Auditory stimulation is the use of focused sounds to produce an effect on the nervous system. This type of stimulation can be used as part of sensory therapy for people with disabilities such as deafness or partial blindness, or people with attention deficit disorder or autism. It can also be used to help people develop or regain language skills, and can be applied as part of an accelerated learning program.
For people with hearing impairments or auditory processing disorders, auditory stimulation is thought to help increase their ability to process sounds. Some types of auditory stimulation allow the patient to manipulate sounds through gestures or body movements, while other types can associate sound with visual stimulation, such as images or colors.
Auditory stimulation therapy can also be used for patients with disabilities in language development, comprehension, or production, to train their brains to focus on the frequencies and sounds needed to accurately interpret speech. This type of therapy combines listening to recorded music and phonemes of language to increase the brain's ability to tune out "unnecessary" sounds, such as background noise or very low-frequency sounds.
People with autism, dementia or brain damage may use combined sensory stimulation such as Snoezelen multisensory environment therapy for relaxation or learning purposes. Developed in the Netherlands, Snoezelen rooms are places where patients can manipulate lights, sounds, and various types of tactile stimuli to create an environment in which they feel comfortable or happy. This type of therapy is not outcome focused, but is designed to stimulate and comfort the patient.
Auditory stimulation combining music and language is central to the theory behind Suggestopedia, a language teaching method developed by Bulgarian psychologist Georgi Lozanov. This approach to second language learning combines baroque music and a teacher reading target language material. Lozanov believes that music at 60 beats per minute, which mimics the beating of the human heart, helps create a calm and relaxing environment where students lose their fears associated with learning, leading them to acquire the new language more easily. effective.
Another type of auditory stimulation that is based on Lozanov's theories is used in accelerated learning programs for gifted children. In this theoretical approach to learning, music is played at 60 beats per minute, which is believed to create alpha brain waves. In the Alpha state, the brain is believed to be more receptive to learning, so whatever is taught will be more effectively learned and retained.