Read on to discover music’s impact on the body…
It’s long been known that playing and listening to music can stimulate the brain, boost creativity and improve learning. Especially as we age, learning an instrument, singing in a choir or simply listening to a Mozart symphony can provide a thorough workout for the brain.
Sound waves travel as electrical signals through the auditory nerve to the brain stem. The brain then deciphers those signals, connecting each note to the next. It effectively rebuilds different elements of the signals (such as pitch and rhythm) as the mathematical structures we recognise as music. That's a lot of very complicated work!
But according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, music can also ‘reduce anxiety, blood pressure and pain, as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory.’
Music’s impact on the body... Here are 7 ways that music can improve your physical health...
Music's impact on the body... Improving the health of your heart
Research has shown that music helps the blood to flow more easily. It can also reduce heart rate, lower blood pressure, decrease the stress hormone cortisol and increase levels in the blood of the ‘feel-good’, calming hormones serotonin and endorphins.
Music improves your mood
Music can boost the brain’s production of the ‘pleasure’ hormone dopamine, which helps relieve feelings of anxiety and depression. This is because music is processed by the amygdala – the part of the brain involved in mood and emotions.
It’s very similar to the way that aerobic exercise – like walking, biking and swimming – can boost mood and positivity through increased levels of serotonin in the body.
Music reduces stress
When we’re feeling stressed there is a biological impact on the body. The adrenal glands start producing the hormone cortisol, which helps us find the focus and energy to deal with a challenging situation.
In the long-term, the continual release of cortisol keeps us in a perpetual state of ‘fight or flight’. In turn this can lead to anxiety, depression and even physical pain.
According to a 2021 study, quoted on PsychCentral, listening to ‘both personal and neutral selections of music... significantly “reduced cortisol levels”. This was found regardless of the music type.’
And like meditation, listening to music with a slower pulse can actively reduce the stress-induced heart rate, too. So largo and andante slow movements of concertos, symphonies and chamber music could work wonders for your heart.
Music's impact on the body... Helping to manage physical pain
By reducing stress levers such as cortisol levels and heart rate music can assist in pain management. It also does this by providing a strong opposing stimulus to the brain’s pain signals. It can reduce the way the brain interprets pain intensity as well. For this reason, it is often used in geriatric and intensive care, or palliative medicine.
Research has also shown, for instance, that listening to music can reduce the pain in those suffering from fibromyalgia.
Music can help you to eat less
As incredible as it might sound, playing music during a meal can help you slow down while eating and ultimately consume less food in a single sitting. A Cornell study found that people tend to eat less at a restaurant when the lighting and music is softer and more ambient. In fact, this reduced calorie intake by 18%.
More so, research carried out by the University of Lincoln in collaboration with De Montfort University found that music can help those suffering with emotional eating tendencies.
‘Participants in the study were initially asked to recall sad memories. They then listened to pre-selected music, or were left in silence for three minutes, before taking part in a snack test. Those who ate in silence consumed over eight grams of snack foods whereas those listening to music ate significantly less – between four and five grams.’
Music's impact on the body... Helping you to exercise more
Listening to motivating, upbeat music can boost endurance and physical performance, helping you to nail that tough exercise session.
According to Scientific American, music creates a ‘rhythm response’ – or a tendency to synchronise your movements to the musical beat. This can help you maintain pace and use your energy more efficiently.
It also provides a distraction from the feeling of exhausted muscles, elevating your mood and replacing negative thoughts with a ‘can do’ attitude.
A study in the Journal of Sports Exercise Psychology found that music can increase endurance during a workout up to 15 percent.
Music can help your balance
A study reported in Harvard Health found that music helped people over the age of 65 who were at risk of falling, but otherwise free of neurological and orthopaedic issues.
Half the 134 male and female participants were trained to walk and perform various physical movements in time to music, while the other half continued as normal. ‘At the end of six months, the "dancers" exhibited better gait and balance than their peers — and they also experienced 54% fewer falls.’