4th
European Conference on Positive Psychology
The use of Psycho-Acoustical Transitional sessions in
patients suffering of moderate and severe Alzheimer’s disease.
Aiello Gioacchino, M.D. – Fondazione GIROLDI-FORCELLA-UGONI (Bs), SIPP
Finsterle Gubert, ECP Psychoterapist – AVS Research, SIPP
The
Psycho-Acoustical Transitional (PAT)
session - able to induce ecstatic and flow states (Finsterle,
2007), improving subjective/objective wellbeing - is a completely defined
setting from a mathematical-physical point of view that induces an evident
increase of communication paths between neural cortical populations (Aiello, Finsterle, 2005). Trying to give a contribute for
understanding the relation between subjective/objective wellbeing and increase of communication
between neural cortical and subcortical areas, PAT sessions have been utilized by Finsterle with 5 subjects with organic brain damages,
affected by Alzheimer (4) and Pick (1), obtaining in one case a complete and
stable remission of symptoms (Pick), in the other cases an improvement of
memory and/or of body control, reducing correlated depressive symptoms.
A study was
organized to evaluate if
PAT sessions could induce a (positive) change in
Alzheimer’s affected subjects, recovered in a nurse (Fondazione
Giroldi-Forcella-Ugoni) for their total inability to
conduce an autonomous life.
Six subjects were selected, three testable and three non testable for
their seriously compromised mental abilities.
The three non testable subjects didn’t show significant improvement
of mental abilities and remained non testable at the end of the evaluation
period. The three testable subjects showed a significant score’s increase
in Corsi (+ 50-150%) and Token test (+ 50-110%), less
evident in MMSE test. It seems that PAT sessions increase the topologic memory,
may be “restoring” a primary mental space representation (Finsterle, 2007) and opening some new neural paths between subcortical and cortical areas.
These data seems to sustain the idea that PAT sessions’ effects
are related to an improvement of brain’s plasticity and computation
abilities, widening the research field concerning the essence of wellbeing.
Aiello G., Finsterle G. (2005), “Modulazione dello stato di coscienza mediante
l’ascolto di una stimolazione sonora a struttura casuale in un campo olofonico: fenomenologia dell’esperienza, ipotesi
teoriche e prime analisi elettroencefalografiche”,
in Abstracts XIII Congresso Nazionale AIAMC, Vivere in una societą a rischio, pp. 4-5, Milano.
Finsterle
G. (2006), “The “mirror effect” in sound’s fusion time:
the integration of two specular sound fields in one
mental-virtual holophonic sound field. Phenomenology
and applications”, in Abstracts of the International CIANS
Conference, Neuro-Psycho-Physiological and Social
research and interventions from an
interdisciplinary point of view, pp. 28-29, Milano.
Finsterle G. (2007),
“L’incanto di Orfeo e i sincronismi neurali corticali. Introduzione
alla Psico-Acustica Transizionale”,
in La condivisione del benessere. Il
contributo della Psicologia Positiva, a cura di Delle Fave A., Franco
Angeli, Milano, pp. 208-227.