Music is one of the few activities that involves using the whole brain. It is intrinsic to all cultures and can have surprising benefits not only for learning language, improving memory and focusing attention, but also for physical coordination and development.Of course, music can be distracting if it's too loud or too jarring, or if it competes for our attention with what we're trying to do. But for the most part, exposure to many kinds of music has beneficial effects:
1 Music heals
Effective therapy for pain
Overall, music does have positive effects on pain management. Music can help reduce both the sensation and distress of both chronic pain and postoperative pain.
Listening to music can reduce chronic pain from a range of painful conditions, including osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis, by up to 21% and depression by up to 25%, according to a paper in the latest UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing29.
Music therapy is increasingly used in hospitals to reduce the need for medication during childbirth, to decrease postoperative pain and complement the use of anesthesia during surgery30.
There are several theories about how music positively affects perceived pain:
- 1. Music serves as a distractor
- 2. Music may give the patient a sense of control
- 3. Music causes the body to release endorphins to counteract pain
- 4. Slow music relaxes person by slowing their breathing and heartbeat
Reducing blood pressure
By playing recordings of relaxing music every morning and evening, people with high blood pressure can train themselves to lower their blood pressure - and keep it low31. According to research reported at the American Society of Hypertension meeting in New Orleans, listening to just 30 minutes of classical, Celtic or raga music every day may significantly reduce high blood pressure.
Medicine for the heart
Music is good for your heart. Research shows that it is musical tempo, rather than style. Italian and British researchers32 recruited young men and women, half of whom were trained musicians. The participants slipped on head phones and listened to six styles of music, including rap and classical pieces, with random two-minute pauses. As the participants kicked back and listened, the researchers monitored their breathing, heart rates and blood pressure. The participants had faster heart and breathing rates when they listened to lively music. When the musical slowed, so did their heart and breathing rates. Some results were surprising. During the musical pauses, heart and breathing rates normalized or reached more optimal levels. Whether or not a person liked the style of music did not matter. The tempo, or pace, of the music had the greatest effect on relaxation.Speeds Post-Stroke Recovery
A daily portion` of one's favorite pop melodies, classical music or jazz can speed recovery from debilitating strokes, according to the latest research. When stroke patients in Finland listened to music for a couple of hours each day, verbal memory and attention span improved significantly compared to patients who received no musical stimulation, or who listened only to stories read out loud, the study reports33.Chronic headaches & migraine remedy
Music can help migraine34 and chronic headache35 sufferers reduce the intensity, frequency, and duration of the headaches.
Music boosts immunity
Music can boost the immune function. Scientists explain that a particular type of music can create a positive and profound emotional experience, which leads to secretion of immune-boosting hormones22. This helps contribute to a reduction in the factors responsible for illness. Listening to music or singing can also decrease levels of stress-related hormone cortisol. Higher levels of cortisol can lead to a decreased immune response23-24.
2 Effects of music on the brain
Music enhances intelligence, learning and IQ
The idea that music makes you smarter received considerable attention from scientists and the media. Listening to music or playing an instrument can actually make you learn better. And research confirms this.
Music has the power to enhance some kinds of higher brain function:
- Reading and literacy skills11-13
- Spatial-temporal reasoning14-15
- Mathematical abilities16-17 - Even children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder benefit in mathematics tests from listening to music beforehand.
- Emotional intelligence
The Mozart effect
Earlier it has been thought that listening to classical music, particularly Mozart, enhances performance on cognitive tests. However, recent findings18 show that listening to any music that is personally enjoyable has positive effects on cognition.
Music improves memory performance
The power of music to affect memory is quite intriguing. Mozart's music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activates the left and right brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information. The information being studied activates the left brain while the music activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, cause the brain to be more capable of processing information.Listening to music facilitates the recall of information19.
Researchers have shown that certain types of music are a great "keys" for recalling memories. Information learned while listening to a particular song can often be recalled simply by "playing" the songs mentally.
Musical training has even better effect than just listening to classical music. There is clear evidence20, that children who take music lessons develop a better memory compared with children who have no musical training.
Note: For learning or memory performance, it's important that music doesn't have a vocal component; otherwise you're more likely to remember the words of the background song than what you're supposed to be recalling.
Music improves concentration and attention
Easy listening music or relaxing classics improves the duration and intensity of concentration in all age groups and ability levels. It's not clear what type of music is better, or what kind of musical structure is necessary to help, but many studies have shown significant effects21.
3 Music improves physical performance
Music improves athletic performance
Choosing music that motivates you will make it easier to start moving, walking, dancing, or any other type of exercise that you enjoy. Music can make exercise feel more like recreation and less like work. Furthermore, music enhances athletic performance6-8! Anyone who has ever gone on a long run with their iPod or taken a particularly energetic spinning class knows that music can make the time pass more quickly.The four central hypotheses explaining music's facilitation of exercise performance include:
- Reduction in the feeling of fatigue
- Increase in levels of psychological arousal
- Physiological relaxation response
- Improvement in motor coordination
Music improves body movement and coordination
Music reduces muscle tension and improves body movement and coordination25-26. Music may play an important role in developing, maintaining and restoring physical functioning in the rehabilitation of persons with movement disorders.
