{"id":5242,"date":"2023-11-15T12:17:52","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T12:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/?p=5242"},"modified":"2023-11-15T12:17:52","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T12:17:52","slug":"how-music-heals-us-even-when-its-sad-by-a-neuroscientist-leading-a-new-study-of-musical-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/index.php\/how-music-heals-us-even-when-its-sad-by-a-neuroscientist-leading-a-new-study-of-musical-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"How music heals us, even when it\u2019s sad \u2013 by a neuroscientist leading a new study of musical\u00a0therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leigh Riby<\/a>, Northumbria University, Newcastle<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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When I hear Shania Twain\u2019s You\u2019re Still The One<\/a>, it takes me back to when I was 15, playing on my Dad\u2019s PC. I was tidying up the mess after he had tried to [take his own life]. He\u2019d been listening to her album, and I played it as I tidied up. Whenever I hear the song, I\u2019m taken back \u2013 the sadness and anger comes flooding back.<\/p>\n

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There is a renewed fascination with the memory-stimulating and healing powers of music. This resurgence can primarily be attributed to recent breakthroughs in neuroscientific research, which have substantiated music\u2019s therapeutic properties such as emotional regulation and brain re-engagement. This has led to a growing integration<\/a> of music therapy with conventional mental health treatments.<\/p>\n

Such musical interventions have already been shown to help people with cancer<\/a>, chronic pain<\/a> and depression<\/a>. The debilitating consequences of stress, such as elevated blood pressure and muscle tension, can also be alleviated through the power of music<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Across the world, we\u2019re seeing unprecedented levels of mental illness at all ages, from children to the very old \u2013 with huge costs to families, communities and economies. In this series<\/a>, we investigate what\u2019s causing this crisis, and report on the latest research to improve people\u2019s mental health at all stages of life.<\/em><\/p>\n

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As both a longtime music fan and neuroscientist, I believe music has a special status among all the arts in terms of the breadth and depth of its impact on people. One critical aspect is its powers of autobiographical memory retrieval<\/a> \u2013 encouraging often highly personal recollections of past experiences. We can all recount an instance where a tune transports us back in time, rekindling recollections and often imbuing them with a range of powerful emotions.<\/p>\n

But enhanced recollection can also occur in dementia patients, for whom the transformative impact of music therapy<\/a> sometimes opens a floodgate of memories \u2013 from cherished childhood experiences and the aromas and tastes of a mother\u2019s kitchen, to lazy summer afternoons spent with family or the atmosphere and energy of a music festival.<\/p>\n

One remarkable example is a widely shared video<\/a> made by the Asociaci\u00f3n M\u00fasica para Despertar<\/a>, which is thought to feature the Spanish-Cuban ballerina Martha Gonz\u00e1lez Salda\u00f1a (though there has been some controversy<\/a> about her identity). The music of Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky appears to reactivate cherished memories and even motor responses in this former prima ballerina, who is moved to rehearse some of her former dance motions on camera.<\/p>\n

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