The Neural Impact of a Brief Mindfulness and Improvisational Singing Practice on Music Performance Anxiety

An fMRI Study

Authors

  • Angela Boland University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
  • Kayla Boileau University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
  • Nicola Oddy Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
  • Laurie-Ann Welch University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
  • Nicole Stanson University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
  • Gilles Comeau University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
  • Andra Smith University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v25i1.4210

Keywords:

mindfulness, music performance anxiety, neuroimaging, environmental vocal exploration, singing

Abstract

Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) negatively impacts musicians’ personal lives, professional functioning, and performance quality, and is most prevalent in young adulthood. This mixed methods study investigated whether two weeks of a novel intervention called Environmental Vocal Exploration (EVE; Oddy, 2022), combining mindfulness and vocal improvisation, could alter neural activity associated with MPA in young musicians. The EVE intervention was compared with 1) a traditional two-week mindfulness program and 2) no intervention. Pre- and post-intervention, 27 musicians aged 18–28 (n = 7: EVE, n = 10: mindfulness,
n = 10: no intervention) completed an anxietyprovoking task and a letter N-back working memory task during fMRI. A thematic analysis was also conducted on discussion transcripts from EVE sessions. During the anxietyprovoking task, blood flow in emotional processing and attention-related brain areas (e.g., limbic and salience network areas) increased from pre- to post-EVE, consistent with themes (e.g., present-moment awareness). During the post-intervention N-back, EVE participants showed less activity than the other groups in cognitive processing areas (e.g., middle cingulate gyrus), indicating enhanced neural efficiency. Both interventions may impact neural activation linked to MPA, through increased attentional and emotional regulation. Vocal improvisation in a mindfulness intervention seemed to augment such effects. Results support further study of EVE’s use for MPA.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Brain Imaging Centre, including Rahim Ismaili, Katie Dinelle, and Reggie Taylor, for their support.

Author Biographies

Angela Boland, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Angela Boland is a PhD student studying Experimental Psychology at the University of Ottawa. She also received her bachelor’s (honours) degree in psychology at the University of Ottawa. Her research uses brain imaging technologies, such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural effects of mindfulness-based programs on mental health and cognition. She has a particular interest in studying these effects among musicians, with the ultimate goal of improving their mental and physical health. For Angela’s proposed PhD work, she seeks to investigate the impact of mindfulness-based and somatic interventions on young musicians’ brain activity, subjective performance experience, and music performance anxiety.

Kayla Boileau, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Kayla Boileau, a researcher with over 10 years of experience, has a PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Ottawa. Her PhD research focused on how brief mindfulness training influenced the neural activity of musicians with music performance anxiety using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology. Her current research role focuses on the wellbeing—including the social, physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental wellbeing—of First Nations people and communities. In her current research position, she engages with First Nations across Turtle Island, providing her expertise in statistics, psychological research, and neurophysiological research across various projects.

Nicola Oddy, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

Nicola Oddy, PhD, MTA has had a long career as a certified music therapist in Canada, providing front line services to people in long-term care, schools, and day programs. She has taught at both Concordia and Carleton universities and for two decades, provided supervision for both students and professionals. She is currently a member of the University of Ottawa Music and Health Research Institute, engaged in committee work and research. She has used the voice as her primary tool during all her years of practice, and her research interest explores how singing in different places effects people’s perceptions of self and place.

Laurie-Ann Welch, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Laurie-Ann Welch graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology (with honours) from the University of Ottawa. Her research interests and experience span from neurocognitive disorders, notably Alzheimer’s Disease, to trauma and anxiety disorders. She particularly appreciates working with a variety of neuroimaging techniques, notably functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). She aspires to pursue a career in medical imaging to complement her future research endeavors. 

Nicole Stanson, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Nicole Stanson is a researcher with a passion for the cross-sectional domain of music and health. Having received degrees in both music performance and interdisciplinary music research, Nicole strives to bring insights from both her fields of expertise to her work. After completing her undergraduate degree in music performance from Acadia University, her studies brought her to the University of Ottawa where she completed a master’s in trumpet performance and a second master’s researching the impacts of mindfulness on music performance anxiety. In 2019, Nicole joined the Music and Health Research Institute where she continues to contribute to the field of musicians’ mental health research, and investigates the health outcomes of music interventions on a variety of populations.

Gilles Comeau, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Gilles Comeau is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a senior scientist at the Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal, the founding director of the University of Ottawa Music and Health Research Institute, the director and principal researcher of the Piano Pedagogy Research Laboratory, and a professor at the School of Music at the University of Ottawa. He conducts multidisciplinary research on music and health, including the study of music and wellbeing for people with dementia, the impact of music on individuals experiencing mental illness, and the investigation of various interventions for musicians’ mental health.

Andra Smith, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Andra is a Full Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. She is a brain imager, using MRI techniques to understand how the brain works and how to make it work even more efficiently with different interventions. Her passion is studying the impacts of mindfulness on the brain and in particular in helping musicians with performance anxiety. As a neuroscientist, Andra, believes that the more people know about the brain, the more empowered they are to engage with life in a healthy way. This includes musicians who create the beautiful music that we often take for granted but for which we would be lost without.

photo of Boland et al

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Published

2025-03-01

How to Cite

Boland, A., Boileau, K., Oddy, N., Welch, L.-A., Stanson, N., Comeau, G., & Smith, A. (2025). The Neural Impact of a Brief Mindfulness and Improvisational Singing Practice on Music Performance Anxiety: An fMRI Study . Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 25(1). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v25i1.4210

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 1 (2025)

Section

Research

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Angela Boland, Kayla Boileau, Nicola Oddy, Laurie-Ann Welch, Nicole Stanson, Gilles Comeau, Andra Smith

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Articles published prior to 2019 are subject to the following license, see: https://voices.no/index.php/voices/copyright