Auditory stimulation uses sound to affect the nervous system and can be used in sensory therapy for disabilities, speech development, and language learning. It can also be used in multi-sensory therapy for relaxation or learning and in accelerated learning programs for gifted children.
Auditory stimulation is the use of focused sound to produce an effect on the nervous system. This type of stimulation can be used as part of sensory therapy in people with disabilities such as partial deafness or blindness, or in people with attention deficit disorder or autism. It can also be used to help people develop or recover language skills and could be applied as part of an accelerated learning programme.
For people with hearing impairments or auditory processing disorders, auditory stimulation is believed to help increase their ability to process sounds. Some types of auditory stimulation allow a patient to manipulate sounds using gestures or body movements, while other types might relate sound to visual stimulation such as images or colors.
Auditory stimulation therapy can also be used for patients with disabilities in speech 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 speech phonemes to increase the brain’s ability to shut out “unnecessary” sounds, such as background noise or very low frequency sounds.
People with autism, dementia or brain damage can use combined sensory stimulation such as Snoezelen multi-sensory 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 does not have a targeted outcome, but rather is designed to stimulate and comfort the patient.
Auditory stimulation combining music and speech is at the heart of 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 in which students lose the fears associated with learning, which leads them to acquire the new language more more 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 thought to be more receptive to learning, so anything taught will be learned and retained more effectively.
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