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It is unclear what role the experimental drug and convalescent plasma had in the recovery of these patients. Prospective clinical trials are needed to delineate the role of investigational therapies in the care of patients with EVD.

distinguishes two general cognitive styles. Empathizing is characterized as the capacity to respond to feeling states of other individuals, whereas systemizing is characterized as the capacity to respond to regularities of objects and events. To investigate these traits within the music domain, a questionnaire study (N = 442) was conducted. Construct validity and reliability of the measurement instrument were assessed by factor analysis procedures. A simplified unit weighting (SUW) scale was used to determine individual differences in music empathizing (ME) and music systemizing (MS). Significant effects of sex and of music performance experience were observed. A highly similar pattern of results emerged from a replicating survey (N = 155) using a short-version of the questionnaire. These results suggest that the ME and MS traits corroborate and extend the general E-S theory.

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This study investigates the effects of music listening on perception and tolerance of experimentally induced cold pressor pain. Fifty-four participants (34 females, 20 males) each underwent 3 cold pressor trials while listening to (a) white noise, (b) specially designed relaxation music, and (c) their own chosen music. Tolerance time, pain intensity on visual analog scale, and the pain rating index of the McGill Pain Questionnaire and perceived control over the pain were measured in each condition. While listening to their own preferred music, male and female participants tolerated the painful stimulus significantly longer than during both the relaxation music and control conditions. However, only female participants rated the intensity of the pain as significantly lower in the preferred music condition. Both male and female participants reported feeling significantly more control when listening to their preferred music. It is suggested that personal preference is an influential factor when considering the efficacy of music listening for pain relief.

Research studies of 'audioanalgesia', the ability of music to affect pain perception, have significantly increased in number during the past two decades. Listening to preferred music in particular may provide an emotionally engaging distraction capable of reducing both the sensation of pain itself and the accompanying negative affective experience. The current study uses experimentally induced cold pressor pain to compare the effects of preferred music to two types of distracting stimuli found effective within the previous studies; mental arithmetic, a cognitive distraction, and humour, which may emotionally engage us in a similar manner to music. Forty-four participants (24 females, 20 males) underwent three cold pressor trials in counterbalanced order. The Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task provided the cognitive distraction and a choice was given from three types of audiotaped stand-up comedy. Participants provided their own preferred music. A circulating and cooling water bath administered cold pressor stimulation. Tolerance time, pain intensity on visual analogue scale and the pain rating index and perceived control were measured. Preferred music listening was found to significantly increase tolerance in comparison to the cognitive task, and significantly increase perceived control in comparison to humour. Ratings of pain intensity did not significantly differ. The results suggest preferred music listening to offer effective distraction and enhancement of control as a pain intervention under controlled laboratory conditions.

The authors examined the effects of preferred music, visual distraction, and silence on pain perception. Visual distraction was provided by participants' choice of painting from a selection of 15 popular artworks. Eighty participants (43 females) underwent 3 trials of cold pressor pain induction with measurement of tolerance, pain intensity, perceived control, and anxiety, and a music listening patterns questionnaire. Preferred music was found to significantly increase tolerance and perceived control over the painful stimulus and to decrease anxiety compared with both the visual distraction and silence conditions. Pain intensity rating was decreased by music listening when compared with silence. During the music condition, frequent listening to the chosen piece in everyday life was found to negatively correlate with anxiety level, and extent of knowledge of the lyrics further positively correlated with tolerance of the stimulus and perceived control. That general importance of music in everyday life also correlated with perceived control reiterates the importance of relationship and familiarity with favorite music as key to its therapeutic effect. There was no relationship between structural features of the selected music and any of the significant effects. It is suggested that preference may render music with different structural aspects functionally equivalent.

Research interest into alternatives to analgesic medication has grown substantially during the past two decades. Moreover, a number of studies have provided empirical evidence that music listening, and in particular listening to our own preferred music, may provide an emotionally engaging distraction capable of reducing both the sensation of pain itself and the accompanying negative affective experience. The current study is a survey of 318 chronic pain sufferers, which aimed to (i) give a detailed description of the music listening behaviour of this group and relate this to experience of pain and quality of life, and (ii) indicate the numbers who consider music listening to be part of their pain management and investigate their perceptions of the benefits. Results indicated distraction and relaxation to be the most frequently perceived benefits of music reported by participants. Both frequent music listening and a perception of music as personally important were further found to relate to higher quality of life. Also, personal importance of music was significantly related to listening to help pain. These findings suggest beneficial effects of music listening to long-term pain.