Mozart’s music has anti-seizure effect on brain
Listening to the music of Mozart may have an anti-epileptic effect on the brain, according to research presented at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) annual meeting.
A team led by Professor Ivan Rektor, from the Epilepsy Centre at the Hospital St Anne and CEITEC Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, monitored brain activity in people listening to Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos K448 and Haydn’s Symphony No 94.
Using intracerebral electrodes they observed that listening to Mozart’s music led to a 32% reduction in epileptiform discharges (EDs) whereas listening to Haydn’s caused a 45% increase in EDs. In a further study they found sex differences in brain responses to music, with Haydn’s leading to suppressed epileptiform discharges in women while in the men, there was an increase of epileptiform discharges.
Prof Rektor postulated that the physical acoustic properties of Mozart’s music, such as the rhythm, dynamics and tone, had a beneficial effect brain oscillations which was responsible for reducing EDs.
“We found that the reduction in EDs was larger in the lateral temporal lobe, which the part of the brain which participates in translating acoustic signals, rather than in the mesiotemporal limbic region, which plays an important role in the emotional response to music,” he said.
The effects of listening to music on epilepsy could not be explained by the effect of dopamine released by the reward system, explained Professor Rektor.
“Our patients were not music connoisseurs and said they were emotionally indifferent to the two pieces of music. There was, therefore, no reason to believe that K448 evoked more pleasure than No. 94.”
Three novel neurology drugs approved by TGA
Risdiplam (Evrysdi) has been approved by the TGA as a prescription medicine for the treatment of 5q spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in patients aged 2 months and older. The drug is a survival of motor neuron (SMN)2 pre-messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) splicing modifier and treats SMA by increasing and sustaining functional SMN protein levels that are deficient in SMA.
The anticonvulsant Eslicarbazepine (Zebinix) has been approved for monotherapy in the treatment of partial-onset seizures, with or without secondary generalisation, in adults with newly diagnosed epilepsy. It has also been approved for adjunctive therapy in adults, adolescents and children aged above 6 years, with partial- onset seizures with or without secondary generalisation.
Also approved by the TGA is deutetrabenazine (Austedo) for the treatment of chorea associated with Huntington’s disease and tardive dyskinesia in adults. The drug is the deuterated form of tetrabenazine. And its mechanism of action is believed to be related to the reversible depletion of monoamines (such as dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and histamine) from nerve terminals.
National pain strategy launched with focus on arthritis and MSK conditions
A National Strategic Action Plan for Pain Management has been launched with eight key goals and priorities aimed at preventing and reducing the burden of chronic pain for millions of Australians.
The plan released by Pain Australia notes that chronic pain affects 3.24 million Australians. and without action, the prevalence of chronic pain will increase to 5.23 million Australians (16.9%) by 2050.
Among its recommendations, the plan calls for all health practitioners and carers to be trained in pain management to improve conceptualisation of pain and underpin care plans and practices.
Other objectives include the establishment of patient-centred interdisciplinary assessment and pain care and support services that take into the account the health and wellbeing of the whole person is offered in all locations and made available through delivery and funding models at the primary care level wherever possible. It also calls for technology to be harnessed to expand access to multiple services including primary care services and pain specialists.