“My BRAIN is alive . . . with the Sound of Music.”
Apologies to Rodgers & Hammerstein and Julie Andrews . . . but it’s TRUE!
Prepare your brain for a bountiful flood of new research on how music can “Change the Brain.” For years, music therapy experts, caregiving professionals and family members have known, from personal experience, that music does something – or a combination of somethings – to improve health and elevate mood. But, the nature of that something remained mysterious.
What plausible mechanisms might explain the benefits of music? How can art – either creating it or appreciating it – actually change biological functions? Music is a form of art that seems too ethereal and insubstantial to be equated with medicine. For some, art doesn’t seem scientific enough to be taken seriously as a medical intervention.
Fortunately, or maybe finally, the study of art and the brain has become a hot research topic. Music, in particular, is being explored from a variety of angles and the “something” that contributes to health and wellness is being identified. For example, an article by Mona Lisa Chanda and Daniel Levitin of McGill University with a purposeful title, The Neurochemistry of Music, explored how music influences the expression of a variety of important biological systems.
This kind of rigorous research will eventually provide the foundation of evidence the health care industry needs to make the strategic delivery of music and art an integral part of every wellness program.
Breakthrough books such as Levitin’s “This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession” and “Musicophilia” by Oliver Sacks have provided popular overviews of the power of music and persuasive scientific evidence continues to accumulate. As this surge of research findings are assembled, it reveals a widening range of biological functions that are profoundly influenced by music.
The evolution of music research may have reached an irreversible public awareness tipping point with the March-April 2015 issue of the popular Scientific American Mind magazine. The cover story Music Can Heal the Brain signals that the discussion has moved from wondering if to explaining how.
It is encouraging to note that a growing number of groups are exploring how to translate the emerging scientific insights into practical programs. In 2012, for example, Oliver Sacks and Dr. Bill Thomas put their considerable weight behind the documentary film, Alive Inside directed by Michael Rosario-Bennett.
The film tells the story of Alzheimer’s patients, like Henry, who are brought back to life through music. The film follows the efforts of Dan Cohen, founder of Music & Memory, to provide iPods and headphones for elders who seemed to be lost to dementia. This elegantly simple access to meaningful music touched something within these elders. They were alive again with the sound of music and millions of viewers were able to witness how music combats memory loss and provides people with prolonged periods of profound joy.
MINDRAMP, like everyone else who saw this award-winning documentary film, was inspired and moved. We have integrated the topic of music as medicine into our MINDRAMP projects, including “The Aging Mind” gerontology course and have produced a number of teaching videos on the subject (“The Neurochemistry of Music” / “The Power of Music”).
We recognize that individual strands of scientific evidence still need to be wound together into solid cords of understanding. These cords then need to be woven together to create the sturdy fabric of a compelling, evidence-based narrative that can be understood by scientists, health care providers and the general public alike. But, progress is being made.
So, what’s over the horizon? We fully believe that the construction of a music intervention research pathway is well underway. We also believe that music research will provide a blueprint for other non-pharmaceutical, sensory-based cognitive interventions. This spring term, we will be exploring the health benefits of music and other sensory interventions with the launch of a pair of new college gerontology courses, “Cognitive Activity Design” and “Arts & Cognitive Activity Design.” In the later, we will be investigating the unique benefits of the full range of art domains. For more information about these online courses contact us at www.mindramp.org.
Vanessa says
March 29, 2015 at 8:01 pmI really enjoyed this article! I am an Aging 200 student at the Erickson school of aging and I love this post because I’ve always felt that music has a healing aspect. Growing up, I always had music playing in my home (along with piano lessons for me and my two sisters). We also occasionally sang in the gospel choir at church which prompted many “forced” rehearsals. Although we never really wanted to practice, by the time we were actually rehearsing, we would sing beyond the required time. I really feel like it brought us closer as a family. My uncle also tried to teach some of us how to play the violin. Again, something that kept our family closer and I think helped keep our brains growing. While I think this article is very fascinating at the same time I am not surprised….music has the power to provoke emotions and re-kindle memories. It can also be used in some therapy methods. Music is used to soothe a baby so it makes sense to have a positive result on adults who have dementia. Even if the ability to achieve ADLs is a challenge for someone who has dementia, music could provide a less stressful environment for one who may get frustrated easily.
