How Music Influences Brain Power

Music is more than a symphony of sounds that are pleasant to listen to

Music is not only pleasant to listen to but can also be great for your brain power, memory, and recall. It impacts brain function and human behavior and is known to be a stress reliever, reduces pain, reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression, can improve cognitive and motor skills, spatial-temporal learning, and can even produce more neurons in your brain. 

Two professors from the University of Central Florida (UCF) studied the effect of music on brain power and researched how individuals with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s have been known to respond positively to music. 

Research indicates that Alzheimer’s patients are usually unresponsive in the later stages of the disease but when you put headphones with their favorite music streaming into their ears, their eyes light up, move and they sometimes start singing. This can also be seen on an MRI where you can observe the different areas of the brain light up in response to hearing the music.

Read on for more ways that music influences your brain power: 

Music and Mood Connection

Research indicates that music can increase the blood flow to various regions of the brain that are responsible for your mood and emotions. MRI shows that the limbic system of the brain, which is responsible for memory and processing emotions lights up in response to listening to music. 

Moreover, sometimes you may listen to music that you like and get chills or goosebumps in response. This is due to the dopamine release that triggers feelings of pleasure and enhances your mood. It is not only familiar music that can boost your mood, but new ones as well. Studies show that patients with brain injuries responded well to new music and were able to recognize the emotion conveyed in the music they listened to. 

Music and Memory Connection

Music is quite complex and has a lot of aspects to it when it comes to the pitch, rhythm, genre, and dynamics. Our brains work quite a bit to process music and put together individual sounds by recognizing the words, lyrics, tones, and pitch. This involves working memory and scientists believe that there is an overlap between working memory for verbal stimuli and musical stimuli. 

You may often notice that you associate a particular memory or emotion with a song or type of music. This helps because emotions enhance memory, and you may notice that you can recall all the lyrics to your favorite song that you loved in high school or any other song that reminds you of a good time in your life. Listening to music can also help your brain process information more efficiently and effectively along with facilitating adaptability. 

Research also indicates that patients who suffered a stroke and listened to music daily had an improvement in verbal memory and cognition after two months as compared to patients who did not listen to any music or only listened to audiobooks. 

Music and Pain Relief Connection

Music can distract and relax you when you are in pain. When your mind focuses on the melody, it distracts you and takes some of the pain away. Furthermore, it also increases an overall sense of well-being and has a mood-boosting effect due to the dopamine release that can lead to a decreased perception of pain. 

Some scientists believe that music also affects the physical body due to the vibrations. This is why therapies like Vibroacoustic therapy and Sound Baths are known to have relaxing and meditative effects on the mind and body and can improve your overall well-being and brain power. 

Music is much more than something pleasant to listen to. From recalling memories to improving cognition and boosting your mood, music has several brain power benefits. Whenever you feel troubled or down; whenever you feel sad or depressed put on some soothing music to improve your brain power by helping your mind and body relax, recharge, and regroup. 

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If you like this content, check out my article about practical steps to take to protect your brain at: https://www.theunreliablemind.com/blog/practical-steps-to-protect-your-brain

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