Research

◊ In Melinda Maxfield’s doctoral thesis Effects of Rhythmic Drumming on EEG and Subjective Experience(1991), an EEG was used to demonstrate the increased level of electrical activity in the brain. After 15 minutes of drumming, the participants entered an alpha wave state usually found in individuals with many years of meditation experience. This alpha brain wave state typically allows feelings of well-being and alertness while the body is deeply relaxed.

◊ In 2001, neurologist Dr. Barry Bittman published results of a study (Alternative Therapies, Vol. 7, No.1) he began after he noticed the power of a drum circle at a health care conference.
The study showed that;

Drumming produced a significant increase in NK cells -- white blood cells that seek out and destroy cancer and virally infected cells.

◊ A ground-breaking study published in 2003
(Advances in Mind Body Medicine, Vol. 19. No. 3/4, Bittman),
addresses the challenge of staff burnout and high employee turnover rates at facilities offering care to the elderly, chronically ill, terminally ill and disabled.

Group drumming with staff created a reduction in burnout and negative states. Positive mood states continued to increase even after the research period was ended. The positive economic change was calculated to be $89,000 per year at a 100 bed facility.

◊ In an exciting recent study (Medical Science Monitor, 2005), Dr. Bittman, and co-researchers discovered that drumming changes the way an individual responds to stress on a molecular level. Muhammad A. Sharof, Ph.D., Senior Staff Scientist at Applied Bio systems, stated;

“We showed for the very first time, that we could turn off the DNA-based switches that literally turn on components of human stress responses.”

Many individuals and organizations have
discovered the benefits of Drumming

◊ Toyota Motor Sales USA’s corporate headquarters created a unique way to “beat” stress by creating the Toyota Drum Room. According to Midge Waters of Toyota, “The primary benefits of the drum circles for Toyota include;

Experiencing a “high-performance team”, morale building, interpersonal connecting, stress reduction and experiencing teamwork. It’s an opportunity for our associates to listen to each other and put their personal creativity into process.

◊ As reported in Beating Chronic Illness (April Thompson, Science and Spirit,Sept./Oct. 2001),
a San Francisco woman was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at age 46, and lost her business and apartment. She was overwhelmed with depression, pain and paralysis. She tried every type of healing and found no relief. Her symptoms began to fade when she started beating a djembe, a drum from West Africa.

“Initially, I couldn’t move my arm, but I still tried to drum. Sometimes my brain would just disconnect, and I couldn’t speak or walk or talk for a couple of days. My face would freeze into a mask. Someone in my women’s group noticed it and suggested that they drum for me. While sitting in that bowl of sound, I was ‘drummed’ and the spell broken.”

The now 53 year-old woman explained. Not only could she move, she could drum and dance.

◊ A 1994 study led by Michael Thaut, director of Colorado State University’s Center for Biomedical Research in Music, echoed the knowledge that rhythmic cues help to retrain the brain after neurological impairment such as a stroke or Parkinson’s Disease. His study demonstrated that to help overcome a symptom where the patient’s body freezes, listening to the repetitive beat of a metronome improved their rhythm, speed and length of stride by an average of 25% in 3 weeks.

After studying hundreds of neurologically impaired patients, the research team consistently found that music and rhythmic stimulation improved the speed and symmetry of their gait.

◊ During our Soundbeat programs, we have personally witnessed many times the transformations that drumming invites. We’ve seen severely autistic kids, and elderly people who can only sit motionless, become completely animated and play with the beat. We have also seen severely handicapped participants leap up and dance.