Is Music Medicinal? You Bet!
By Nurse Mary
Music been employed for thousands of years to help the ill. Even though modern medicine is just starting to understand how it works, studies have revealed that if you play a piece — like Mozart — at a certain slow beat, the listener will adapt their heart rhythm to the beat of the music.
At the University of Munich, researchers found that critically ill patients required fewer sedative drugs when they listened to one hour of Mozart piano sonatas. As expected, the patients’ blood pressures and heart rates eased with the music. However, what they found really surprising was that patients also showed a 50 per cent spike in pituitary growth hormone, which is known to stimulate healing. It was seen that music can have a positive effect on both neural functions and hormonal activity, and therefore can influence the body's own immune and regenerative processes. The Cleveland Clinic doctors also have found that music can calm, influence creativity and energise.
Studies have revealed that music has the power to enhance higher brain function, such as reading and literacy skills, spatial-temporal reasoning, emotional intelligence and mathematical abilities (even children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder benefit from listening to music before mathematics tests). Although in the past it has been thought that listening to classical music, particularly Mozart, enhances performance on cognitive tests, recent findings show that listening to any music that is personally enjoyable has positive effects on cognition.
Beyond the biomedical explanations of the physiological changes brought about through music's influence, it has been found that certain forms of music can play an invaluable part in supporting our complex, personal, human needs. Music can assist in bringing about meaningful encounters with each other; it can deepen spiritual connections and offer emotional support during intense personal suffering. Often overlooked is the overall state of one’s mental health, especially regarding the effects of stress and the toll it takes on the human body. Stress places mental strains on us, which can be better managed by using music to ‘soothe the soul’. Music has a very positive impact on our brain and its functionality. Therefore, music can play a vital role in improving a person’s ability to manage stress more effectively.
Countless studies have shown that music's relaxing effects can be seen on anyone, including newborns. Music can promote relaxation of tense muscles, enabling you to easily release some of the tension you carry from a stressful day. It can help you get ‘into the zone’ when practicing yoga, self hypnosis or guided imagery. It can help you feel energised when exercising as well as recover after exercising and help dissolve the stress while you're soaking in the tub. Researchers have also discovered that upbeat happy tunes can decrease the amount of the cortisol released during times of stress, which can take your mind off what stresses you, and help you feel more optimistic and positive.
Modern research tends to confirm music's physiological and psychotherapeutic benefits. Bright, cheerful music is the most obvious prescription for the blues, whereas slow quiet classical music reduces heart rate, breathing, anxiety and pain and reduces stress. However, do keep in mind that listening to too much pop and hard rock music can make you more jittery than energised. Vary what you listen to and take notice to what type of music is most beneficial for you.
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