What does a newborn baby hear in intensive care — and how might those sounds shape the developing brain?

This book introduces neonatal clinical neuromusicology as a pioneering new field at the intersection of music therapy, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, sonological engineering and medical-device innovation. Set within the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), it explores how music, sound and technology can be used to support the most fragile beginnings of life.

For preterm and critically ill infants, the NICU is both life-saving and sensory demanding. Alarms, ventilators, incubators, clinical activity and unpredictable noise create an acoustic environment that may place stress on the developing nervous system. At the same time, carefully delivered music therapy can support physiological regulation, feeding, sleep, stress reduction, parent–infant bonding and early neurodevelopment.

This volume shows how the NICU soundscape can be reimagined. It presents cutting-edge approaches including Active Noise Cancelling incubator technologies, AI-informed sound monitoring and new medical-device concepts designed for twenty-first-century neonatal care. Rather than simply reducing noise, these innovations aim to create healthier auditory ecologies in which meaningful human voice, music and relational sound can be preserved.

Bringing together clinical practice, developmental neuroscience and technological innovation, this book offers a timely and compelling vision for the future of neonatal care. It challenges clinicians, researchers, engineers, music therapists and healthcare innovators to rethink the NICU not only as a medical environment, but as a place where sound, technology and human connection may actively shape early life.

Dr. Artur C. Jaschke is a clinical neuromusicologist working at the intersection of music, neuroscience, medicine, technology and education. He is affiliated with the University of Cambridge and the Evelyn Perinatal Imaging Centre in the UK and with the Beatrix Children’s Hospital Groningen and ArtEZ University of the Arts in the Netherlands. His research explores how music-based therapies can support brain development, communication, sensory processing and wellbeing, with particular focus on neonatal intensive care, autism and paediatric neurodevelopment. He has led and contributed to clinical trials and interdisciplinary collaborations involving music therapy, artificial intelligence, sonological engineering and active noise control. His work aims to create safer, more developmentally supportive healthcare environments through evidence-informed, human-centred innovation.