Effective At Coping & Rehab? Music? Yes.

It’s been a long exhaustive day whether spent at work or at school and most people attempt to wind down by listening to some tunes. A familiar favorite plays, be it Post Malone, Johnny Cash, or my personal number one “Betrayed By The Game” from DGD. As the beat gets more intense tapping turns into humming and humming into capricious singing. Whatever the case may be, when one listens to a song or rhythm perceived as enjoyable, an almost instant mood changes can occur. But is that really it?

A study conducted by the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center brought forth compelling discoveries through F(MRI) analysis. Essentially, F(MRI)’s are centered around brain activity, more specifically fluctuations in brain activity or elevated states. The study established that any two people are capable of experiencing the same neurological reaction even if they are exposed to two different pieces. An apt example from the investigation was a pair of patients who listened to Bethoveen and Eminem they each possessed the same amount of brain activity.

Neuroradiologist Jonathan Burdette, M.D. concluded that not every occurence of fluctuation in brain activity is purely deriving from the instrumentals but includes other factors such as how the listener interprets lyrics and most notably if the song has any emotional attachment for the individual as well as associations made with the piece.

 Aside from such studies, Dr. Burdette also oversaw a program called “Music & Memory” which was a technique employed to help treat patients with Alzheimer’s or dementia. The initiative employs the use of Ipods pre-loaded with popular tracks from relevant artists in accordance to the patients age group and what they grew up with. In an interview from Science Daily the doctor states, “ People who were just sitting there, not engaged in anything, light up when they start hearing music from when they were 25… It's fantastic. What else can do that? I can't think of anything other than music.”

Though music alone cannot be seen as a cure for anything in specific, it does garner internal overall positivity for a person.

An article published by Johns Hopkins Medicine under the wellness and prevention section, suggests that to keep a healthy and “young” brain it is imperative to treat your brain to music. Logically the advice is sound, seeing as how the majority of the brain is engaged while doing so, akin to a workout but for our brains. Typically the intricacies of how music is developed or why it affects us as people isn’t really discussed, however it genuinely should. 

The satisfaction of listening to a cherished melody stems from the concept that at its core, music is based heavily off of structural as well as mathematical components.                                       

Brainstorming of ideas like these and building connections helps us to understand why there are such limited activities which stimulate our brains as a wonderful rhythm can. How perception works however begins with vibration, the foundation of all music. Vibrations stimulate the eardrum and area transmitted into an electrical signal that travels through the auditory nerve to the brain stem, where it is then reassembled into what we perceive as music. One of the most fascinating ideas is that there is a genre or style tailored to everyone’s needs and for each there are multiple interpretations of a single piece. 

Keeping the former in mind, when taking a step back and realizing that more than sounds and logical semantics, music is a very powerful form of expression and can be an overwhelmingly intimate experience for both the artist as much as the audience. As we age, we may become extremely reminiscent of the past and deny ourselves the chance for something new. 

So even if you have an affinity for post-hardcore rock like myself, or country, etc. it is critical to at least give some attention towards different genre you might not normally listen to in order to keep the brain sharp and be open to variety. As an audience we have the choice to support our favorite creators, and in our homes we can introduce our parents to our preference in music and vice-versa, very well even getting to understand each other a bit better. In this society and time periods long forgotten, music is one show of evolution and is inevitable.