Is music good for the brain?

Our world, though much more advanced now, still has it's flaws. Problems such as global warming, pollution and poverty have risen. However, we have also been slapped in the face with more sly problems, including depression, cancer and ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). There have been a lot of different treatments for these illnesses, and a more recent, less known one is using music, also known as music therapy. At just the thought of it, one can not think of a bad side to music therapy on the spot. Nevertheless, is it affective? I think that it is.

Music has been part of our culture for centuries. The original idea of music as a healing 'device'  which could affect health and behavior is quite old, dating back to at least the writings of Aristotle and Plato. However, in the 20th century, music therapy really began after World War I and World War II when community musicians, both professional and beginner, went to Veterans hospitals and played for the thousands of veterans suffering both physical and emotional trauma from the wars. The notable physical and emotional responses to music from the patients led the doctors and nurses start hiring musicians into the hospitals.Evidence soon showed that musicians needed some training before entering the facility therefore the demand grew for a college curriculum.  The American Music Therapy Association was founded in 1998 as a union of the National Association for Music Therapy and the American Association for Music therapy.
Music therapy, based on the patient's needs, may include singing, improvising, song writing, marching, playing percussion instruments, movement or listening to their preferred style of live or pre-recorded music.

As mentioned before, music has had a profound effect on your body and psyche. Those who practice music therapy are finding a benefit in using music to help cancer patients, children with ADD, and others.Hospitals are also beginning to use music and music therapy to help with pain management, to promote movement, to calm patients, to keep away depression, to ease muscle tension, and for many other benefits that music and music therapy can bring. This is not surprising, as music affects the body and mind in many powerful ways. Some of the parts affected by music may include: brainwaves (Research has shown that music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration and more alert thinking, and a slower tempo promoting a calm, meditative state), breathing and heart rate (Parts governed by the autonomic nervous system, such as breathing and heart rate can also be altered by the changes music can bring. This may mean slower breathing and slower heart rate...)and state of mind (Music can also be used to bring a more positive state of mind, keeping away stress, depression, anxiety..) Music may also affect other areas of the brain. In the interview with Professor Denise Grocke about music therapy, she had said that music affects the brain in miriad ways, depending on what you ask the person to do.  Rhythm is represented across the brain fairly globally, so just tapping to a beat doesn't require a lot of cognitive ability.  But if you ask someone to remember a rhthm and clap it back, then you activating memory areas in the brain.  Similarly with melody.  Music perception tends to be located in the right hemisphere, but if the task is complicated then other areas of the brain are activated.

Luckily, music therapy has no side affects. Maybe the information is wrong, or we haven't been treating patients with music for long enough to really decide. However, some websites state that listening to music way too much is bad, and that the more you 'over-listen' music, the more likely you are depressed. In a test, one-hundred and six children between the ages of seven and seventeen participated. They were exposed to four different levels of music listening. After interviewing the children, researchers documented their exposure to media. After categorizing media exposure into five categories (Music, Video Games, the internet, television and movies, and print material, such as books and magazines), the researchers determined that children who listened to music a lot were more likely to be depressed. You may be thinking that this just contradicts my point in how music helps keep away depression, but the study didn't say that music was the cause of depression, just that depressed kids were most likely to listen to music more.

Music has been part of our lives for a very long time. The origins of the thought of music healing also dated back a while, up to the writings of Plato and Aristotle. Music therapy helps cancer patients, children with ADD, and other mental illnesses... Hospitals and clinics are beginning to use music and music therapy to help with pain management, ease muscle tension, and for many other benefits. Therefore, is music good for the brain? I believe it is.


http://www.austmta.org.au/

http://www.dailyrx.com/depression-linked-music-consumption

http://www.life123.com/health/stress-management/therapy/what-is-music-therapy.shtml

http://musicworkswonders.org/html/MTFAQ1.html

http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/music_therapy.htm

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_did_music_therapy_start


musictherapy.org

Interview with Professor Denise Grocke