Music: The Medicine of the Mind

What does music do for you?

Music optimises learning

Helps you retain information better and musical training, particularly for children under seven, benefits brain function for a lifetime.  

Listening to music activates especially the areas of the brain that process sounds as well as the wide networks responsible for motor actions, emotions, and creativity.

“Music is also an effective, almost magical medium for learning and retaining information, [because] it activates three different centers of the brain at the same time: language, hearing, and rhythmic motor control. By inducing emotions, it also creates a heightened condition of awareness and mental acuity. Words paired with music are far easier to retain. As an example, most of us can remember the words and meanings of songs we haven’t heard for years. Isn’t it interesting how you still remember your ABCs

A new branch of research, Neuromusicology, explores how our nervous systems react to music.

Different beats for ….

Neuroscientists have found that music affects us differently at different times:

• Music with lyrics helps when engaged in repetitive or mundane work but is distracting when studying.
• Upbeat music, including songs with positive lyrics, can provide the energy boost needed to get your brain primed for learning.
• Concentration and study need silence; if background noises intrude, listening to music with nature sounds helps.
• Heavy metal music (with an irregular, fast, distinct rhythm played at a very high volume) can lead to stress and, for heart surgery patients, could be life-threatening. It’s fine for situations involving energetic or competitive behaviour, though.
• A song that you have not heard for a long time will evoke strong specific memories of a time and place from your past.

The music message:

Whatever your age, it is never too late to make yourself smarter, happier, healthier and more productive by listening to and playing music!