What is IMAGS?
IMAGS is a research effort focused on addressing chronic pain through music. Though music is already known to cause pain relief, our project called the Music-induced Analgesia Genome Study (IMAGS) is interested in discovering which aspects of music reduce chronic pain the most. IMAGS was initially developed in response to the overuse of opioids for the treatment of chronic pain, which has unfortunately led to a national epidemic of overdose and addiction.
People living with chronic pain often find relief when listening to music that fully absorbs their attention—the deeper their immersion, the greater the pain relief. One of the goals of our IMAGS project is to give people a pleasant, safe alternative to taking pain medication. Our team has developed a galvanic skin response sensor that connects to custom software to track a listener’s experience by detecting physiological changes in their stress levels. The software logs both the music played during each session and the corresponding biofeedback responses. A companion visualizer then turns this data into clear, easy-to-read charts. Music therapists can use this visualizer to identify moments when a person experienced changes in stress, and can explore with patients how the music affected their pain at those times. Based on these insights, therapists can recommend other music to try—or even guide the person in composing their own music with similarly immersive qualities.
IMAGS is a cross-institutional project at the convergence of several fields including music therapy, music technology, and medicine. The founding IMAGS PIs are Andi Hunt, of Rowan University, V.J. Manzo of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Rick Dammers of Rowan University, and Jim Bailey at Rowan University. Additional collaborators have included researchers from the RATLab including Ava Mattimore, Sarah Meaney, Nico Tan, Mikey McCafferty, and Jake Pelrah.
For more info, contact: gr-IMAGS@wpi.edu
Some of Our IMAGS Research:
Integrating Physiological Measures within a Music Therapy Research Course
Related Research:
Mitchell & MacDonald survey
—Patients say they use music for chronic pain relief, and say that music that is personally relevant is most effective
Garza-Villareal, et al. meta-analysis
—Music listening reduces chronic pain and depression, with a higher effect for patient-selected music rather than researcher-selected music.
Rodgers-Melnick survey
—Patients use music not just for relaxation, but also for motivation and to promote movement, exercise, and enjoyment