Music and Human Health

Music is a fundamental attribute of the human species. Virtually all cultures, from the most primitive to the most advanced, make music. It's been.
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Spotify has come to similar conclusions, and last year debuted Spotify Running in response to those findings, adding tech to its platform that tracks a runner's pace and curating a playlist of songs that match that pace. Music is a mood booster. Writing for Jweekly , Dr. Jerry Saliman, who is retired from the Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Medical Center, argued there are health benefits to singing out loud — particularly for the elderly.

Levitin's book was published in It came out in In addition, "Let's Get Physical: Related stories by this author. Dixie Chicks Tour: Wyatt Cenac and the history of comedy and social justice. Most recent Emmys If you don't like the way I look, and you don't want to see me, you close your eyes and I disappear. But if you don't like my voice and you're in the same room, then you cannot shut your ears in a natural way. Sound literally penetrates the human body.

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This human relationship to sound starts early. The fetus begins to develop an auditory system between seventeen and nineteen weeks. Already, we are in a world of sound, of breath and heartbeat, of rhythm and vibration. But how do we know what the fetus actually hears? Until recently, there were different theories. Some doctors thought that the fetus could hear only some frequencies, probably high ones. It certainly wasn't known whether we could hear and respond to music before birth until the groundbreaking research of Sheila Woodward, a South African, who wanted to know more about musical sound in the womb.

She was a young scientist in the early 's — and pregnant; she wondered what music her own child was being exposed to before birth. In her studies at the University of Capetown, she worked with the Institute of Maritime Technology to adapt an underwater microphone so it could be placed in the uterus. Her team came up with a tiny waterproof hydrophone, about two inches long, that doctors found safe enough to put inside the womb. As part of Woodward's research, this miniature microphone was inserted through the cervix into the uterus of a mother in early labor and placed alongside the neck of the unborn child.

The mic recorded exactly what was audible inside the uterus as Woodward played music, sang herself, and had the mother sing. As we listen to the recordings that Woodward conducted with several mothers in early stages of labor, we first hear the rhythmic sound of blood coursing through the uterine artery. Says Woodward, "Nature allows us to evolve with rhythm all around us," And her recordings reveal that a landscape of musical sound does indeed surround the fetus. Along with the natural womb sounds, we can hear the strains of a Bach Brandenburg Concerto being played, or the melody of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" as Woodward sings in a normal tone of voice.

The recordings show that the very high frequencies, like the sharp attack of an instrument, are attenuated and sound a bit muffled. The overall effect is like listening to music underwater. But when listening to the human voice, one can still detect whether it's a woman or a man. And the tonal quality of the voice comes through.

Proper growth and branching of dendrites is crucial for the functioning of the nervous system as these are the connections to other nerve cells. The defects in dendrite growth cause severe neuro- developmental disorders like mental retardation etc. Alfred Tomatis, the French otologist confirmed that the benefits of Baroque and classical compositions as fond by Retallack for plants applied on humans too.

The stringed instruments like violin, viola, and cello, promoted EEG or brainwave patterns associated with relaxing the muscle tension and calmness. Bulgarian psychologist George Lozanov found that backgroud Baroque instrumental music of Handel and J. Bach greatly increased the learning and memory retention during the teaching foreign language.

According to Indian Ayurveda and the Chinese system of traditional medicines, the music supplements treatments and gives emotional and mental strength during illnesses. The health and illness are referred to as harmony and disharmony respectively. Certain musical compositions have been fond of being beneficial for specific illness and disharmony. But the effects of specific music are different for different people. The music may alleviate the depression or illness, or it may be ineffective due to the dissimilar liking for music, personality or health differences and the context of listening etc.

The Chinese system assigns the characteristics like rate, width, strength, rhythm, regularity, elasticity, profile etc. These qualities are closely related to mind and emotions and cause changes in the physical, digestive and nervous system. The music has been found to affect the pulse. Ayurveda mentions the effects of different sounds on the different chakras physical levels as follows. This could be verified personally by listening to a drum with low frequency and a violin which among all instruments has the high frequency above Hz.

