Listening to music is a thing many people do. Whether it’s on the radio, at a party, or from your phone most people do. But have you ever wondered if listening to music actually helps with anything? The short answer is yes, music helps with many things, like how listening to a sad song can affect your mood, and what parts of the brain are in use as you listen. Around 93% of Americans listen to music so it is no surprise that we are still researching the effects of music.
Your mood is an important part of yourself as people will perceive it. Your limbic cortex controls your memories, but it also controls your mood. As you listen to music, blood flow increases to the parts of your brain such as the limbic cortex. If you ever notice that when you listen to a song with a certain emotion and you start to feel that emotion, that could be due to the song connecting to memories. Additionally, listening to music can help with memory. You might not even notice, but as you listen to songs you store the lyrics in your hippocampus which allows you to recite them.
Did you also know that music can also relieve pain? Information has been found that music can distract your mind from the pain. A reason for that could be that listening produces dopamine, “which may decrease pain deception,” according to Pfizer.com. On the other hand some scientists believe that the sound waves are the cause for pain relief due to the vibrations. The vibrations can be classified as vibroacoustic therapy which Pfizer.com also stated, “uses low frequency sound to produce vibrations that are applied directly to the body.” In studies with vibroacoustic therapy, it was found that people with neurological disorders, such as cerebral palsy, have shown improvement with motor functions.
In America 1 out of 5 adults experience mental illness, so is no surprise that there are many treatments for it. But did you know that listening to music could possibly help with the process alongside treatments. Not only can listening to music distract you from pain but it can also distract you from mental health symptoms. According to jedfoundation.org, research has found a link between reduced stress, lower blood pressure, and lower heart rate while listening to music.
The question, ‘Does listening to music help studying?’, may be controversial, as it is known that it can be a distraction to one’s focus, but it can also help another one’s focus. There are many benefits to listening to music while studying such as better concentration, improved mood, greater motivation, and improvement of memorization. But on the other hand it could be a distraction; worsened working memory, and powered comprehension when reading are all possibilities. There are certain types of music that are better with studying including music with lyrics, instrumental music, ad free music, low volume, slow songs, and songs that aren’t your favorite. Of course this may be the opposite for you and listening to your favorite songs may help you study more. In conclusion, as healthline.com states, “Music doesn’t affect everyone in the same way, so the answer is not just a straightforward yes or no.” So it may be hard for teachers in the classroom to decide whether to let students listen to music or not.
Overall music affects you in many ways, and it’s not the same for everyone. Whether it’s your mood, memory, pain, mental health, or studying everyone’s brain works differently. Hopefully, in a couple of years we might know more about the effects of music through new technologies and studies.
