WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2023 MUSIC THERAPY

 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2023 - FIRST DAY OF SUMMER

For the last two days I’ve looked at sleep.

Let’s look at Music Therapy today and tomorrow

The Cleveland Clinic notes: “Music therapy is an evidence-based treatment that helps with a variety of disorders including cardiac conditions, depression, autism, substance abuse, and Alzheimer’s disease. It can help with memory, lower blood pressure, improve coping, reduce stress, improve self-esteem, and more. You don’t need a background in music to participate.”

“Music therapy may help you psychologically, emotionally, physically, spiritually, cognitively, and socially. A short list of benefits includes:

Lowering blood pressure.

Improving memory.

Enhanced communication and social skills through experiencing music with others.

Self-reflection. Observing your thoughts and emotions.

Reducing muscle tension.

Self-regulation. Developing healthy coping skills to manage your thoughts and emotions.

Increasing motivation.

Managing pain.

Increasing joy.”

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WOW - I have heard of music therapy but that is quite a list of benefits

Let’s look at some of the claims (aka “benefits”).

Benefit #1 - Lowering Blood Pressure.

A joint German/British research group divided a research group into four subgroups- and listened to Mozart, Strauss, Abba, or nothing.  

The study found “found that listening to music by Mozart and Strauss for 25 minutes lowered both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure” 

As for the data: “Specifically, listening to Mozart or Strauss reduced their systolic blood pressure by 4.7mmHg and 3.7mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 2.1mmHg and 2.9mmHg.

(Abba reduced blood pressure by a very small amount).

But - the study only had 20 people in each group - not a large sample.  

The researchers suggested: “The researchers suggested that, in order for music to reduce blood pressure, it should have no lyrics, have few changes in volume or rhythm, have harmonies that ‘are not rousing’, and that certain parts of the music should be repeated in intervals.”

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A different study in Texas found: 

“In the cardiac stress test study (done at a Texas university), most of the participants were Hispanic, so the researchers chose up-tempo, Latin-inspired music. In the artery relaxation study, which tested both classical and rock music, improvements were greater when classical aficionados listened to classical music than when they listened to rock, and vice versa. Someone who loves opera might find a soaring aria immensely calming. "But quite frankly, if you don't care for opera, it could have the opposite effect!" says the researcher.

“There's no downside to using music either to relax or to invigorate your exercise if you keep the decibel level in a safe range.”

This second study  group suggested these benefits:

“Music can also alter your brain chemistry, and these changes may produce cardiovascular benefits, as evidenced by a number of different studies. For example, studies have found that listening to music may enable people to exercise longer or improve blood vessel function by relaxing arteries. Another suggestion was that music therapy eased anxiety in heart attack survivors to feel less pain and anxiety (and possibly sleep better).

(I’m doing a little informal music therapy this morning as I write by listening to Prokief’s Fifth Symphony!!)

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A second benefit of music therapy listed above was “Improving Memory”

Seemingly the research in this area has largely been in memory care/dementia/ Alzheimer's areas. 

A researcher, Dan Cohen, asked a resident's family (in a memory care unit)  to list the songs or instrumental pieces the person once enjoyed. He then creates an individualized playlist on an MP3 player for the resident.

The music, which ranges from jazz to rock to classical, elicits surprising reactions. Some people, who had seemed unable to speak, proceed to sing and dance to the music, and others are able to recount when and where they had listened to that music. The music seems to open doors to the residents' memory vaults.

There is a growing body of evidence to explain why people in the movie come back to life and begin to feel like their former selves when they listen to their playlists. Listening to and performing music reactivates areas of the brain associated with memory, reasoning, speech, emotion, and reward. Two recent studies—one in the United States and the other in Japan—found that music doesn't just help us retrieve stored memories, it also helps us lay down new ones. In both studies, healthy elderly people scored better on tests of memory and reasoning after they had completed several weekly classes in which they did moderate physical exercise to musical accompaniment.

(Somehow I anticipate that if I go to a memory unit, and I hear the Firebird Suite Finale, the Finale to Shostokovich’s Fifth Symphony, the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, or other significant pieces I won’t be dancing - I’ll be DIRECTING the orchestra)

More tomorrow!!!

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, JUNE 21, 2023