BUCHAREST, ROMANIA — Based on the finding that patients who can hear music among the sounds of a medical machine are less prone to experiencing panic attacks, creative agencies Publicis, Digitas, and Publicis Relations, in collaboration with the Romanian songwriter Marius Moga, created “Music To My Brain.” This song, composed for Regina Maria Private Healthcare Network, prepares how our brains perceive an MRI’s sounds and helps 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 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 NARA CELL T reached in a recent study conducted for the Regina Maria Private Health Network. 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 at Digitas.
Meanwhile, Marius Moga, one of the biggest songwriters in Romania, said, “The secret lies in the melodic line. Any good, hummable melody line has the power to make people 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 your mood during the examination if you managed to get familiarized with them beforehand.”
“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,” explained Alexandru Berceanu, Researcher and University Conf. at NARA T CELL.
To condition the brain and silence the fear of an exam that could save lives, the specially designed song was seeded along the patient’s journey, from the doctor’s appointment to the actual MRI, from Regina Maria Private Health Network’s Call Center to Spotify, Apple music, YouTube, Deezer, Amazon music, to MRI Home Kit and Imaging waiting rooms in all the Network’s clinics and hospitals.
CREDITS:
Ana-Maria Țarălungă – Creative Director
Silviu Nedelschi – Executive Creative Director
Raluca Kovacs – Chief Strategy Officer
Bianca Moga-Lăpuște – Jr. Strategic Planner
Cătălin Grigore – Sr. Art Director
Mihaela Neațu – Sr. Copywriter
Marius Fărcășanu – Digital Art Director
Roland Împușcatu – Video editor
Adina Albu – Sr. Client Lead
Teodora Cîrstea – Communications Manager
Mirela Stoian – Communications Specialist
Alexandru Călin – AV Production Manager
Camelia Efrimov – AV Production Director
Veronica Ciacoveanu – Digital Client Lead
Andreea Nedeianu – Client Lead
Antonia Gherasim – Client Manager
Miruna Grecu – Digital Client Manager
Andreea Grigorean – PR Officer
Production House: Abis Studio
Post-production: Mad.animator.