Most people find distinct physical sensation especially at the top of their heads with the higher violin notes. The deep bass notes are felt in the lower half or over the whole body. Every instrument can affect one or all emotions. The great composers achieve different effects by sound variations in musical content, key signatures, tempo, rhythm, loudness, melody, technique etc. The ancient Indian literature is known as Vedic literature.

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It encompasses all realms of life, both temporal or secular and sacred or religious. Most of the sacred literature in India consider Vedas as the source from which they have drawn inspiration from. The four Vedas are,. Gandharva Veda refers to Gandharvas as singers in the court of Gods with superb musical skills. In the absence of written accounts, the oral tradition has preserved the Vedas and the ancient music in its completeness. The ancient sages discovered the intrinsic spirit of the frequencies of nature within their consciousness and reflected it through music.

These sounds match with the basic rhythms and melodies of nature and create balance and harmony in environment and health. This ancient classical music is used in Ayurveda, where the components of rags or melodies and layas or rhythms are used to rectify the imbalances or doshas.

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Certain melodies or Ragas could induce the plant to blossom. It finds an association of different sounds with different species and different natural phenomenon. It says that every environment is composed of sound vibrations which resonate with other sounds. It increases total brain functioning, as the scientific studies also prove the influence of this music on the areas of consciousness, behavior, and physiology. By integrating the brain functions it produces a state of relaxation and promotes the experience of bliss. It decreases tension, irritability, and lethargy.

The increased mental activity leads to an experience of finer states of awareness. Ayurveda treats the symptoms and takes into consideration every aspect of the person; body, mind, and soul. It has different methods to restore the body by balancing all the five senses.

The massage works through the sense of touch; food, spices, and herbs restore the sense of taste; aroma oils influence the sense of smell; watching natural beauties satisfy the sense of sight, and Gandharva Veda music harmonizes the physiology by the sense of hearing. This music can change pulse rate, blood circulation, blood pressure, metabolism, and respiration. So it is being used as a treatment to alleviate and decrease the need for pain medication and anesthesia. It promotes balance, inner peace, better health and neutralizes stress when played at home or at the workplace.

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It creates harmony within discordant things whether animate or inanimate. The benefits do not depend upon the personal taste or musical background. It is for all lands, all times and all men. It goes beyond physical relaxation and attunes the mind and body with the cycles of Nature. It uses the sounds of nature to promotes happiness and peace when played at certain time for certain duration.

The particular quality or Rasa of each Raga or melody have different characteristics like courage, self-confidence, wisdom and happiness. There are certain rules to practice music to heal the body and soul. The different Ragas are played at their appropriate time based on three-hour periods called Praharas which correspond to the changing frequencies of Nature throughout the day.

A particular melody at night brings harmony between body, nature, and soul, while it produces negative effects at other time. These melodies at performed at a proper time of the day featuring various instruments such as the sitar, flute etc. Listen to the music in a relaxed sitting position or lying down with closed eyes. The ragas are ideal for relaxation in the evening to induce sleep, or to take a break from work. One can listen to it anywhere to get relaxed and recharged.

Even in the absence of listener, play the music for 24 hours a day at home or workplace to generate peace in the entire atmosphere. The Vedic music affects the consciousness, behavior, physiology, and environment. The following studies scientifically prove its authenticity to influence the physical and mental health of the individual. The researchers in the US analyzed the electric potential energy of the brain during the listening of Vedic music and found that the frequencies between the range of 4—8 increased.

Another study in the US too confirmed that the music balanced physiology decreased tension and irritability, caused less lethargy and increased the activity of the brain. Singh proved the effects of sounds on the metabolism of plant cells. He found that the plant protoplasm moved faster under sound effects.

