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Einstein played violin and look how he turned out...on the greatest geniuses of the 20th century! |
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Music....the Best Medicine?
It sure does make your brain feel good!
Posted: 11/11/2009 12:11 PM
Jamie Boden
For most of my life music has always been around. When I was really young my uncle would play piano constantly, I had my first piano lesson when I was 5 years old, I starting playing clarinet in 5th grade, I played percussion in the high school marching band, I have played in the Hagerstown Municipal Band since 2004, and I was in choir while in college.
When I read research and news articles about the benefits of music on the human body and mind I am never surprised! Music has a wide range of benefits including: positive effects for children, patients with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Autism, depression, dyslexia, anxiety, cardiovascular problems, stroke, high blood pressure, mental disabilities, and many other conditions and diseases.
I found this article last week about how music improves brain function:
In this case for music to be beneficial, you can’t simply listen, you actually have to participate. Children who have had some musical training showed higher levels of memory, attention, verbal ability, and nonverbal reasoning. These improvements seem to be linked to changes in the child’s auditory cortex. This area in the brain helps to process sounds such as music and speech into useful information. Here is a picture of the location:
But, depending on what type of instrument you are studying different parts of the auditory cortex change. Each color in the picture defines a different area.
Another study in this article found that the greatest change in the auditory cortex occurs between the ages of 10-13. This means good things for children who start their musical experiences in middle school band. For most kids their first experience with instruments and performing music happen around this time.
The next article I found is more geared to the adults, while music is beneficial to children is that the only time in our lives that music can help us out?
Researchers found that music can help us remember things. In this case the pre-frontal cortex is involved. It tracks changes in the music as you listen. This area of the brain is also responsible for personality, cognitive behaviors, decision making, and social behavior. Here is a picture to show the location:
I know for me music is a great memory trigger. There are some songs that I hear and I could tell you when I first performed it, who was with me, what we were doing, what I was thinking about, or how it made me feel. I really do love this part because whenever you hear a song it’s like taking a trip down memory lane!
What I found most interesting about this article was the correlation between songs and Alzheimer’s patients. When you can’t remember anything else you will still remember the words to your favorite song and will be able to get joy from just tapping your foot!
To further look at the benefits of music to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and stroke patients there is this article:
I enjoy this article because I have read some of the book featured here called “Musicophilia” by Oliver Sacks. The book consists of different ways music has affected people and their lives. For those with Parkinson’s who commonly have problems with muscle spasms, which make moving around hard, music can help. As soon as they hear the beat they are able to move around and dance. This is a form a music therapy that has been widely used for years to improve the lives of people who could very well have no other way to improve their quality of life.
As far as those who have had a stroke usually this affects their motor skills. They could have problems writing, using hand-eye coordination, picking things up, etc. A music therapy that included performing in a percussion ensemble might help. The rhythm and repetitive movements help them to regain some of the motor skills they lost.
Music can also help less severe things such as depression and anxiety. I think most people could attest to this. Imagine you are having a horrible day and you turn your iPod on, or just start listening to the radio. As soon as you hear an upbeat song you start to feel better. Well it’s not just the music that helps you out; it’s your body’s response to the music. In response to the music your body produces neurotransmitters, or chemicals in the brain that can affect mood (among other things), such as norepinephrine or melatonin. These chemicals are often found in anti-depressants.
So is music the best medicine? I don’t think it’s the best medicine in every case, but it great medicine for you brain!
Music and the Brain
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