According to “Music and Health: What You Need To Know” published by the National Institutes of Health, a quick listen to your favorite songs can improve your mental and even physical well-being. Research like this is extremely niche and rather new. Today we are going to explore the reality of the NIH’s claim.
As most of us can agree, “The effect of music on the brain and the human condition is profound.” Dr. Julia Jones, under the Universal Music Group is an absolute whiz when it comes to this stuff, racking in over 30 years of experience. How can anything under this label not be magnificent, though? After all, Taylor Swift is under the Universal Music group..! Dr. Jones describes how when we listen to music, our brain activity synchronizes to match the music’s own wavelength. Apparently, mentioned by Charlie Puth over on Instagram, our heart also does the same, almost matching the BPM of the music. Back to Dr. Jones’ point though, within the act of our brains doing this, our nervous system is calmed down, which can be lifesaving.
A calm nervous system is truly the recipe for a good life. It means reduced anxiety, no mysterious pains, and overall, better health. Music can do all of that for you, but on a much smaller scale. In an attempt to take this to the next level, a lot of music platforms release tunes that promise to calm you down and synchronize the brain. Think of the new “Sound Therapy” feature on Apple Music. Upon trying it myself, I do really think that if you’re in the mood for some therapeutic tunes, these are the beats for you.
On another note, music can actually help strengthen memory retention. Holly Ober, a student at UCLA, presents some key takeaways regarding music and memory in an article she published. She mentions how “using music to boost memory for the details of an experience could help people keep their minds sharp as they age and help improve memory for people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.” Any advancement in Alzheimer’s research is extremely profound, as this disease affects millions worldwide. If music is part of the bigger picture to finding a real cure to this serious disorder, we can all breathe a big sigh of relief.
Overall, music is what can get you out of the dumps, is what can inspire you, is what can change our very own brain activity simply due to its divine sound. Even if music fails to bring our nerves down and regulate our heartbeats, it still has one great benefit: it brings us together. Whether you’re a princess from the 1800s or a deaf person who dances their hearts out to the strong vibrations, music unites us all, and I cannot wait to see how it will continue to do so on a medical scale.