Did you know that music not only “calms the wild beast”, but can also be a powerful tool for our health? Listening to music and playing an instrument not only improves our mental well-being, but also our brain plasticity and cognitive abilities. We take a closer look. Few people can resist the power of music. Although preferences vary, the melodies and rhythms touch our hearts and brains. This is why the medical community is increasingly recommending listening to and playing music. And it is encouraged to start listening at a very young age. Studies have shown that music acts as a neurostimulant for babies, especially premature ones.
Swiss researchers from the University Hospitals of Geneva discovered in 2019 that music promotes the development of sensory and cognitive functions in these newborns. To reach this conclusion, the scientists commissioned the composer Andreas Vollenweider to create three melodies: one to accompany the awakening of babies, another to play while they fall asleep and another “to interact during the phases of awakening”. They found that the neural networks of babies exposed to these melodies developed more efficiently than those of other premature babies.
The impact of music on the cognitive and executive functions of our brain is well established, especially in children. Recent discoveries show that music can modify biochemical processes in the brain by enhancing brain plasticity. This would explain why it has beneficial effects on the intellectual development of young children.
Research by Christina Zhao and Patricia Kuhl, two scientists at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington, already confirmed this in 2016. They found, with medical neuroimaging to back it up, that listening to music influences the development of thinking skills. speech learning. “We know that babies learn quickly from a wide range of experiences, and we believe that music can be an important experience that can influence their brain development,” Christina Zhao told CBS News at the time.
Playing music is the “brain equivalent of a full-body workout”
This beneficial effect on brain plasticity continues throughout childhood and adult life. And it seems that playing an instrument could help one’s intelligence quotient (IQ) develop more quickly. A team of researchers, led by experts from the Stanford University School of Medicine, studied the cognitive functions of 153 musicians and non-musicians. They found a significant difference in the brain structure of musicians who started playing an instrument at a young age, whether it was piano, clarinet, trumpet or violin. They have stronger brain connections than those who started their musical training later.
For Anita Collins, a researcher specializing in brain development and musical learning, playing an instrument is the equivalent of “a complete brain workout.” “While listening to music engages the brain in some pretty interesting activities, playing music is the brain’s equivalent of a full-body workout,” he explained in a 2014 TED Talk. “Playing a musical instrument engages virtually every area of the brain simultaneously, especially the visual, auditory, and motor cortices. As with any other exercise, the disciplined and structured practice of playing music strengthens those brain functions, allowing us to apply that force to other activities.
One thing is certain, the more you practice an instrument, the more you benefit from these effects. But listening to music can also bring many benefits. First of all, it can help regulate your mood. Cognitive neuroscience affirms that music provides a sensation of pleasure by activating our reward circuitry. This system, established by natural selection to regulate our desires and emotions, increases the release of dopamine, the famous “happiness hormone”. So much so that music is currently used as a therapeutic tool in health institutions.
The lasting effects of musical memory
Music therapy has also been shown to be effective in stress management and pain control. More and more musical workshops are being developed to help people suffering from Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and even migraines. A team of French, German and American researchers conducted an experiment with 20 migraine patients. They suggested that patients listen to 20 minutes of music twice a day for three months. The result: his migraine attacks were drastically reduced. Half of the study participants even stated that they had been reduced by half.
And the therapeutic benefits of music do not end there. Numerous studies indicate that music stimulates almost all forms of memory, even in the elderly. Hervé Platel, professor of neuropsychology at the University of Caen, was one of the first researchers in the 1990s to look at the persistence of musical memory. He discovered that patients with Alzheimer’s disease could learn new songs in a few weeks, while their memorization skills were thought to be lost. And this, even at an advanced stage of the disease.
But does music help protect the brain from the effects of aging? Researchers remain cautious on this question. However, they are unanimous on one point: listening to music, singing or playing an instrument has multiple benefits on the general cognitive functioning of the brain, and this at all ages. All the more reason to take advantage of Make Music Day on June 21.
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