Music as Medicine: How Music Can Benefit Wellbeing and Brain Functioning
Many people are unaware of the substantial benefits that listening to your favourite song, playing an instrument, or singing in the shower can have on our overall health and wellness. More and more research is highlighting music’s ability to reduce stress and anxiety and improve mood and emotional wellbeing. Did you know that listening to music can lower cortisol levels (a hormone associated with stress), promote relaxation, and generate feelings of happiness, motivation, and energy? Additionally, studies show that playing an instrument can also help you develop fine-motor skills and improve hand-eye coordination.
How does music increase mental health and wellness?
Stress Reduction: In addition to lowering cortisol levels, music can also lead to the release of ‘feel-good’ chemicals such as dopamine and endorphins which can enhance mood and feelings of happiness as well as help to relieve pain.
Mood Regulation: Different types of music can be used to regulate and stabilize mood; for example, slower more relaxing music can produce feelings of calm and tranquility, while faster more up-beat music can produce feelings of excitement and joy.
Emotional Expression: Music may allow individuals to communicate and process their emotions in a non-verbal way, which is particularly beneficial for those who struggle with describing or talking about their emotions.
Social Connection: Engaging in music with others, or connecting over music, can promote a sense of community and belonging as well as strengthen bonds between individuals, which is beneficial for overall mental health and wellness.
For these reasons and more, music therapies and interventions are receiving growing attention for their utility in addressing several different health conditions including anything from depression to autism, or even dementia. These music therapies represent a promising approach to improve wellbeing and overall psychological and social functioning by alleviating negative symptoms (such as loneliness and depressive mood) and improving quality of life.
Can Music Help Brain Functioning? You Bet!
In the case of dementia, for instance, individuals experience a steady decline in cognitive health, where individuals struggle to remember information, make decisions, and organize thoughts. This decline in cognitive abilities is due to a breakdown of different areas in the brain. An area of the brain called the hippocampus - which is responsible for our long-term memories and conceptual facts about the world - is typically the first to deteriorate. However, the part of the brain that is responsible for our memories regarding how to perform different actions and skills, such as playing an instrument, remains relatively intact until later in the disease progression.
Therefore, the ability to engage in music remains relatively preserved throughout the dementia disease process. In fact, individuals with dementia have been found capable of learning new music as well as recognizing and reproducing older, familiar songs! Not surprisingly, music therapies are increasingly documented to be incredibly beneficial for individuals living with dementia!
Music may provide an alternative medium of expression to compensate for dementia-related losses in verbal language.
As dementia can cause feelings of isolation and fear, music therapy (especially in a group) can create a sense of community, connection, and social support.
Engaging in music therapy (singing, dancing, instruments) can increase self-esteem and feelings of independence – which often decrease after a dementia diagnosis.
Overall, music provides several advantages for all individuals and music therapy programs are becoming widely recommended as they are inexpensive and widely accessible. For example, Voices in Motion is a community-based intergenerational choir for adults with memory loss, their care partners, as well as high school students. In addition to a joy-filled and learning-rich choral experience, all participants in the Voices in Motion choir benefit from participating in a professionally-directed choir and belonging to a supportive community where they experience inclusion, social connection, and support. To learn more about this unique choral experience, and how you or your loved one can get involved, visit their website at www.voicesinmotionchoirs.org.
If you are interested in learning more about dementia, as well as steps for promoting general brain health, visit Cynthia McDowell’s Speaker Page and get in touch about booking Cynthia for your next wellness initiative or event! Cynthia’s talk will provide the knowledge, tools, and motivation needed to promote your own brain health by breaking down the science and suggesting evidence-based and achievable lifestyle changes.
Written By:
Cindy McDowell, MSc. WellIntel Talks Co-Founder, Cognitive Health Researcher & Expert Speaker