Blair. Gore told him he wanted to write a four-movement symphony in 19th century style. Slayton agreed to work with him in January 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, I need to be prepared as this was my one chance to do this,\u201d Gore said.<\/p>\n

Slayton said he loved working with Gore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI normally wouldn\u2019t take something on like that because I\u2019m simply too busy. But when I saw the sheer amount of material Jim already had (in piano format, if I remember correctly), I was intrigued,\u201d he said. \u201cHere is a rheumatologist who has somehow found the time\/energy to write almost 30 minutes of music. That spoke volumes on the front end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRed Morn on Rolling Hills\u201d was a Global Music Awards finalist in January 2022. Soon after his composition received the award, Gore mentioned it to Miller, the conductor of the Tennessee Youth Symphony.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said she thought it would be a great opportunity for the kids to play something where they could actually meet the composer,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to put notes into music composition software, but it\u2019s another experience to see and hear performers bringing these ideas to life and the crowd enjoying it. It was surreal to hear a piece I put so much work into played by these teenagers who are really amazing musicians. I\u2019m incredibly grateful.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Nancy Humphrey<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Field Work<\/strong><\/h6>\n

It\u2019s a familiar story: A musician comes to Nashville with considerable talent but no vocal training, and after a couple of years working the honky-tonks, his voice is shot. The goal of the Vanderbilt Voice Center is to reach musicians early, before they unknowingly do the kind of damage that requires surgery, but most musicians don\u2019t slow down long enough for preventive care. K. Chuck Fletcher, MD, fellowship co-director of Laryngology and Care of the Professional Voice, understands the \u201cshow must go on\u201d mentality, so instead of waiting for the show to come to him, he went to the show.<\/p>\n

In September 2023, Fletcher set up a version of the Vanderbilt Voice Center in the backstage villages of the two-day, outdoor Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee, in collaboration with Kevin Griffin, festival co-founder and Better Than Ezra front man. Accompanying Fletcher was a team that included a Voice Center physician colleague, speech pathologists and physical therapists from the Vanderbilt Dayani Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the problems the musicians we treat have aren\u2019t to the point that they need medicine or surgery, but rather they need a lot of direction and maybe rehab, physical or voice therapy. That tends to be the crux of our focus,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cIf your throat is sore from singing, it\u2019s probably your neck muscles, not your vocal cords. We were able to convey that to performing musicians between sets and provide techniques, strategies and hands-on physical therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fletcher is already brainstorming ideas for Pilgrimage 2024, and hopes to use portable, disposable equipment to perform on-site endoscopies.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only could we educate musicians, but we can look at them if they have a problem,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce they see what we can do, musicians who\u2019ve never been looked at are curious and want to learn more about their voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musicians weren\u2019t the only ones who learned something at Pilgrimage: After a few conversations, Fletcher realized that being backstage, and not in a clinical setting, made musicians feel safer asking questions about topics like marijuana and how it affects the voice. Being there also gave Fletcher significant insight into a day in the life of a professional musician. \u2013 Danny Bonvissuto<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Move to the Beat<\/strong><\/h6>\n

Musical rhythms shown to improve language processing in children with developmental language disorder<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo by Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Musical rhythms can help children with speech and language processing difficulties find their voices by improving their capacity to repeat sentences they just heard, according to an npj: Science of Learning study.<\/p>\n

The study was conducted at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center in France with 15 French-speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and 18 typically developing French-speaking children without language processing difficulties between the ages of 5 and 13 years.<\/p>\n

The children listened to music with regular and irregular rhythms for 30 seconds before being asked to repeat back sets of six sentences as accurately as they could.<\/p>\n

Study authors, led by a Western Sydney University researcher and co-authored by Vanderbilt University Medical Center, found that the children \u2014 including those with language problems \u2014 were better at repeating the sentences out loud after they heard the regular musical rhythms, as compared to irregular musical rhythms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe study results are an exciting breakthrough that has shed new light on neurodevelopmental disorders, specifically for the advancement of DLD research and speech therapy practice,\u201d said co-author Eniko Lad\u00e1nyi, PhD, adjunct assistant professor of Otolaryngology in the Vanderbilt Music Cognition Lab.<\/p>\n

\u201cLimitations in language processing in children with DLD can result in a struggle to understand their peers, teachers and parents. This can make it difficult to efficiently express their thoughts, which can lead to lifelong consequences in their academic and social lives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Co-author and Vanderbilt Music Cognition Lab director Reyna Gordon, PhD, said effective speech-language therapy is essential to improving developmental outcomes for children.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur findings lay the groundwork for future clinical trials that could test a potential benefit of integrating rhythmic listening into traditional language therapy exercises,\u201d Gordon said.<\/p>\n

Researchers used regular rhythms that were at 120 beats per minute in 4\/4 time, so the listener would feel the beat two times per second. Irregular rhythms were created by scrambling the regular rhythms so that it was not possible to extract a beat.<\/p>\n

Study authors said that there was no difference in performance on a control task that did not involve language, suggesting that the benefit of the regular musical rhythm was specific to the language task itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis finding that regular rhythms can boost sentence repetition is striking, considering that children with developmental language disorder have particular difficulty in repeating sentences out loud, especially when they are grammatically complex,\u201d said co-lead author Anna Fiveash, PhD, a cognitive psychologist from Western Sydney University\u2019s MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development. \u2013 Craig Boerner<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vanderbilt Music Cognition Lab in National Spotlight<\/strong><\/h6>\n

A decade ago, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) support for music-related biomedical research was sparse. That changed for the better in 2017, when the NIH, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts formed a partnership called Sound Health and held a workshop to assess the state of research on how music impacts health and the brain.<\/p>\n