4 Music helps to work more productively
Fatigue fighter
Listening to upbeat music can be a great way to find some extra energy. Music can effectively eliminate exercise-induced fatigue9 and fatigue symptoms caused by monotonous work10.
Keep in mind that listening to too much pop and hard rock music can make you more jittery than energized. Vary what you listen to and find out what type of music is most beneficial for you. You could try classical music one day, pop the next day and jazz the third.
Music improves productivity
Many people like to listen to music while they work and I am certainly one of them. How about you? Did you know you can perform better at your work with music? Whilst there may be many reasons for wishing to listen to music in the workplace, it really improves your productivity27! According to a report in the journal Neuroscience of Behavior and Physiology28, a person's ability to recognize visual images, including letters and numbers, is faster when either rock or classical music is playing in the background.
5 Music calms, relaxes and helps to sleep
Relaxing music induces sleep
Relaxing classical music is safe, cheap and easy way to beat insomnia1. Many people who suffer from insomnia find that Bach music helps them. Researchers have shown that just 45 minutes of relaxing music before bedtime can make for a restful night2.
Relaxing music reduces sympathetic nervous system activity, decreases anxiety, blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate and may have positive effects on sleep via muscle relaxation and distraction from thoughts.
Music reduces stress and aids relaxation
Listening to slow, quiet classical music, is proven to reduce stress3. Countless studies have shown that music's relaxing effects can be seen on anyone, including newborns. One of the great benefits of music as a stress reliever is that it can be used while you do your usual deeds so that it really doesn't take time.
How does music reduces stress?
- Physical relaxation. Music can promote relaxation of tense muscles, enabling you to easily release some of the tension you carry from a stressful day.
- Aids in stress relief activities. Music can help you get "into the zone" when practicing yoga, self hypnosis or guided imagery, can help you feel energized when exercising and recover after exercising, help dissolve the stress when you're soaking in the tub.
- Reduces negative emotions. Music, especially upbeat tunes, can take your mind off what stresses you, and help you feel more optimistic and positive. This helps release stress and can even help you keep from getting as stressed over life's little frustrations in the future. Researchers discovered4 that music can decrease the amount of the cortisol, a stress-related hormone produced by the body in response to stress.
6 Music improves mood and decreases depression
Prescription for the blues
Music's ability to "heal the soul" is the stuff of legend in every culture. Many people find that music lifts their spirits. Modern research tends to confirm music's psychotherapeutic benefits5. Bright, cheerful music (e.g. Mozart, Vivaldi, bluegrass, Klezmer, Salsa, reggae) is the most obvious prescription for the blues.
References
- 1. Harmat L, Taka'cs J, Bo'dizs R. Music improves sleep quality in students. J Adv Nurs. 2008 May;62(3):327-35. PubMed
- 2. Lai HL, Good M. Music improves sleep quality in older adults. J Adv Nurs. 2005 Feb;49(3):234-44.
- 3. Labbe' E, Schmidt N, Babin J, Pharr M. Coping with stress: the effectiveness of different types of music. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2007 Dec;32(3-4):163-8. PubMed
- 4. Khalfa S, Bella SD, Roy M, Peretz I, Lupien SJ. Effects of relaxing music on salivary cortisol level after psychological stress. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Nov;999:374-6. PubMed
- 5. Maratos AS, Gold C, Wang X, Crawford MJ. Music therapy for depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Jan 23;(1):CD004517. Review. PubMed
- 6. Simpson SD, Karageorghis CI. The effects of synchronous music on 400-m sprint performance. J Sports Sci. 2006 Oct;24(10):1095-102. PubMed
- 7. Edworthy J, Waring H. The effects of music tempo and loudness level on treadmill exercise. Ergonomics. 2006 Dec 15;49(15):1597-610. PubMed
- 8. Copeland BL, Franks BD. Effects of types and intensities of background music on treadmill endurance. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 1991 Mar;31(1):100-3. PubMed
- 9. Jing L, Xudong W. Evaluation on the effects of relaxing music on the recovery from aerobic exercise-induced fatigue. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2008 Mar;48(1):102-6. PubMed
- 10. Ladenberger-Leo E. Effect of music on the general feeling of persons performing monotonous work. Med Pr. 1986;37(6):347-52. PubMed
