The 5 Science-Backed Benefits of Music
Think about the last movie you watched – did the soundtrack and effects greatly determined the mood and experience you had? One excellent example would be horror movies, without the sound effects the movies just seem far less thrilling.
Besides stimulating moods, music also has an array of other advantages. The best part is that there is actual science behind the benefits of music. From improving moods to easing pain, read on to find out the science-backed benefits of music.
1. Ease Pain
In our fast-paced and modern lifestyle, it is common to hear complaints of muscle and joint pains. As the search for your next pain-reliever or cure continues, why not try listening to music
Plenty of studies have supported the claims that music helps eases pain.
In a study conducted by Frontiers in Psychology[1], fibromyalgia patients (people who suffer from widespread musculoskeletal pain) when exposed to 10 minutes of their preferred music, as opposed to pink noise (music with a lower frequency than white noise) the patients experienced less pain. Besides easing their pain, music also increased their mobility.
Hence, if you happen to find yourself with a pain so intense that no medication seems to help, music might be your best bet.
2. Enhance blood vessel function, better cardiovascular health
Besides relieving you of pain, music can also improve your overall health while enhancing your next cardio session.
Scientists[2] found out that when patients listen to music, the emotions that they experience have a healthy effect on blood vessel function. The happy emotions they felt resulted in increased blood flow to their blood vessels. This, in turn, betters your cardiovascular health.
For your next exercise session try including some tunes as it can help you cultivate positive feelings towards exercise, better your blood circulation all while easing your aches!
All the more reasons to create your own exercise playlist!
3. Reduce stress, symptoms of depression
Just like exercise, music can actually aid in picking your mood up. In this study published in the Journal of Music Therapy[3], particularly relaxing music like Pachelbel’s Canon in D which has been shown to decrease anxiety levels, even more so than ingesting midazolam, an anesthetic medication.
Thus, it is an effective way to relieve physiological stress. So much so that, according to an article in the European Journal of Internal Medicine[4], music has been increasingly included as a therapeutic tool in treatment coining the term “Mozart effect”.
As with the term, the type of music you listen to matters. Classical and meditative are more effective, heavy metal and techno can actually make things worse
4. Elevate mood
If music can effectively reduce stress, symptoms of depression then surely it can cheer you up. A recent study published in Frontiers of Psychology[5] revealed that one of the reasons why participants listened to music was because it improved their mood.
How so? It’s because music can actually induce the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter (chemical signals) that provides the feelings of pleasure and happiness. In this study published in the journal Nature of Neuroscience[6], certain classical tunes caused folks to get the chills, which in turn led to the release of dopamine.
5.Improve sleep quality
Multiple studies have also pointed to music’s ability to improve sleep quality. In a study[7] done on 94 students, with one group listening to classical music and the other listening to a audiobook, the group listening to classical music had statistically improved sleep quality.
So the next time you are having trouble sleeping, include a relaxing, classical music in the background before your night routine. Be it getting a nightly relaxing massage, you can be sure music will amplify the soothing effects.
[1] Garza-Villarreal, Eduardo A., et al. “Music Reduces Pain and Increases Functional Mobility in Fibromyalgia.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 5, 2014, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00090.
[2] Harvard Medical School. 2009. Using music to tune the heart. Available: https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/using-music-to-tune-the-heart [Accessed 17.04.2018]
[3] Knight, W. E. J., and N. S. Rickard. “Relaxing Music Prevents Stress-Induced Increases in Subjective Anxiety, Systolic Blood Pressure, and Heart Rate in Healthy Males and Females.” Journal of Music Therapy, vol. 38, no. 4, 2001, pp. 254–272., doi:10.1093/jmt/38.4.254.
[4] Cervellin, Gianfranco, and Giuseppe Lippi. “From Music-Beat to Heart-Beat: A Journey in the Complex Interactions between Music, Brain and Heart.” European Journal of Internal Medicine, vol. 22, no. 4, 2011, pp. 371–374., doi:10.1016/j.ejim.2011.02.019.
[5] Schäfer, Thomas, et al. “The Psychological Functions of Music Listening.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 4, 2013, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00511.
[6] alimpoor, Valorie N, et al. “Anatomically Distinct Dopamine Release during Anticipation and Experience of Peak Emotion to Music.” Nature Neuroscience, vol. 14, no. 2, 2011, pp. 257–262., doi:10.1038/nn.2726.
[7] Harmat, László, et al. “Music Improves Sleep Quality in Students.” Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 62, no. 3, 2008, pp. 327–335., doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04602.x.
