title: Biomusic: a novel technology for revealing the personhood of people with profound multiple disabilities.
abstract: It is often difficult for family members and caregivers to interact with persons with profound multiple disabilities (PMD) because of the severely compromised communicative repertoire of this population. The resulting communication challenges may limit the ability of others to perceive personhood in individuals with PMD. This preliminary study investigated the effects of music generated in real time from physiological signals (biomusic) on caregiver perceptions of their interactions with persons with PMD. Caregivers (n = 10; parents and clinical staff) engaged in four, 10-min interactions with a person with PMD (n = 3; diagnoses = traumatic brain injury, pervasive developmental disorder, hypoxic brain injury), whose biomusic was projected throughout. Caregivers participated in two open-ended, semi-structured interviews to explore the effect of biomusic on these interactions. Most caregiver responses to biomusic were very positive, and many reported that biomusic caused an improvement in their interaction with and perceptions of the person with PMD. By providing audible evidence of the changing physiological state of persons with PMD, biomusic may enhance the perceived personhood of these individuals and enrich interactions with their family members and caregivers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, USA. stefanieb.moraes@gmail.com
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blain-Moraes
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chesser
authors.forename: Shauna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kingsnorth
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McKeever
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Biddiss
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology / Q000379:methods*; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology*; D009147:Music Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D028723:Personhood; D055815:Young Adult