Music Helps Your Brain

How often do you listen to the music in a day? What kind of music do you like? Most of us like listening to music while we are doing something or just relaxing, and sometime we are listening to music to cheer us up. Even there are some people that feel like they can’t live without music. For me, I like listening to music to relax myself before going to bed or just to spend my time when I am getting bored. I often see there are so many people spend their money for music concert and also the other like to wear their headset in public area or public transportation then they will enjoy the music and maybe the feel everything goes better and fun, haha. By seeing those things at times make me curious about is there any good effects for our health from music? Or it just makes us enjoy our life without more benefits to our health? I tried to browse and find more about the benefits of listening to music and found that music has awesome effects for our brain! I make some awesome conclusions about them. Let me tell you..

“There is something about music and get involved in musical activities that seem to be very stimulating for the brain and body. Sing your favorite songs with family and friends, playing in a band or dance to music can also strengthen the bond with others,” said a neuroscientist, Dr Petr Janata from University of California, Davis.

1.    Reduce pain

Some studies have found that listening to music can reduce pain. Other studies have shown that music can be beneficial for patients with heart disease by reducing blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety.

Music therapy has also been shown to lift the spirits of patients with depression. Make your own music, either playing musical instruments or singing, may have a therapeutic effect as well.

When listening to or involved in the music that makes happy, relaxed, contemplative, the body will have deep relaxation effects such as sleep soundly, warm baths, and lower the overall stress levels.

2.    Improving brain ability

There are several studies that show how music can improve brain function. In one study, a clinical psychologist Charles Emery of Ohio State University studied the effects of music on people who listen during exercise regularly.

Emery and his team tested 33 men and women who are in the final weeks of a cardiac rehabilitation program. Each participant was tested for the ability to mentally after exercising without music and exercising with music.

As a result, the average score of the participants had more than doubled when listening to music after a workout without listening to music rather than after exercising. The selected music is Vivaldi's "The Four Season ". Previous research by other scientists showed that music helps lung disease patients so that their mental abilities can work better.

Emery suspects that the same benefits can be gained by listening to all kinds of music, not just classical music. He theorized that the "Four Seasons" can stimulate mental performance because of its complexity forcing the brain to regulate nerve transmission. "But other types of music may work better for some people. I do not think there is anything special on Vivaldi's music or classical music which will lead to increased brain function," said Emery.

3.    Improve intelligence 

Several other studies have described that listening to music is an effort that is more complex than it seems. The human brain sort out the tone, timing, and sequencing sounds to understand the music.

It is believed that the frontal lobe of the brain is stimulated and activated when listening to music. Because these areas are part of the brain associated with higher mental functions such as abstract thinking or planning.

Frances Rauscher, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh and colleagues found that listening to Mozart can increase people in the field of mathematical reasoning and spatial ability. In fact, mice that ran mazes faster and more accurately after hearing Mozart. According to Rauscher, Mozart piano sonata seems to stimulate the activity of three genes involved in nerve cell signaling in the brain.

Listening to music is one way to listen to music passively to obtain benefits for the brain. But a more stimulating brain activity and even increase IQ is playing or writing music. Children six years old who were taught music when compared with drama lessons or no instruction received additional 2-3 points in IQ.

Rauscher also found that after receiving music lessons for two years, children of pre - school scored better on tests of spatial reasoning compared with that following the computer lessons. But the benefits may not be the same for adults.

There are more benefits of listening to music for our health especially for brain. By reading those benefits it makes me want to listening to music more often haha. But I suggest you, if you are using headset when listening to music please watch out with the volume. You have to take care of your ears or you will not hear anything beside your music and will not hear when someone calls you, haha. Well, happy listening!