Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience research confirm what has been long suspected, that music can provide both physical and emotional healing. This has spurred a growing integration of music therapy with other mental health treatments. Research has shown that music therapy can help people who suffer with cancer, chronic pain and depression. Other ailments which may be linked to the effects of mental stress, such as high blood pressure and muscle tension, can also be helped – alleviated through the power of music.
There is a phenomenon called autobiographical memory retrieval, encouraging recollections of past experiences which become therapeutic . Remembering a song for instance which brings a person back in time, with memories that are associated with powerful positive emotions that can provide a healing benefit.
It has even been shown that recollections can occur in dementia patients, when transformative impact of music therapy brings back memories of childhood experiences linked to past positive emotions helping with stressfulness and depression which occur in patients with dementia.
A video made by the Asociación Música para Despertar, features the Spanish-Cuban ballerina Martha González Saldaña who is now elderly and has dementia. The music of Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky appears to reactivate memories and even motor responses in her, and she is moved to rehearse some of her former dance motions on camera.
Advanced research tools such as high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) monitors used by researchers are able to record how the brain regions “talk” to each other in real-time as someone listens to music. These regions are stimulated by different aspects of the music- its melodic structure, its lyrics and rhythmic patterns. Because everyone’s response to music is personal, the researchers ask the study participants to describe how a particular piece of music makes them feel—and ask about its ability to encourage thoughts and meaningful memories. In the research lab at Northumbria University they are attempting to answer questions such as why sad or bittersweet music plays a unique therapeutic role for some people, and which parts of the brain it “touches” compared with happier compositions.
Ludwig van Beethoven is quoted as having said : “Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind, but which mankind cannot comprehend.” Through neuroscience, we hope to better understand this phenomenon.
Music and the Release of Neurochemicals
When a person hears music the brain releases neurochemicals that have been associated with happiness, including oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins. It also triggers dopamine release in areas of the brain known to be critical to the experiences of reward and pleasure, giving us sensations of joy and euphoria similar to the impact of other pleasurable activities such as eating or having sex.
Music’s strong social function is felt to be a crucial factor behind music’s role in the development and bonding of individuals and communities. Music taps into the same neural mechanisms as other pleasurable activities.
The brain’s reward system consists of interconnected regions, an area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. Its location in the brain hints at its significance in this area, as it is located very close to other regions of the brain known to be related to emotional processing. When we engage with music, whether playing or listening, the nucleus accumbens responds to its pleasurable aspects by triggering the release of dopamine. This is known as the dopamine reward pathway, critical to experiencing the positive emotions that music can bring.
Studies continue to further our understanding of music’s impact on different parts of the brain. Jonathan Smallwood, professor of psychology at Queen’s University, Ontario, explains: “Music can be complicated to understand from a neuroscience perspective. A piece of music encompasses many domains that are typically studied in isolation—such as auditory function, emotion, language and meaning.”
Music’s effect on the brain seems to extend beyond mere pleasure. The amygdala, a region of the brain known to be involved in the generation of emotion, apparently regulates emotional responses to music as well, from the nostalgic feeling involved in experiencing a long ago but familiar melody, to the exhilarating excitement of a crescendoing symphony, or the spine-tingling fear of an eerie, haunting tune.
Research has also demonstrated that, when stimulated by music, these regions can encourage us to have autobiographical memories that elicit positive self-reflection that makes us feel better—as we saw in the video of former ballerina Martha González Saldaña.
Research points to the hippocampus, crucial for memory formation, as the part of the brain that stores music-related memories and associations. Simultaneously, the prefrontal cortex, responsible for higher cognitive functions, collaborates with the hippocampus to retrieve these musical memories and assess their autobiographical significance. During music listening, this interplay between the brain’s memory and emotion centers creates a powerful and unique experience, elevating music to a distinctive individualized therapeutic event.
Unlike music visual arts, like painting and sculpture, lacks music’s multisensory engagement, diminishing its ability to form strong, lasting emotional-memory connections. Music seems to form enduring, emotionally charged memories that can be summoned with the replaying of a particular song years later.
What Music Therapy Can Offer in the Future
Music listening offers proven therapeutic benefits. These warrant increased adoption of music therapy sessions alongside other standard treatments. Further technological advancements in the science of music therapy such as new app based-services offers personalized, on-demand music intervention therapies which can provide a convenient, effective addition to current therapeutic approaches. In the future, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize music therapy. We may soon see therapy sessions using AI precisely tailored to the patient’s individual preferences further enhancing the therapeutic experience. These innovations will reshape the field of music therapy, unlocking its full potential.