What a beat can do for the body and the mind

    We have all felt the effects of music on how we feel and how we think. We know the excitement that comes from a steadily thumping bass note or the soothing feeling of a slow beat.

    However, only recently have researchers begun to understand these effects on a scientific level. Our understanding of music’s effects on the body continue to broaden as more fields of music study emerge, and preexisting ones effectuate more research.

    One of the first effects of music to be observed is the calming and soothing feeling it creates in a listener. Man has known about music’s soothing effects for thousands of years.  This is evident in tribal-style dances and ceremonies, which, through the use of primitive drums, can lull participants into trance-like states.

    “I always listen to music when I am nervous; it soothes me and erases all the feelings of apprehension that I have,” said junior Iyann Mohammed.   
Modern science has confirmed these effects to be true, and has also explained how music can have such dramatic effects on the body.

    Through the use of brainwave monitoring technology, musicologists and psychologists have proven music’s calming effects. Through studies, they have found introducing a slow and steady beat will cause a subject’s brainwaves to slow to match the music’s rhythm. Also, while wave patterns in different hemispheres of the brain may be out of sync when not listening to music, the introduction of a slow beat will synchronize them to a consistent rhythm.

    Furthermore, as this beat picks up, the brain wave pattern will also reach a faster pace. Being implemented as an alternative medicine for numerous mental illnesses has carried this effect further. “Music Therapy” is an increasingly accepted way of treating mental illnesses ranging from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) to Alzheimer’s disease to chronic depression.  

    “My mood radically changes when I am listening to music. It calms me when I am nervous and it helps me to focus when I am doing really boring homework,” said Mohammed. “At the same time, it really wakes me up when my body is physically tired.”

    Music therapists can expose children affected by ADD to music with a slow beat and periodically change the beat to a faster pace. Studies have shown this ‘trains’ the brain to adjust its wave patterns from excited to calm, allowing the transition to more easily occur naturally. Rather than being caught in a fast excited state, the brain can then calm and slow down when needed.

    A second effect of music is on an individual’s memory. Music has been used for thousands of years to help remember important information. It is not a coincidence that before reading and writing became commonplace, stories would be interpreted to songs and passed on from one generation to the next. Giving the story a beat, rhythm or rhyme helps the mind remember the information more accurately and for a longer period of time.

    “I always listen to music when I am doing my homework.  Without it, work can be really dull, and I may find myself day-dreaming or something; music makes me focus a lot more,” said junior Michael Chung.

    One can more easily remember information when it is accompanied by a sound. This can be seen occurring both artificially and naturally. With animals, crashing sounds often create negative reactions due to the brain remembering a past event such as a thunderstorm that was accompanied by a similar sound.

    Artificially, this memory aid has begun to be used by doctors and psychologists to help those suffering from diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Studies have shown that events that occur while patients suffering from Alzheimer’s are listening to music are more easily remembered later than when music was not played. Not only does recalling information become easier, but long-term treatment can also be carried out through the use of music.

    Over time, exposure to music during mental exercises helps the brain to better retain information. Music seems to mentally ‘work out’ the brain similarly to how exercise physically ‘works out’ the body. Eventually, exercise gets the body into better physical shape, and identically music helps the brain get into better mental shape. Music causes increased blood flow to the brain and causes the body to generate more nerve connections within it, ultimately leading to improvements in memory recall from diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

    Music has also been shown to go beyond causing mental effects and can be responsible for physical changes in the body as well. Typically, these physical changes have to do with the body’s reaction to stress. When undergoing constantly stressful situations, the body increases blood pressure and raises the heart rate, which can cause sickness and injury if untreated.

    While drugs or lifestyle changes have generally been prescribed to treat these symptoms, recent studies have shown music can be equally effective at remedying them. Music, and its calming effects on brainwaves, seems to trigger physical responses in the body. As brainwaves slow, an individual’s heart rate declines. This relaxed state allows the body to reduce blood pressure as well, preventing related sickness or injury.

    “I listen to music all the time.  Music is a great tool to pump me up when I am hanging out with my friends or when I am doing something as monotonous as homework,” said Chung.

    With music being widely available at a cheap costs, or even for free on the radio, it is understandable why there has been such extensive research going towards finding its effects on the body as well as the medicinal value of that information. While regulatory agencies such as the FDA have not yet approved all methods of music therapy and it continues to be regarded as purely experimental in nature, music as a treatment for disease is both growing in popularity and gaining acceptance within the private and professional communities.