Music and Emotions
To start off, people often correlate music with certain emotions. The most common connections formed are probably upbeat music with positive emotions, and solemn music with negative emotions. However, research has shown that sad music can also provide people comfort. The key takeaway here, is that people use music to regulate their emotions for what the unconsciously feel they need. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being sad, in fact, it is important to embrace it, accept it, and eventually move on. Music’s interpretation is subjective to many people, which could be an explanation as to the different effects on sad music. Despite many people finding sad music to cause negative feelings, the sad music can provide comfort or substitution for certain lost relationships, or provide a form of cathartic release for certain individuals.
Musical Therapy
Recently, many programs have been developed which uses music as a form of therapy, with most of its goals being: managing stress, enhancing memory, and alleviating pain. Though surprising, there has been much research with ample evidence that shows people who listen to music before and after therapy feel less pain and stress. What is particularly interesting, is that they also require less medication for the pain. The subjectivity of music is also revealed again here, as individuals who were able to pick their own music, displayed less pain, and required less pain medication,
Musical therapy can also be extremely powerful in treating chronic diseases! Musical therapy has been related to various mood (psychological) disorders that have neurological roots, including but not limited to: Parkinson’s disease, dementia, stroke, and multiple sclerosis. Musical therapy also showed no side effects, making it a low-risk, potential treatment for many different conditions.
Moreover, the frequencies and vibrations in music have been revealed to have a direct impact on the brain. It has been shown to enhance brain activity by amplifying certain events, and developing more neural tissues. It has also been shown to accelerate certain healing processes that occur, with signals directed from the brain.
Music and Science has been a topic of interest that has been particularly popular recently, with a large focus on the neurological connection between the two. Music is structural, mathematical and architectural, and is a complicated process that requires much examining. With the effects already being impressive, musical therapy can become a very powerful tool in medicine in the future.
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References:
“Does Music Affect Your Mood?, Health News, Healthline. Accessed from:
“Keep Your Brain Young with Music,” Johns Hopkins Medicine. Accessed from:
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