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Updated: Jan 3, 2026
Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
Effect of environmental music on autonomic function in infants in intensive and growing care units
1Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
Insights
Background music in incubators impacts preterm infants' autonomic function. This study observed that while heart rate didn't change, specific heart rate variability components decreased during music exposure in the NICU/GCU.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal physiology
- Infant autonomic nervous system development
- Auditory environment effects
Background:
- Preterm infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) and Growing Care Units (GCU) experience significant physiological stress.
- Understanding the impact of environmental factors, such as auditory stimuli, is crucial for optimizing infant care.
- Heart rate variability (HRV) is a key indicator of autonomic nervous system (ANS) function in infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the influence of background music (BGM) on heart rate variability (HRV) in preterm infants during the early weeks of life.
- To investigate the broader effects of environmental music on the autonomic function of infants admitted to NICU/GCU.
- To explore BGM as a potential non-invasive tool for evaluating infant autonomic function.
Main Methods:
- Thirty preterm and low-birth weight infants in NICU/GCU participated.
- Heart rate (HR), and HRV components (LF, HF, LF/HF ratio) were measured.
- Lullaby BGM was played through an incubator speaker, with HRV components compared before, during, and after the intervention.
Main Results:
- Mean heart rate (HR) remained unchanged across all conditions.
- Low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) HRV components showed a decrease during BGM exposure compared to the pre-intervention period.
- The LF/HF ratio did not significantly change during the BGM intervention.
Conclusions:
- An auditory environment, specifically background music, demonstrably affects the autonomic function of infants in NICU/GCU settings.
- Background music serves as a non-invasive, non-pharmacological intervention.
- BGM may be a valuable tool for assessing autonomic function in vulnerable infants within NICU/GCU environments.
Background:
The aim of this study is (1) to observe the effect of the background music (BGM) in the incubator on heart rate variability (HRV) during the first few weeks of life in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive (NICU) and growing care units (GCU) and (2) to investigate the effect of environmental music on autonomic function in the infants.
Methods:
Thirty infants, including premature (26 3/7 - 38 4/7 weeks) and low-birth weight (LBW) (946-2,440 g) infants, admitted to the NICU or GCU were involved. The heart rate, low- (LF, 0.05-0.15 Hz) and high- (HF, 0.15-0.4 Hz) frequency HRV components, and LF/HF ratio were measured. The BGM, lullabies for a baby, was delivered through a speaker in the incubator, and the HRV components were compared among before, during, and after intervention with BGM.
Results:
The mean HR did not change among the experimental conditions. The LF and HF values decreased during the BGM condition, but not LF/HF, compared with the condition before BGM.
Conclusions:
The present results showed that an auditory environment affected the autonomic function of infants with a range of BGM in the NICU/GCU. The present study also suggested that BGM, a non-invasive and non-pharmacological intervention, could be an evaluation tool for autonomic function in infants in NICU/GCU.