He proved that the Gandharva Veda music affects the growth, flowering, fruiting, and seed-yields of plants. The Sound and Music of Plants De Vorss and Company, documented the research that the monotonous rock music played for several hours destroyed the plants. The Western classical music had mixed effects, while the plants flourished in Gandharva Veda music. The Secret Life of Plants Harper and Row, also documented the research that the plants close to the source of the sound of Gandharva Veda music virtually embraced the loudspeaker, while they moved away from the source of hard-rock music.

The American Society of Hypertension has confirmed that the 30 minutes listening to classical, Celtic or raga music every day significantly reduce high blood pressure. The researchers in England monitored the breathing, heart beats, and blood pressure after six types of music like rap, pop, classical etc. The lively music increased the heart and breathing rates, which slowed down with slow music and became normal during the pauses.

The personal liking did not matter. Not the style, but the tempo and pace caused the greatest effect on relaxation. A daily dose of favorite music like pop, classical, jazz etc. The melodic intonation therapy of speaking in a musical manner promotes recovery from aphasia of prolonged stroke patients. The playing and listening to music have positive effects on the brain. It makes one happier and productive at all stages of life and could delay the aging of the brain. Listening to music after stroke not only promotes behavioral recovery but also induces fine-grained neuro-anatomical changes in brain recovery.

Music activates several regions of the brain, including auditory, motor, limb and emotions. The emotional and cognitive benefits of music are due to these activations. Music can help migraine and chronic headache sufferers reduce the intensity, frequency, and duration of the headaches.

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The music makes one smarter and the listening or playing an instrument helps in better learning. The classical music including Mozart increases the performance in reasoning tests. But the new findings prove that any personally enjoyable music has similar effects. Listening to the relaxing classical music improves the duration and intensity of concentration in all age groups and ability levels.

The choice of music may vary from person to person. Music is beneficial for the children with attention deficit or hyperactivity disorder and benefits in mathematics tests. It increases emotional intelligence and helps to recall the autobiographical or episodic information. It alleviates depression, anxiety, and agitation by improving brain functions.

The music causes measurable changes in certain neurotransmitters and stimulates the formation of brain chemicals. It increases the neurotransmitter dopamine, a motivation molecule of pleasure which is also derived from eating chocolate, orgasm etc. The formation of brain hormone oxytocin gets stimulated by playing group music and enjoying live musical concerts.

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This trust or moral hormone helps in trusting and forms a bond with others. It makes the people more generous and trustworthy. The familiar music of youthful days reawakens and lights them up. They even start singing and the musical memories seem to outweigh other memories. The simultaneous action of the left and right brain maximizes learning and retention of information.

The information being studied activates the left brain, while the music activates the right brain. Mozart's music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activates both sides of the brain in unison. The playing of an instrument or singing helps the brain to process more information. The memory or information learned through particular songs could be recalled by mentally playing those songs. Music training is more beneficial than listening. The children learning music have a better memory than others.


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The music devoid of the vocal element is more helpful as the words divert the attention. In Finland, the verbal memory and attention improved by listening to music for hours a day. The musical keyboard training increased the math reasoning ability of infants. The classical music improved visual attention and aided the children suffering from delayed development, by increasing the synchronization of hands and eyes.

Music activates the whole brain. The brain scans prove that the brains of professional musicians are more symmetrical. The parts responsible for motor control, auditory processing, and spatial coordination are larger and different from others. Even the broad band of nerve fibers that enables the two hemispheres of the brain to communicate with each other is also larger.


  1. 'The Power Of Music' To Affect The Brain : NPR.
  2. Music and health;
  3. Back-of-the-Envelope Physics (Johns Hopkins Paperback).
  4. Introduction.

    5. The free music streaming service Spotify is a great place to listen to music for better mood, learning, or concentration. It has a decent collection of the songs for the brain. The Zen12 Meditation in mood genre has several sub-genres like happy, psyched, melancholic etc. There are playlists for acoustic concentration, noise, Zen focus, deep focus, intense studying and natural concentration. The Johns Hopkins School of Education has the top music for focus, concentration, creativity, reflection and active learning.