Numerous new funding opportunities and awards followed, including a $2.9 million research grant award to Miriam Lense, PhD, co-director of the Vanderbilt Music Cognition Lab. Lense was an invited speaker at \u201cMusic as Medicine: The Science and Clinical Practice,\u201d a prestigious two-day NIH Sound Health workshop held in December 2023. Lense\u2019s presentation on the first day of the workshop highlighted exciting new findings from VUMC about how music and social development are intertwined in early childhood in typical development and in children on the autism spectrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a foundational component of early social experiences, music engagement provides a powerful medium for investigating social communication development and for designing meaningful and accessible interventions to support children and families,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lense\u2019s talk was part of a broader program summarizing key advances in scientific research on music and health over the past six years and establishing plans for the future. Lense\u2019s grant and another new grant into musicality, hearing and genetics led by Srishti Nayak, PhD, research instructor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, were highlighted in invited remarks by the directors of the National Institute of Mental Health and National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, respectively.<\/p>\n

The second day featured sessions on future research, networks and integrating music-based interventions into clinical practice. Reyna Gordon, PhD, co-director of the Vanderbilt Music Cognition Lab, gave an invited talk about recent discoveries encompassing genomic influences on rhythm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work that we are doing now at VUMC, and with our international Musicality Genomics Consortium, has opened up a new door to precision health,\u201d Gordon said.\u00a0 \u2013 Danny Bonvissuto<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Music\u2019s Healing Power<\/strong><\/h6>\n
\"\"
Music therapist Tori Langham, MT-BC, works with patient Kevin Keach in the adult Myelosuppression Unit. Photo by Susan Urmy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vanderbilt\u2019s music therapy program focuses on the use of music to help with chronic pain, physical rehabilitation, psychiatric symptoms, end of life, procedural support and coping with hospitalization and disease.<\/p>\n

Successfully applied to pediatric patients at Monroe Carell Jr. Children\u2019s Hospital at Vanderbilt, the program recently expanded to include adult patients at Vanderbilt University Hospital.<\/p>\n

The expansion is music to music therapist Tori Langham\u2019s ears. Langham works with the adult patient population on the Palliative Care, Myelosuppression and Oncology units.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to improve the patient\u2019s experience,\u201d said Langham. \u201cIt\u2019s been remarkable the impact our program is having. We are not just helping our patients, but staff as well. We all need support and to know what we are doing matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Langham\u2019s work often involves the management of anxiety, pain and relaxation using her music therapy interventions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually witnessed a patient using music therapy for a week and coming off of anxiety medications,\u201d said Langham. \u201cWe were able to wean her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music therapists use evidence-based research protocols to enhance clinical goals through music that is personalized to a patient\u2019s clinical needs and goals. Sessions range between 15 minutes to two hours.<\/p>\n

Music is a powerful force for healing, said Andy Wooldridge, MD, assistant professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.<\/p>\n

Wooldridge advocates for music therapy through his role as program director of Arts and Humanities in Healthcare for the Department of Medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur overall vision is to enhance well-being on all levels at VUMC through the arts and humanities, and improving the patient experience with music therapy is a cornerstone of this broad initiative,\u201d said Wooldridge. \u2013 Jessica Pasley<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leading with his love of music<\/strong><\/h6>\n
\"\"
Bruce Ayers. Submitted photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bruce Ayers\u2019 musical journey began at age 4 with an old upright piano that sat in his grandparents\u2019 home in Dover, Delaware, where he grew up. For someone on his way to becoming a composer and conductor, being drawn to piano at age 4 sounds about right.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Ayers, a patient services specialist in the Neurology Clinic, conceived and founded the 70-member Nashville African American Wind Symphony, or NAAWS. Two years later Ayers took his bow at the conclusion of the first NAAWS concert, a Juneteenth 2021 performance at Belmont University in Nashville.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire audience of about 450 people were on their feet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The program included a piece Ayers had written for the band, \u201cJourney,\u201d depicting stations of his musical and personal development.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my song, performed with the symphony that I had created \u2014 it makes me emotional talking about it right now. I don\u2019t take it lightly that I\u2019ve been blessed with a vision that has allowed me to play a part in changing people\u2019s lives through my music.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a slate of concerts, and with Ayers as conductor, musical director and CEO, the band has garnered support from arts funders in Nashville and beyond. Ayers has been recognized by the Nashville Business Journal as among the city\u2019s younger movers and shakers, appearing on their list of \u201c40 Under 40\u201d for 2024.<\/p>\n

Ayers, 34, who joined Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2020, also teaches music at Tennessee State University while completing a doctorate in organizational leadership at Trevecca Nazarene University. He already has a master\u2019s in curriculum and instruction with a concentration in music from TSU.<\/p>\n

By the time he finished his master\u2019s program, Ayers had become sensitive to the issue of underrepresentation of Black people in classical music. Through college and grad school, he had taken part in classical music ensembles outside of school \u2014 symphonies, orchestras and recording sessions \u2014 where he happened to be the only Black person, or one of only a few.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I wanted to make a difference. That\u2019s kind of how this organization got started,\u201d he said. \u2013 Paul Govern<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For decades, Music Row and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, two Nashville institutions a short distance from one another, existed separately. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t a wall between them, but there weren\u2019t strong bridges either,\u201d said Roland \u201cRon\u201d Eavey, MD, SM, emeritus faculty member, former chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and former director of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":328,"featured_media":3930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14,15,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vm-features","category-vm-homepage-highlights","category-vm-spring-2024"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/t2-main\/medschool-prd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2024\/03\/feature3.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcDnub-10C","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3882"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3937,"href":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882\/revisions\/3937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medschool.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbilt-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}