Neuroplasticity: Music & Music Therapy

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“Music is the language of the spirit.
It opens the secret of life
bringing peace, abolishing strife.”
-Kahlil Gibran

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In my previous article Neuroplasticity: Self-Directed Neuroplasticity Exercises I went over how people are able to consciously change their brain function by using proper and focused attention and effort with self-directed neuroplasticity exercises. By using attention, volition, brain activation and consistency, the self-directed activities have been proven effective. We also mentioned some of these activities like mindfulness and meditation. Today I will cover Music and Music Therapy and its effects on brain neuroplasticity.

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For a very long time, scientists and medical personnel believed that as we aged, the connections in the brain were fixed. So there was the general feeling that since the brain didn’t regenerate, brain damage would remain fixed as well. But since then, research has shown that the brain never stops changing through learning and that the brain can change via plasticity. It was found that these changes in the brain were mostly at the level where the connections between neurons took place.

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“My heart, which is so full to overflowing,
has often been solaced and refreshed
by music when sick and weary.”
-Martin Luther

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We have learned that when someone becomes proficient in a specific area, the associated areas in the brain will show growth in the connections between the neurons in that area. Some examples of this have been found in certain groups of workers like for instance in London the taxi drivers have a larger hippocampus than the London bus drivers. That is because the growth area is in the hippocampus which specializes in acquiring and using complex spatial information that the cab drivers need in order to do their job efficiently. According to an article, Brain Plasticity: How Learning Changes Your Brain” (https://sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/02/26/brain-plasticity-how-learning-changes-your-brain) taxi drivers have to navigate through different streets and parts of town while the bus drivers are on a fixed route.

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This article also gave another example showing that plasticity changes occurred in musicians as compared to non-musicians who didn’t show as much. They found that the grey matter, located in prime areas of the cortex associated with music, of professional musicians had the largest volume, as compared to amateur musicians who showed intermediate growth along with non-musicians. It is speculated that professional musicians practice at least an hour per day which can account for the growth discrepancy.

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“Music gives a soul to the universe,
wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination
and life to everything.”
-Plato

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It has long been established that music is wonderful and helps with so many facets of our lives. People listen to music to be happy, to dance and move, to celebrate the holidays or a birthday, to help you sleep. Others listen to music for healing, to forget their troubles or to remember old times. Some even listen to music sounds to increase their brain power. Music can also draw you in and change your mood. Some music can be inspirational while other music can either relax or invigorate you. Haven’t you ever heard an old song which brought back old memories for you?

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So it is a given that music is wonderful and very much of a part of most people’s lives. According to an article, ”What is Music Therapy?” (http://www.centerformusictherapy.com/what-is-music-therapy), “music influences human behavior by affecting the brain and subsequently other bodily structures in ways that are observable, identifiable, measurable, and predictable, thereby providing the necessary foundation for therapeutic applications.” Many medical facilities have Music Therapy for rehabilitation because it has been proven to be an “enhancement of human capabilities through the planned use of musical influences on brain functioning.”

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“Music is the literature of the heart;
it commences where speech ends.”
-Alphonse de Lamartine

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The unique quality of music is that it is the only sensory experience that can activate all parts of the brain at the same time. Other types of therapy will only usually activate certain areas like, for example, Physical Therapy will activate only the motor areas of the brain. So based on Neuroplasticity principles it takes a lot of extensive focus and hard work to create these neural connections and pathways. There are studies that show on an MRI scan that all the brain areas are lit up when the patient is listening to music. That is the beauty of music and music therapy. It triggers the whole brain at the same time.

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In another article by The DANA Foundation (http://dana.org/Cerebrum) called, ” How Music Helps to Heal the Injured Brain’ they stated that with the advancement in medical imaging, they were able to see for the first time a living human brain while people were performing complex cognitive and motor tasks. Music was incorporated into this study and they found two things; 1. Music activated many areas of brain, not just the area unique for music, 2. Music learning changed the brain. “They found that music also activated areas including processing language, auditory perception, attention, memory, executive control and motor control.” They also found that music was extremely efficient in the access and activation systems and was able to perform complex patterns of interaction among those areas.

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“I think music in itself is healing.
It’s an explosive expression of humanity.
It’s something we are all touched by.
No matter what culture we’re from,
everyone loves music.”
-Billy Joel

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So what they eventually learned was that the passive stimulation and facilitation used in therapy were no longer considered effect. They found that active learning and training was probably the optimal way to help rewire the injured brain. This was an amazing discovery because it changed the way rehabilitation therapy was conducted and the importance of music as part of the process.

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Finally I wanted to share another article on Music called, ” 10 Amazing Benefits Of Music Therapy” by the Consumer Health Digest (https://www.consumerhealthdigest.com/brain-health/10-amazing-benefits-of-music-therapy.html) that went over the main benefits of music therapy:

• Keep Stress at Bay: Music has for long been known to affect the mood of a person. It can make someone feel happy, experience a sad event and more. It’s why music therapists are trained in order to develop competently the kind of music required to the problem at hand.

• Improve Memory: People with a disease like dementia, which have symptoms like memory loss, show improvement in remembering things after some music therapy sessions. Music has been known to evoke past experiences in the brain. It is said that music interacts with part of the brain that specializes in memory. It stimulates it to start remembering things that had happened long ago.

