Abstract
Design: Auditory stimulation of preterm infants with music is used in many neonatal intensive care units for stimulation, calming or easing of pain. In accordance with studies in adults, we expected a rise of cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) and of the cerebral hemoglobin content during music in preterm infants.
Methods: Fifteen preterm infants with gestational age of 25 to 34 weeks were studied at a postmenstrual age of 33 to 35 weeks. They were exposed to classical piano music (“The Moonlight Sonata” by Beethoven, “Reverie” by Schumann), pop music (Kool and the Gang “Fresh” or Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams”) and music from a musical box (“lullaby music”) at 75 dB for ten minutes on three consecutive days. CBFV (left and right middle cerebral arteries) was measured using a continuous Doppler method, and cerebral haemoglobin content and oxygen saturation (rSO2) in the fronto-temporal brain region were assessed by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).
Results: There were no significant changes in heart rate, right arm SaO2 and CBFV during and after the three types of music when compared with the values before music. Moreover, no signficant differences in BFV between the right and left middle cerebral artery were found before, during and after music. During all three types of music oxygenated haemoglobin (O2Hb) and total haemoglobin (tHb) increased significantly (P<0.05), whereas deoxygenated haemoglobin (HHb) did not change. After pop music, tHb and O2Hb decreased to values that were not significantly different from the values before music. After lullaby music, tHb and O2Hb further increased to values that were significantly higher than those measured during lullaby music. The rSO2 increased by 1.4+/−1.2% during and by 1.7+/−1.2% after lullaby music when compared with the values before music (p<0.05). The changes in tHb, O2Hb and rSO2 showed no relationship to the gestational, postnatal or postmenstrual age.
Conclusions: In contrast to adults, music had no effect on CBFV in preterm infants. The increase in cerebral SO2 suggests that lullaby music has a calming effect in preterm infants.
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Linderkamp, O., Schweitzer, S., Groninger, A. et al. 154 Effects Of Classical, Pop and Lullaby Music on Cerebral Circulation and Oxygenation in Preterm Infants. Pediatr Res 56, 490 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200409000-00177
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200409000-00177