How Music Is Beneficial For The Brain
Listening to music regularly is a good habit, for our brain and overall mood. Listening to music regularly lowers the chances of getting a brain tumor by 50%. During times of distress or depression and even fear or anxiety music can play a huge role in combating these negative emotions.
"Music has a powerful impact on our mind and body. The emotional effects of music are vast. From feeling chills up your spine, being pumped up, to relieving stress, anxiety and depression as well as improving self-esteem, mood and quality of life. Listening to music may lead to the release of neurotransmitters in the brain like dopamine, which plays a role in the feelings of pleasure. It also creates responses in other regions of the brain like the amygdala (relating to the modulation of emotions) and the hippocampus (which controls emotional memories recalling and regulation). Music can also energise our mind and body and help manage pain. No wonder the thought that music has an immense influence towards our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour is no surprise.” said Dr Mamta Shah, Consultant Clinical Psychologist/ Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist
Of survey respondents who currently go to musical performances, 69% rated their brain health as “excellent” or “very good,” compared to 58% for those who went in the past and 52% for those who never attended.
According to Dr. Anu Teotia, Assistant Professor (AIPS, Amity University Noida), Certified Trainer of Clinical Hypnotherapy (CHI, USA), Member of Indian Academy of Health Psychology (IAHP), “Listening to music as well as composing it has a tremendous effect on the brain. The impact of music on the brain can be understood by the fact that Neuro-musicology is a new emerging branch, which studies how nervous system reacts to Music. Lot of researches have already been conducted in this area, which clearly establish the positive impact. Corpus Callosum, which is the part of the brain responsible for transferring information between two hemispheres of the brain was found to be larger in Professional Musicians, which indicates that two sides of the brain are better able to communicate with each other in them. Mozart-effect research is another example which says that listening to music, made kids smarter.”
Hence it is also proved that music improves mood, reduces stress and improves bonding among people by releasing the neurotransmitters like dopamine and oxytocin in the brain. In fact, today we have a psychotherapy completely based on the idea of positive impact of music known as Music-therapy.
On a conclusive note we can say that music is a blessing for mankind and its positive effects are in large numbers. It improves our mood, reduces anxiety and stress, helps children with autism spectrum disorder, enhances our memory and even soothes premature babies. Along with a host of other positive effects, we can say that music is soothing and reduces negative emotions.
