Published Research

Learn more about CBD, cannabis, neuroscience, the brain, binaural beats and more with published studies presented by Universities and medical professionals worldwide.

Neurophysiological Effects of Trait Empathy in Music Listening

The social cognitive basis of music processing has long been noted, and recent research has shown that trait empathy is linked to musical preferences and listening style. Does empathy modulate neural responses to musical sounds? We designed two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments to address this question. In Experiment 1, subjects listened to brief isolated musical timbres while being scanned. In Experiment 2, subjects listened to excerpts of music in four conditions (familiar liked (FL)/disliked and unfamiliar liked (UL)/disliked). For both types of musical stimuli, emotional and cognitive forms of trait empathy modulated activity in sensorimotor and cognitive areas: in the first experiment, empathy was primarily correlated with activity in supplementary motor area (SMA), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and insula; in Experiment 2, empathy was mainly correlated with activity in prefrontal, temporo-parietal and reward areas. Taken together, these findings reveal the interactions between bottom-up and top-down mechanisms of empathy in response to musical sounds, in line with recent findings from other cognitive domains.

New study shows different brains have similar responses to music

Do the brains of different people listening to the same piece of music actually respond in the same way? An imaging study by Stanford University School of Medicine scientists says the answer is yes, which may in part explain why music plays such a big role in our social existence.

The investigators used fMRI to identify a distributed network of several brain structures whose activity levels waxed and waned in a strikingly similar pattern among study participants as they listened to classical music they’d never heard before. The results will be published online April 11 in the European Journal of Neuroscience.

A prospective, randomised, controlled study examiningbinaural beat audio and pre-operative anxiety in patientsundergoing general anaesthesia for day case surgery*

Pre-operative anxiety is common and often significant. Ambulatory surgery challenges our pre-operative goal of an anxiety-free patient by requiring people to be ‘street ready’ within a briefperiod of time after surgery. Recently, it has been demonstrated that music can be used successfullyto relieve patient anxiety before operations, and that audio embedded with tones that createbinaural beats within the brain of the listener decreases subjective levels of anxiety in patients withchronic anxiety states. We measured anxiety with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaireand compared binaural beat audio (Binaural Group) with an identical soundtrack but without theseadded tones (Audio Group) and with a third group who received no specific intervention (NoIntervention Group). Mean [95% confidence intervals] decreases in anxiety scores were 26.3% [19–33%] in the Binaural Group (p=0.001 vs. Audio Group, p < 0.0001 vs. No Intervention Group),11.1% [6–16%] in the Audio Group (p=0.15 vs. No Intervention Group) and 3.8% [0–7%] in theNo Intervention Group. Binaural beat audio has the potential to decrease acute pre-operativeanxiety significantly.

Binaural beat technology in humans: a pilot study to assess psychologic and physiologic effects

Binaural beat technology (BBT) products are sold internationally as personal development and health improvement tools. Producers suggest benefit from regular listening to binaural beats including reduced stress and anxiety, and increased focus, concentration, motivation, confidence, and depth in meditation. Binaural beats are auditory brainstem responses that originate in the superior olivary nucleus as a result of different frequency auditory stimuli provided to each ear. Listeners to binaural beat “hear” a beat at a frequency equal to the difference between the frequencies of the applied tones.

Translational Investigation of the Therapeutic Potential of Cannabidiol (CBD): Toward a New Age

Background: Among the many cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, cannabidiol (CBD) is a compound that does not produce the typical subjective effects of marijuana.

Objectives: The aim of the present review is to describe the main advances in the development of the experimental and clinical use of cannabidiol CBD in neuropsychiatry.

Methods: A non-systematic search was performed for studies dealing with therapeutic applications of CBD, especially performed by Brazilian researchers.

Results: CBD was shown to have anxiolytic, antipsychotic and neuroprotective properties. In addition, basic and clinical investigations on the effects of CBD have been carried out in the context of many other health conditions, including its potential use in epilepsy, substance abuse and dependence, schizophrenia, social phobia, post-traumatic stress, depression, bipolar disorder, sleep disorders, and Parkinson.

Discussion: CBD is an useful and promising molecule that may help patients with a number of clinical conditions. Controlled clinical trials with different neuropsychiatric populations that are currently under investigation should bring important answers in the near future and support the translation of research findings to clinical settings.