The Brain-Music Connection:
Experts are trying to understand how our brains can hear and play music. A stereo system puts out vibrations that travel through the air and somehow get inside the ear canal. These vibrations tickle the eardrum and are transmitted into an electrical signal that travels through the auditory nerve to the brain stem, where it is reassembled into something we perceive as music. Researchers have had dozens of jazz performers and rappers improvise music while lying down inside an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) machine to watch and see which areas of their brains light up. Music can…
- Change your ability to preceive time
- Tap into primal fear
- Reduce seizures
- Make you a better communicator
- Make you stronger
- Boost your immune system
- Assist in repairing brain damage
- Make you smarter
- Evoke memories
It Can Lead To Better Learning:
Doctors recommend that you listen to music to stimulate your brain. Scientists know that listening to music engages your brain — they can see the active areas light up in MRI scans. Researchers now know that just the promise of listening to music can make you want to learn more. In one 2019 study, people were more motivated to learn when they expected to listen to a song as their reward.
It Can Help Treat Mental Illness:
Music literally changes the brain. Neurological researchers have found that listening to music triggers the release of several neurochemicals that play a role in brain function and mental health:
- Dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure and “reward” centers
- Stress hormones like cortisol
- Serotonin and other hormones related to immunity
- Oxytocin, a chemical that fosters the ability to connect to others
Although more research needs to be done to understand precisely how music can be used therapeutically to treat mental illness, some studies trusted source suggest that music therapy can improve the quality of life and social connectedness for people with schizophrenic disorder.
It Will Help Lower Anxiety:
There’s lots of evidence that listening to music will help calm you in situations where you might feel anxious. Studies trusted source has shown that people in rehab after a stroke are more relaxed once they’ve listened to music for an hour. Similar studies trusted source indicate that music blended with nature sounds help people feel less anxious. Even people facing critical illness trusted source feel less anxiety after music therapy. There’s conflicting evidence about whether listening to music has an effect on your body’s physiological stress response, however.
One study trusted source indicated that the body releases less cortisol, a stress hormone when people listen to music. This same study referenced previous research stating that music had little measurable effect on cortisol levels. One recent study trusted source that measured several indicators of stress (not just cortisol) concluded that while listening to music before a stressful event doesn’t reduce anxiety, listening to relaxing music after a stressful event can help your nervous system recover faster.
It Helps The Symptoms Of Depression:
A 2017 research review trusted source concluded that listening to music, particularly classical combined with jazz, had a positive effect on depression symptoms, especially when there were several listening sessions conducted by board certified music therapists. Not into jazz or the classics? You may want to try a group percussion session instead. The same research review found that drum circles also had above-average benefits for people dealing with depression.
Music Makes Children Better Students:
Many schools have cut music programs due to loss of funding, and this is widely believed by parents and educators to be a big mistake. Music, whether taught in or outside of school, helps students excel in the following ways:
It Helps The Symptoms Of Depression:
A 2017 research review trusted source concluded that listening to music, particularly classical combined with jazz, had a positive effect on depression symptoms, especially when there were several listening sessions conducted by board certified music therapists. Not into jazz or the classics? You may want to try a group percussion session instead. The same research review found that drum circles also had above-average benefits for people dealing with depression.
Music Makes Children Better Students:
Many schools have cut music programs due to loss of funding, and this is widely believed by parents and educators to be a big mistake. Music, whether taught in or outside of school, helps students excel in the following ways:
- Improved language development
- Improved test scores
- Increased brain connectivity
- Increased spatial intelligence
- Modest increase in IQ
- Perhaps counterintuitively, music will help students excel in science.
- Spatial intelligence, for example, helps students understand how things work together.
Hello, my name is Albert Barkley. I am a freelance article writer and often write articles on social and tech issues. 
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