Music can have a profound impact on the psyche and body of
any individual. It has been used since decades to heal the human mind and soul.
Getting musical training at a young age can help a child develop brain areas
that are involved in reasoning and language. According to experts, the
development of brain continues for several years after birth. With the right
training, music can actually wire the circuits of the brain in a certain
manner. Information on young minds can get imprinted if you try to link
familiar songs to new information.
Music has a special power to move us and stir our emotions.
Anyone who has ever wiped tears away from their eyes listening to their
favorite sad song will know how powerful simple notes and chords can be. Now,
scientific studies have shown that music really can change our mood and even
help us concentrate. We look at the effects music can have, and we ask the
experts what songs are likely to help you run a race, prepare for an exam or
relieve stress.
Spatial intelligence and music share a causal link. Spatial
intelligence is the ability of perceiving the world in an accurate manner. It
can help you in the formation of mental picture of things and the visualization
of various elements that can go together. Music has so many advantages that it
has also been included in the health care field. You must have heard of music
therapy which is used for healing children with ADD and cancer patients. It is
also effective in pain management, curing depression, easing muscle pain and
promoting easy movement.
Listening to a song can have a real effect on various parts
of the brain, with studies showing that areas responsible for aspects, such as
memory and vision, can 'light up' in response to music. 'There's a very wide
range of reactions in the body and mind to music, and brain imaging studies
have shown that various parts of the brain may be activated by a piece of
music,' says Dr Victoria Williamson, lecturer in psychology at Goldsmith's
College, London. 'For example, a recent study in Canada showed that there's a
real causal relationship between music and the reward system, a core part of
the brain that reacts to stimuli, which are good for us – food, light, sex for
example – and reinforces these behaviors meaning that we do them more.'
Music therapy has gained a lot of
popularity as an effective tool for health. It is surprising how it can have
powerful effects on the mind and body. Some of the advantages that become to be
a great power of music for you are as follows.
·
Affecting the Brain Waves
According to studies it has been proven that your brainwaves
can get stimulated with strong beats. The stimulation takes place to resonate
in sync with the beat. Sharp beats ensure sharp concentration and it can help
you attain a meditative and calm state. It has also been proven that any change
in the activity level of the brainwaves caused by music, enables the brain to
shift speed as required. This means that even after you have stopped listening
to music; it can have lasting effects on your state of mind.
Due to alternations taking place in
brainwaves, other bodily functions also get affected. Functions like heart rate
and breathing that are controlled by the autonomic nervous system can be altered
with music. This can result in slow heart rate, relaxation response and slow
breathing. This is the reason why music can play a vital role in preventing the
damages of chronic stress and promoting health. You can also ensure positive
thinking without depression with the help of music therapy.
● Mood
Boost
Everyone reacts to music in different ways. One individual
may love heavy metal for example, while another is happiest listening to
Mozart.
Whatever your preference, a 2011 Canadian study, published
in Nature Neuroscience has shown that plugging in to your favorite music could
help melt away a bad mood.
Researchers at McGill University in Montreal showed that
listening to pleasurable music of any description induced 'musical chills',
which triggered the release of the feel-good chemical dopamine.
'We all know from our own individual experiences that
listening to music can affect mood,' says Bridget O'Connell, head of
information at the mental health charity Mind.
'Some people listen to music for a boost on a tough day,
while others might use music to keep them awake during a long car journey or to
purge a negative feeling.
'The brain is very complicated – and there are many elements
involved in feelings of pleasure – but it's unsurprising that research suggests
dopamine release is linked with feelings of pleasure induced by music.'
· Focus
Music may even be able to help you concentrate. A new
'digital tonic' called Ubrain, which can be downloaded onto Smartphone, claims
to be able to help people focus, energize, and wake up as well as relax. The
process uses two different beats in each ear to create a third 'perceived' beat
(a binaural beat), which can stimulate certain activity in the brain. 'By
helping the brain cortex to generate specific brain waves, we can induce
different states of alertness, depending on what we aim to do,' explains
Paris-based clinical psychologist Brigitte Forgeot. 'If we're feeling anxious or stressed, we can encourage our cerebral cortex to produce slow
alpha-frequency brain waves, while on the other end of the scale, if we help
our cortex to produce faster beta waves, we will be better equipped to
concentrate and focus our attention on a fairly lengthy task.'
·
Pick Up the Pace
Listening to certain music could actually help you run
faster. A study at Brunel University in West London has shown that music can
help increase endurance by as much as 15 per cent, helping to lower the
perception of effort during exercise, as well as increasing energy efficiency
by between one and three per cent. The best choices for exercise are up-beat
songs that match the tempo of your running stride and which can have a
metronomic effect on the body, enabling you to run for longer.
Better Mental Health
Music can be an effective and positive treatment for people
dealing with mental health conditions. 'There are two distinct ways music
therapy is used: either as a means of communication and self-expression or for
its inherent restorative or healing qualities,' says Bridget O'Connell. 'Someone
who is very withdrawn may find that music can act as an outlet for expressing
things that they're unable to put into words. It can also act as a stimulus to
awaken buried memories or evoke emotional responses that may take weeks to
achieve with talking
therapies.'
De-stress
Music can be a great pick-me-up for when you are feeling
stressed.
According to 2011 figures from the mental health charity Mind, nearly a third of people plugged into their music players
to give them a mood boost about work, and almost one in four said that they
find listening to music on the way to the workplace helps them de-stress.
Paul Farmer, the charity's CEO, backs up the statistics by
saying that the therapeutic benefits of listening to music are well-known.
Tuning in to one of your favorite songs can be incredibly
soothing and help to reduce anxiety.
Patient
Care
Music can actually have a significant positive impact on
patients with long-term illnesses, such as heart
disease, cancer and respiratory
conditions.
Numerous trials have shown that music can help lower heart rate,
blood
pressure and help relieve pain, anxiety and
improve patient quality of life.
'Music can be incredibly useful for somebody who is in a
situation where they have lost a lot of control from their external environment
– say they are in hospital for a long period of time with a serious illness and
less able to move around,' says Dr Williamson.
'It can give them a sense of control back, as well as
creating a calm personal atmosphere and blocking out some of the disturbances
around the patient.'
WWhich Music?
While there are certain trends – fast upbeat music for
exercising and slower-paced music to relax – choosing songs that have the
desired effect is often linked to personal preference.
'The effect of different types of music on mood will largely
depend on people's individual preference and experience,' says Bridget
O'Connell.
'If you grow up with rock music, you might not find
classical music uplifting at all. On the flipside, some people can't bear rock
music, so they are more likely to be wound up than uplifted.
'Music can also invoke particular memories for people,
including some that could potentially make them upset. On the other hand, it
could also bring them out of a severely withdrawn state or act as a form of
communication in place of words.'
There are some rules of thumb
though, admits Dr Williamson. 'For a general rule, if you want to relax you
should choose songs with slower tempo, less key changes and more predictable
structure.'
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