There is a renewed fascination and growing understanding of the healing powers of music.
This well researched article outlines the most recent and historical breakthroughs in neuroscientific research substantiating music’s therapeutic properties. Some of the most exciting advancements are around emotional regulation and brain re-engagement.
New understanding has led to a growing integration of music therapy with conventional mental health treatments with significant improvements noted with memory care patients.
Musical interventions have also been shown to help people with cancer, chronic pain, depression and debilitating consequences of stress, including elevated blood pressure and muscle tension.
When engaged by music our brains, powered by a release of neurochemicals, access memories that elicit positive self-reflection. The hippocampus, crucial for memory formation, and the prefrontal cortex, responsible for higher cognitive functions, are stimulated to retrieve and potentially create new memories with autobiographical significance – changing how we feel in response to certain stimuli.
With this line of research we hope to see music better understood, leading to personalized therapeutics. We may not be here yet, but it looks like this is where music therapy can take us and it is going to be an amazing journey.
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