title: Music therapy as a non-pharmacological treatment for epilepsy.
abstract: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases. Currently, the primary methods of treatment include pharmacological and surgical treatment. However, approximately one-third of patients exhibit refractory epilepsy. Therefore, a novel approach to epilepsy treatment is necessary. Several studies have confirmed that music therapy can be effective at reducing seizures and epileptiform discharges, thus providing a new option for clinicians in the treatment of epilepsy. Although the underlying mechanism of music therapy is unknown, it may be related to resonance, mirror neurons, dopamine pathways and parasympathetic activation. Large sample, multicenter, randomized double-blind and more effectively designed studies are needed for future music therapy studies.
authors.affiliation: a 1 Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurology, Chongqing 400016, China.
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Guohui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000069279:Drug Resistant Epilepsy / Q000628:therapy; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009147:Music Therapy; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012106:Research / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends
keywords: Mozart effect; epilepsy; epileptiform discharge; music; non-pharmacological treatment; seizure