This Medical Tool Prepares Patients for an Anxiety-Free MRI Exam

Based on the finding that patients who can hear music among the sounds of a medical machine are less prone to experiencing panic attacks, the agencies Publicis, Digitas and Publicis Relations, in collaboration with the Romanian songwriter Marius Moga, have created MUSIC TO MY BRAIN – the song composed for Regina Maria Private Healthcare Network that prepares the way our brains perceive the sounds of an MRI and help reduce anxiety during the investigation.

For many patients, MRI investigations are among the biggest sources of anxiety. The enclosed space and intense sounds can create a high level of discomfort, affecting the patient's condition, as well as the quality of the procedure and of the result. 

However, anxiety can be reduced if you know what to expect before your MRI appointment. Those who can associate the seemingly chaotic sounds of MRI with music are less prone to panic attacks. In other words, when the brain can attribute a sense and a melodic line to disparate sounds, they seem less threatening. That's the conclusion reached by NARA CELL T, in a study recently conducted for the Regina Maria Private Health Network. And thus, MUSIC TO MY BRAIN was born - the melody that reorchestrates the sounds of the MRI machine and turns them into music that you can play in advance, to get accustomed to what you’re going to hear in the machine, from the safe space of your home. 

"We had to create an earworm, so that when the patients find themselves in the machine, that tune stuck obsessively in their head comes back to accompany each and every MRI sound that the machine could throw at them. Basically, we gave people the melody and their brain would do the rest, by adding the MRI sequences to it, in real time, in a way that makes sense and feels less threatening, maybe even enjoyable." said Ana-Maria Țarălungă, creative director - Digitas.

The idea took shape with the help of Marius Moga, one of the biggest songwriters in Romania.

"The secret lies in the melodic line. Any good, hummable melody line has the power to make people to feel good. We all know that our cortisol levels decrease when we hum something. Through this song, we aim to enhance the experience of going to the MRI, by giving people something to listen to prior to the procedure. With this melody, we reshape the MRI sounds into something harmonious, which would change the mood you have during the examination, if you managed to get familiarised with them beforehand." said Marius Moga, songwriter, singer

How does the song work?

"By listening to the melody, the brain befriends the eerie sounds of the electromagnetic coil, diverting attention from non-existent danger towards processing the music, which is positive and lowers anxiety levels. Through repeated listening to the song before the MRI, subjects train their brains to trigger the musical imagination, turning the MRI into a musical instrument, where the sound sequences in the MRI are rearranged into a melody. Thus, during the procedure, the patient will no longer perceive isolated, unpredictable, and threatening noises, but will turn the MRI sounds into music." said Alexandru Berceanu, researcher and University Conf. - NARA T CELL

The song can be listened on Spotify, Apple music, YouTube, Deezer, Amazon music, as well as in the Regina Maria Private Health Network’s Call Centre, in all Imaging waiting rooms in all the Network’s clinics and hospitals.