Music and Health
Bradley McEwen | PhD , MHSc ( Hum Nutr ), BHSc , ND ( Adv ), DBM , DNutr , DSM , M . ATMS , Naturopath , Nutritionist , and Mentor . Adjunct Senior Lecturer , School of Health and Human Sciences , Southern Cross University .
Abstract
Music plays a vital role in optimising health . This literature review identified numerous health benefits , including higher levels of wellbeing , cognitive function , a sense of purpose and fulfilment , good quality of life , social cohesion , empowerment , self-expression , personal development , improved motor skills , immune system enhancement and reductions in stress , anxiety , and depression associated with performing and listening to music .
Introduction
Lifestyle medicine is the foundation for optimum health . 1 Music holds an important place in the history and social structure of every world culture . 2 People have produced and enjoyed music throughout human history and across all cultures . 3 Throughout the centuries , music has been used to raise the spirit of people . 4 The ancient Greeks already recognised the power of music in eliciting mental and physical wellbeing . 4 Plato declared musical training a more potent instrument than any other because ‘ rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul ’. 4 Music is closely associated with other creative behaviours , such as dancing . 5 This snapshot of the literature aims to introduce some of the health benefits of music .
Music
Music is one of the richest human emotional , sensorimotor , and cognitive experiences . 6 It involves listening , feeling , moving , coordinating , watching , remembering , and expecting musical elements . Music is frequently accompanied by emotions of joy , happiness , bittersweet feelings , sadness or even overwhelming bodily reactions like tears in the eyes or shivers down the spine . 6 Music therapy is a wellestablished approach to treating a range of health issues , such as mental health , speech pathologies , and social and behavioural difficulties in adults and children . 7 Musical leisure activities , including playing an instrument , listening to music , and creating music , stimulate various cognitive functions . 8
Musical stimuli have been shown to activate specific pathways in several brain areas associated with emotional behaviours , such as the insular and cingulate cortex , hypothalamus , hippocampus , amygdala , and prefrontal cortex . 5 In addition , neurochemical studies have suggested that music stimulates several biochemical mediators , such as endorphins , dopamine , endocannabinoids , and nitric oxide . 5 There is also evidence that musical activity may be associated with cortical reorganisation , including enhanced sensorimotor functions in young instrumental musicians . 8
JATMS | Summer 2022 | 207