You’re cooking a nice meal in your kitchen and the radio is on, playing your favorite song. You’re humming, tapping your foot along to the beat, maybe even mimicking the drums with your hands on the countertop as you flutter about …
You’re relaxing after dinner, listening to the music softly over the speakers in your living room. You’re thinking about nothing in particular, until suddenly THAT song comes on. Instantly, your memory begins to play before you …
It’s been a rough day! You’re stressed out and driving home—the other motorists are infuriating! Suddenly, what seems like just the right song begins to play through your speakers. You turn it up, hum and sing along …
“Wait, what just happened?”
Suddenly, you’re smiling.
Doesn’t it seem like a song can sway your mood? Make the mundane tasks seem exciting? Help us hold on to memories from years past?
That’s because it can! The audio cues our brain receives from music stimulate our cognitive functions in exciting ways and possess the power to help us more powerfully retain our memory and function as we age. Simply hearing the right rhythm, chord or song can drum a memory up you haven’t recalled in many years.
The phenomenal, almost unbelievable ways our mind responds to music has been a focus of study in recent years, and the results are very encouraging!
Think Fast! Background Music Improves Cognitive Speed and Memory
According to a study completed for the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, background music played while performing any other activity displayed a positive correlation between cognitive speed and memory in older adults. Specifically, upbeat music improved both processing speed and memory while downbeat music displayed little-to-no improvement regarding processing speed but the same improvements regarding memory function.
A 2019 study conducted for the same publication backs up the claims that both creating music and listening to music provides cognitive benefits as we age that, not only help us stave off neurological decline, but continue to bolster our overall neurological function.
“Forget Your Troubles and Just Get Happy!”
Judy Garland first sang the hit “Get Happy” for MGM’s Summer Stock in 1950, long before a study for The Journal of Positive Psychology conducted in 2012 found that music can help you actually do just that! If you are actively engaged in trying to improve your mood and play what you would define as ‘happy’ or ‘positive’ music, you’re much more likely to become actually happy.
Another study conducted one year later for PLoS One by researchers from Brandeis University in Massachusetts and clinical psychologists in Switzerland and Germany found that listening to music before and after stressful events reduced the amount of response from the typical stress indicators within the nervous system.
So when you’re feeling down, music can help you chase those blues away!
Music as Therapy for Neurological and Fibromyalgia Patients
Amazingly enough, music helps us unlock the cognitive power to help treat a wide range of symptoms and disorders. A study conducted for the Pain Management Nursing journal in 2013 used music as a therapy component for patients with fibromyalgia. All participants subjected to music as a part of their therapy reported significant reduction in both pain and depression.
Patients dealing with a variety of neurological disorders ranging from dementia and Alzheimer’s to stroke and multiple sclerosis have also shown to benefit from using music as part of their therapy, as a study conducted for the World Journal of Psychiatry concluded. Lessening depression and anxiety, as well as improvements in social interactions occurred more often in patients with added music therapy than without.
A study updated in 2017 for the Cochrane Library further cemented the importance of music for our neurological health by finding that symptoms of overall depression and anxiety can also be greatly aided by music.
Music for Improved Physical Performance
It’s not just our minds that are positively affected by music, but our bodies, as well. Whereas much of the mental benefits of music focus on the overall tone, the physical benefits are largely predicated on rhythm.
To demonstrate, without music, start tapping your hand or foot to an imaginary song or beat. Notice that, by and large, there is an even amount of time between taps. We are naturally a rhythmic species, which has led researchers to study the links between the rhythms of music and our physical performance as far back as 1911, when Leonard Ayres discovered cyclists pedaled faster when a band played.
In 2018, researchers for the American Psychological Association conducted a wide study related to self-selected music and exercise performance. They found improvements in motivation, actual performance related to both strength and stamina, and even perception of performance with the presence music. Next time you’re exercising, be it a walk, run, weight session or cycling excursion, be sure to tune in.
No matter our age, there are numerous benefits to incorporating music into various aspects of life, although it can play an even more imperative role as we get older. At Southgate at Shrewsbury, we ensure residence have easy access to award-winning music acts both on our campus and in the form of off-site trips. Many of our residents play music and love to share their gifts with the community. Whether you play or not, there are always ways to inject more music into your life. Now, fire up those speakers or grab that instrument and spread some good health along with the smooth melodies!
*This blog was written to the smooth tones of Miles Davis.