- 11. Besson M, Schon D, Moreno S, Santos A, Magne C. Influence of musical expertise and musical training on pitch processing in music and language. Restor Neurol Neurosci. 2007;25(3-4):399-410. PubMed
- 12. Register D. The effects of an early intervention music curriculum on prereading/writing. J Music Ther. 2001 Fall;38(3):239-48. PubMed
- 13. Overy K. Dyslexia and music. From timing deficits to musical intervention. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Nov;999:497-505. PubMed
- 14. Spatial-Temporal Task Performance Jausovec N, Jausovec K, Gerlic I. The influence of Mozart's music on brain activity in the process of learning. Jausovec N, Jausovec K, Gerlic I. Clin Neurophysiol. 2006 Dec;117(12):2703-14. PubMed
- 15. Sarnthein J, vonStein A, Rappelsberger P, Petsche H, Rauscher FH, Shaw GL. Persistent patterns of brain activity: an EEG coherence study of the positive effect of music on spatial-temporal reasoning. Neurol Res. 1997 Apr;19(2):107-16. PubMed
- 16. Schmithorst VJ, Holland SK. The effect of musical training on the neural correlates of math processing: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in humans. Neurosci Lett. 2004 Jan 16;354(3):193-6. PubMed
- 17. Rauscher FH, Shaw GL, Levine LJ, Wright EL, Dennis WR, Newcomb RL. Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial-temporal reasoning. Neurol Res. 1997 Feb;19(1):2-8. PubMed
- 18. Schellenberg EG, Hallam S. Music listening and cognitive abilities in 10- and 11-year-olds: the blur effect. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2005 Dec;1060:202-9. PubMed
- 19. Mammarella N, Fairfield B, Cornoldi C. Does music enhance cognitive performance in healthy older adults? The Vivaldi effect. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2007 Oct;19(5):394-9. PubMed
- 20. Ho YC, Cheung MC, Chan AS. Music training improves verbal but not visual memory: cross-sectional and longitudinal explorations in children. Neuropsychology. 2003 Jul;17(3):439-50. PubMed
- 21. Patston LL, Hogg SL, Tippett LJ. Attention in musicians is more bilateral than in non-musicians. Laterality. 2007 May;12(3):262-72. PubMed
- 22. Kuhn D. The effects of active and passive participation in musical activity on the immune system as measured by salivary immunoglobulin A (SIgA). J Music Ther. 2002 Spring;39(1):30-9. PubMed
- 23. le Roux FH, Bouic PJ, Bester MM. The effect of Bach's magnificat on emotions, immune, and endocrine parameters during physiotherapy treatment of patients with infectious lung conditions. J Music Ther. 2007 Summer;44(2):156-68. PubMed
- 24. Kreutz G, Bongard S, Rohrmann S, Hodapp V, Grebe D. Effects of choir singing or listening on secretory immunoglobulin A, cortisol, and emotional state. J Behav Med. 2004 Dec;27(6):623-35. PubMed
- 25. Bernatzky G, Bernatzky P, Hesse HP, Staffen W, Ladurner G. Stimulating music increases motor coordination in patients afflicted with Morbus Parkinson. Neurosci Lett. 2004 May 6;361(1-3):4-8. PubMed
- 26. Rosenkranz K, Williamon A, Rothwell JC. Motorcortical excitability and synaptic plasticity is enhanced in professional musicians. J Neurosci. 2007 May 9;27(19):5200-6. PubMed
- 27. Fox JG, Embrey ED. Music - an aid to productivity. Appl Ergon. 1972 Dec;3(4):202-5. PubMed
- 28. Pavlygina RA, Frolov MV, Davydov VI, Milovanova GB, Sulimov AV. Recognition of visual images in a rich sensory environment: musical accompaniment. Neurosci Behav Physiol. 1999 Mar-Apr;29(2):197-204. PubMed
- 29. Siedliecki SL, Good M. Effect of music on power, pain, depression and disability. J Adv Nurs. 2006 Jun;54(5):553-62.
- 30. Nilsson U, Unosson M, Rawal N. Stress reduction and analgesia in patients exposed to calming music postoperatively: a randomized controlled trial. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2005 Feb;22(2):96-102. PubMed
- 31. Teng XF, Wong MY, Zhang YT. The effect of music on hypertensive patients. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2007;2007:4649-51 PubMed
- 32. Bernardi L, Porta C, Sleight P. Cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory changes induced by different types of music in musicians and non-musicians: the importance of silence. Heart. 2006 Apr;92(4):445-52. PubMed
- 33. Sarkamo T, Tervaniemi M, Laitinen S, Forsblom A, Soinila S, Mikkonen M, Autti T, Silvennoinen HM, Erkkila J, Laine M, Peretz I, Hietanen M. Free Full Text Music listening enhances cognitive recovery and mood after middle cerebral artery stroke. Brain. 2008 Mar;131(Pt 3):866-76. PubMe
- 34. Oelkers-Ax R, Leins A, Parzer P, Hillecke T, Bolay HV, Fischer J, Bender S, Hermanns U, Resch F. Butterbur root extract and music therapy in the prevention of childhood migraine: an explorative study. Eur J Pain. 2008 Apr;12(3):301-13. PubMed
- 35. Risch M, Scherg H, Verres R. [Music therapy for chronic headaches. Evaluation of music therapeutic groups for patients suffering from chronic headaches. Schmerz. 2001 Apr;15(2):116-25. German. PubMed
