Music Therapy and Its Positive Effects on the Brain

Listening to music and using musical therapy can have endless ways to inspire, heal, distract, focus, and entertain. It not only helps the patient, but in most cases also helps family members, friends, doctors, and nurses to feel relief and positive energy. It can also help loved ones to know that the patient is feeling less pain, and is being comforted. Musical therapy is a simple answer to a greater problem, and it is a power that is found in every corner of the world. It is a light that turns the helps people in the darkest corners to see.

This boost of brain power is credited to the complex, harmonic, and organized symphonies of classical music, which, consequently, stimulates the listener in such a way that their mind begins orchestrating thoughts in a similar fashion. Overall, music is a great mental, emotional, and physical galvanizer. It can heal people and restore their love of life, and give them a means of expression. Music therapy has the potential to improve modern medicine and it even offers ways to enhance our thinking ability. Perhaps the most obvious reason we should embrace the healing power of music is because we have such an abundant supply.

The aging population seems to benefit from music making as well, both in regards to those with dementia and those without dementia (Cevasco, 2010; Creech, Hallam, Varvarigou, McQueen & Gaunt, 2013). Music can also be self-administered, which allows it to be one of the more safe prescriptions for healing (Murrock & Higgins, 2009). Therefore we understand that music is one of the most useful therapies we have access to, and should not be afraid to use it in a broader setting as nurses. Basic Music Theory Murrock and Higgins (2009) developed a concept based on the neurological responses to music and their possible correlation to positive reinforcement when combined with the daily recommendations on exercise from the national guidelines. They wanted to encourage health optimization through physical exercise, positive neurologic responses to music, and behavioral development of routine exercise.

What many do not realize is that we should be taking advantage of all the wonderful things music can provide for us. The capability of music to treat one another has been used throughout time in many different parts of the world (Brooks). This is even the case in modern times. Music today is actually being more commonly used to treat people with conditions ranging from severe pain to Autism, and is being labeled as music therapy. “Music therapy is an interpersonal process in which the therapist uses music and all of its facets-physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual-to help clients to improve or maintain their health”(temple.edu).

The following paper will explore how music therapy has been beneficial for the human immune system as well as for people with acquired brain damage and Alzheimer’s Disease. Each of the studies provides good evidence in support of music therapy as a means to help physical and psychological problems. As more research is done to further solidify the potential of music therapy, the chances of becoming a widely accepted form of medical treatment increases. One effect that music can have on biology is improving the... ... middle of paper ... ... sleep, behavior, attentiveness, and aging. [ADD SENTENCE] Normally, melatonin levels are low during the day and generally high at night.

It cheers me up. Another great health benefit is that it can help you exercise and with your motor skills. “Playing a musical instrument activates the motor cortex, premotor cortex, frontal cortex, and auditory cortex. These areas of the brain are essential for movement. Also different BPM’s (beats per minute) can motivate us to perform better... ... middle of paper ... ... some student will have trouble learning music.

For the surgical team, a large percent said that they actually found music to actually help focus them, boost morale, and increase efficiency. Also, in these surgeries where music is being played, sometimes the patients have request for the music during the surgeries, and sometimes the music is the lead surgeons playlist being played. This is significant because, when patients pick their music, it is sort of like the patients acknowledging the positive effect of music during surgery on their own. For surgeons picking the playlist, it is purely for their benefit and that of the

106 Music therapy intervention Music Therapy as a discipline is becoming more and more established, validated by broader and increasingly recognized research. The indisputable and compelling positive results we have seen for many years as music therapists are progressively substantiated by advances in science. Offered on the web, there are research on music therapy and its powerful positive impact in many walks of life. For children-parent relationships, to cancer patients, to people with depression, Music seems to help almost anybody in a difficult or trying situation. A collaboration, research was done by Appalachian State university

Music Therapy works because it is a form of sensory stimulation that uses familiarity and feelings of security by awakening certain parts of the human brain, the auditory cortex and the cerebrum. Think of a favorite song you had when you were younger. Even if you haven’t heard it in several years, you’ll likely remember the tune, some of the lyrics, and certain memories associated with it. This is essentially how music therapy works for Alzheimer’s patients, also. Part of the cerebrum keeps a song in memory and bring up images that are associated with the sounds, which is how memory is so easily affected by music therapy.

However, the theory of music has been proven to decrease stress, depression, and contribute to improved health. Patients with chronic diseases who listen to soothing music have shown improvement in mood, emotion, and their overall psychological state, therefore enhancing their health. In order to implement this treatment, the medical team must consider the whole patient not just the physical and emotional but their age, spiritual beliefs, and music preferences. Then, the medical team can create a customized music therapy program into the whole medical plan. There is scientific evidence that shows that listening to soothing classical music is effective in eliminating pain.