• Reduce Depression and Anxiety: Music therapy will help a person respect themselves and recognize that they are unique. Playing music requires that one is focused on it. It tends to make the brain forget the worries and experience something new. People can then express themselves freely. And in the end, they are in a better* position to see the word from a more positive side.

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“A painter paints pictures on canvas.
But musicians paint their pictures on silence.”
-Leopold Stokowski

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• Improving Communication: In a music therapy session, a person is sometimes required to sing. This requires the person to know the words well. Singing will demand that they say the words appropriately and in time. This can then be used in real life. People with disabilities who wouldn’t previously talk properly have learned to talk music therapy.

• More Socialization People who are stressed or depressed because of maybe diseases like cancer, socialize better* when they have had music therapy. Music will evoke emotions in people they may haven’t experienced in a long time. These can make them realize that the world is different from what they see. Some music therapy sessions are done in groups. This encourages the individuals to know each other and share their life experiences. This can then go on even after the music therapy sessions.

• Better Movement and Coordination: It’s our body parts like the hands and legs that do the actual movement. But all that is because of the brain. It tells the muscles what to do, when to do it, how to do etc. However, sometimes the brain can fail to do that function. But thanks to music therapy, that can be fixed sometimes. Playing with a rhythmic beat involves that part of the brain that controls movement and coordination. It’s the same thing when you dance, the brain will slowly learn to control* the muscles if you hadn’t moved for some time.

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“Life seems to go on without effort
when I am filled with music.”
-George Eliot

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• Deal with Pain: Studies have showed that music therapy can help people with cancers deal with the pain. It is from one study that was done on children suffering from the disease. More studies are still underway but from the preliminary findings, the results have been encouraging. Perhaps this will be one way of dealing with cancer in future. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed.

• Control Emotions: Music helps people experience emotions like sadness or anger and many others in a controlled environment. It enables them to deal with that same emotion in real life better.

• Reduce Fear: We all have fears. Some fear of losing a job, others about losing a loved one who is sick and much more. But music can help anyone cope with these kinds of fears. Music takes our minds on a journey that can change the way we think.

• Improve Immunity: Studies have proved that listening to music promote the production of the antibody immunoglobulin A and natural killer cells. These defend our bodies from viruses.

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As you can see, Music and Music Therapy are very important interventions that can help not only with Neuroplasticity but also has many health benefits as well. There is also a great deal of benefit from learning to play an instrument, singing, chanting, drum beating which actually induces different brain wave frequencies and can induce a deeply relaxed state, brain wave entrainment which uses music, sound and vibration.

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“Music is the great uniter.
An incredible force.
Something that people who differ
on everything and anything else
can have in common.”
-Sarah Dessen

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In Daily Good (http://www.dailygood.org/story/1613/music-and-the-brain-the-fascinating-ways-music-affects-your-mood-and-mind-barry-goldstein) their article called, ”Music & the Brain: The Fascinating Ways Music Affects Your Mood and Mind” talked about how during an active day most of us are in a beta state which is an alert state & wakefulness. Our attention is focused on external things like getting to work, thinking about the family or upcoming problems. That is why we need the faster brain frequencies to process all this focused activity.

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We can get to alpha state by closing our eyes, breathing at a slower rate and more deeply and listening to calming music. As we relax even more to a deeper relaxed state, we can move to a theta brain wave state. This is done through meditation or through relaxation music. What is important to note is that it is in alpha and theta states that we are able to tap into an enhanced creative state of mind. Eventually we go into a deep sleep which is the delta state where our brain waves have slowed down fully.

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“Without music,
life would be a blank to me.”
-Jane Austen

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According to Daily Good “Music is a delivery system of frequency to the mind. Each note has a specific frequency, but we can also embed additional brain wave frequencies outside of the standard notes into music to allow the brain to entrain to our desired states. When our internal brain waves are affected by the external brain wave frequencies that are contained in the music, this is called brain wave entrainment. For instance, if I were looking to move into a very creative state, I would utilize music that contains alpha and theta frequencies. If I have insomnia, I might incorporate music that contains delta frequencies.”

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So there are many wonderful things music and other audio programs that can help enhance Neuroplasticity and other creative brain functions. It is very exciting to see these things that may actually give us the tools to choose things for memory, creativity, sleep, and reducing anxiety. We need to keep our attention to these new and exciting changes so we can continue to focus on a better way of life with less stress and anxiety.

Thank-you for reading my article on Neuroplasticity: Music & Music Therapy If you would like to follow me, please check HERE.

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These are my previous article on Neuroplasticity & Anxiety if you are interested in reading it:

Neuroplasticity: Hope For People With Anxiety?
https://steemit.com/steemiteducation/@cabbagepatch/neuroplasticity-hope-for-people-with-anxiety

Neuroplasticity: How to deal with Anxiety Disorders Like Panic Attacks
https://steemit.com/steemiteducation/@cabbagepatch/neuroplasticity-how-to-deal-with-anxiety-disorders-like-panic-attacks

Neuroplasticity: Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
https://steemit.com/steemiteducation/@cabbagepatch/neuroplasticity-cognitive-behavior-therapy-cbt

Neuroplasticity: Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
https://steemit.com/steemiteducation/@cabbagepatch/neuroplasticity-mindfulness-based-cognitive-therapy

Neuroplasticity: Self-Directed Neuroplasticity Exercises
https://steemit.com/steemiteducation/@cabbagepatch/neuroplasticity-self-directed-neuroplasticity-exercises

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