аÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹û2023

This paper explores Professor Susan Greenfield's theory of Neuronal Assembly Formation (Neuronal Gestalts) within a clinical music therapy context. Neuronal events in the brain are seen not only as shaping the physiological and communicative responses of the client, but also contributing to the character of the musical material itself, as it evolves in improvisation. This paper describes work with adults with profound learning difficulties living in a long-term residential unit. for these non-verbal clients, music becomes a primary language for translating and exchanging feelings and meanings. Greenfield's Concentric Theory offers new ways of analysing and characterising the somatic and neurological processes of stimulation and arousal underlying this process in each individual. Some current theories of consciousness are compared, and the evidence for possible links between the formation of neuronal assemblies and the development of musical gestalts is investigated through a series of case studies.

In this article I discuss some questions on meaning in music therapy by taking as my point of departure the different perspectives of two British music therapists, Mary Priestley and Gary Ansdell. Since all discussions of meaning - evening when considering 'non-verbal phenomena' - are based on a understanding of language, I have found the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein an interesting port of entry into this topic. Following an introduction to Wittgenstein's concepts of 'language game' and 'family resemblances', I give a brief discussion of Wittgenstein's relevance of aesthetic understanding, highlighting the concept of 'intransitive understanding'. These three concepts will then be used as a basis for examining the differences between Priestley's and Ansdell's perspectives, which may serve to expand our thinking about meaning in music therapy.