Broderick Smith says
March 29, 2015 at 7:41 pmHello, I am also a AGNG 200 student. This science is really eye opening and I would love watching it progress to see how in depth we can go with music to help memory loss. I love music for its limitless unique genres and songs. I typically use different kinds of music for different activities like instrumental for studying and jazz for chilling. Its absolutely breathtaking how far science can go and apply music to help diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. I would like to see if different kinds of music have a better affect than others for memory loss.
Rafik says
March 29, 2015 at 7:16 pmI am an Aging 200 student at the Erickson school of aging. It fascinates me how much music affects our brain. Science keeps finding more and more about music and its benefits to the human brain. I recently read an article about how alpha and beta waves are generated when listening to a certain type of music and helping us concentrate. I find it very interesting that such a simple act (listening to music) could help patients with dementia.
ACha says
March 29, 2015 at 5:02 pmHello I am an Aging 200 student at Erickson School of Aging and I also find this topic very intriguing. I did hear about some studies about music and how it can impact the brain and memory. This topic came up because my parents always told me not to listen to music while doing homework. After reading this it just reassures me that music does have a profound effect on our cognitive abilities. It is interesting to find out how much music can actually help us. It is amazing to think about how music helps patients with Alzheimer’s and Dementia as well. I’m excited to see what further research will reveal about this study.
Jairus Lyles says
March 29, 2015 at 1:47 pmI am an Aging 200 student at the Erickson school of aging, and I always knew music and health could play hand in hand. I am someone who loves music and appreciates its value, and the effect it has on people. There are many different types of music i listen to that can change my mood r depending on my mood is what type of music i listen to and it helps me relax, wake up, or “get hype”. Its just amazing to see the connection that Alzheimer’s and dementia, has with music. For some people certain music brings back memories and happy times or the opposite, but it shows you that through music you can improve that area in your mind where Alzheimer’s and dementia effects you. I am very interested to see how this topic creates more evidence and broadens up in the future.
AGNG 200 student at the Erickson School of Aging says
March 29, 2015 at 12:20 pmI really agree with this article because I love music and have read numerous articles on my own explaining how music affects memory. When I read the title of the article I immediately thought about the Alive Inside documentary and I was excited to see it get mentioned in the article. I believe music has the power to uplift and inspire, because I was in a music production all throughout middle school. I remember how happy and excited the teachers directing the show would get when talking to us about music from their era, and how timeless some of the songs were. I feel as thought music is going to allow for extreme understanding of how mental illnesses such as dementia, and Alzheimer’s effect the brain and how they can be reversed.
LaurenG says
March 26, 2015 at 6:12 pmHi! I am an Aging 200 student at the Erickson school of aging and I love this post because I am a life-long believer in the power of music. Raised by parents and a grandmother who appreciate the value of good music and taught me and my brothers the value of music. When studying, I tend to put lessons to songs, which help me remember the topics better and to this day, I can remember songs that I memorized about mathematics and science lessons from more than 5 years ago. Music has a transitive effect that can take anyone on a journey, so to see the connections that it can make with Alzheimer’s and dementia patients is really awesome and as research improves, being able to see the connections within the brain, it will be interesting to see the evidence it creates. It is absolutely fascinating to read that music is proving to help with memory loss and can create a sense of joy with dementia patients and I am looking forward to seeing future research on the topic.
Paul Bailey says
March 7, 2015 at 4:13 amI think that this is a beautiful example of science following experience. I can’t imagine any other outcome of this research other than to ‘prove’ what most good care facilities have known for years, that for many people, including people living with advanced dementia music is the ONLY thing that still makes sense. In the UK there is an ever increasing number of homes with their own choirs, karaoke is becoming common as the technology becomes more reliable and less expensive, and visiting musical performers are ubiquitous. For a brilliant example of music and dementia see
http://wigmore-hall.org.uk/learning/music-for-life