News

Can Music Heal Trauma? Exploring the Therapeutic Powers of Sound

February 22, 2018 - 08:05 AM An increasing number of music therapists are now treating people touched by traumas both big and small, highlighting humanity’s deepest connections with music in the process. Imagine you are a newborn baby in an intensive care unit. Maybe you were born prematurely, or didn’t get enough oxygen during the delivery. There might be an IV in your tiny arm, with a small board holding it down so you can’t rip it out. You might have a tube going into your nose. You are alone, finally stabilizing after a traumatic event. But then, the doctors come in. “It’s as if you are finally safe in your nice warm bed and suddenly, out of nowhere, someone rips the sheets off of......

Being moved by sadness-evoking music linked to high empathy

February 19, 2018 - 08:05 AM During sad or debilitating moments in life, many people turn to melancholy music to drown their sorrows and make themselves feel better. Researchers from the University of Durham in the United Kingdom, and the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, have pinpointed three underlying factors that characterize the strong emotional responses that highly empathic people feel from music including "relaxing sadness," "moving sadness," and "nervous sadness." t is not only common for listeners of sad music to report feelings of sadness, but also to describe the experience of listening to sad music as highly enjoyable. In previous studies that have explored this paradox, potential explanations......

How Music Makes Us Feel Better

February 15, 2018 - 08:05 AM In 2012, a group of male patients underwent heart transplants at Teikyo University’s Department of Surgery, in Tokyo, Japan. As they recovered, closely monitored by attending physicians, an alert onlooker may have noticed a subtle difference in each patient’s recovery room: the ambient noise. Some rooms were silent. In others, Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” played in the background. From yet other rooms emanated strains of the Berlin Philharmonic’s interpretation of Mozart, or “The Best of Enya.” A final set of rooms was filled with a steady sound frequency between a hundred and twenty thousand hertz. For six days, researchers observed the......

Alzheimer's disease: Music, meditation may improve early cognitive decline

February 12, 2018 - 08:05 AM Meditation and music listening programs have shown promise in improving measures of cognitive and memory in adults with subjective cognitive decline, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Emerging evidence indicates that subjective cognitive decline (SCD) could represent a preclinical stage of Alzheimer's disease, or unhealthy brain aging. Alzheimer's disease affects more than 5 million people in the United States. Dr. Kim Innes, associate professor of epidemiology at West Virginia University in Morgantown, and colleagues aimed to assess the effects of two mind-body practices - Kirtan Kriya meditation and music listening - on......

Complementary Therapies in Cancer Care – Music Therapy

February 08, 2018 - 08:05 AM An ongoing series highlighting complementary therapies, adapted from The Complete Guide to Complementary Therapies in Cancer CareBy Barrie R. Cassileth, MS, PhD, Chief, Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Complementary therapies are noninvasive, non-pharmacologic adjuncts to mainstream treatment. They improve patients’ strength and control of the physical and emotional symptoms associated with cancer and other illnesses. They provide self-help guidance to enhance body and soul at times when one feels vulnerable and life seems out of control. Complementary therapies are used as adjuncts to mainstream care of cancer and other illnesses, not as......

Need to get Creative? Put on a Happy Song

February 05, 2018 - 08:05 AM Researchers find that listening to happy music may enhance our ability to be creative. Boardrooms, lecture halls, and laboratories might soon be blaring out Vivaldi. The importance of creativity needs no introduction; without it, science, technology, the arts, business, and education would all grind to a halt. In a world of ever-increasing complexity, approaching problems with insight and innovation is vital. But some researchers believe that, as a society, we are becoming less creativeas the decades pass. If this is the case, it could be a serious stumbling block for future generations facing the wealth of challenges involved in a postmodern society. Recently,......

Can Music Help You Calm Down and Sleep Better?

January 22, 2018 - 08:05 AM Having trouble sleeping can have wide-ranging, negative effects on your health, so it's something that you should take seriously. For instance, it makes you less safe behind the wheel and increases your long-term risk of medical conditions such as obesity and heart disease. Though medical sleep aids may work quickly to help you drift off, they can have side effects and aren't good to use in the long term. Luckily, there is another treatment for sleepless nights that's cheap, isn't habit-forming, and has absolutely no negative side effects: music. Music is more than something that's simply enjoyable to listen to. It has a direct effect on the parasympathetic nervous system,......

The Power of Music To Reduce Stress

January 15, 2018 - 08:05 AM The soothing power of music is well-established. It has a unique link to our emotions, so can be an extremely effective stress management tool. Listening to music can have a tremendously relaxing effect on our minds and bodies, especially slow, quiet classical music. This type of music can have a beneficial effect on our physiological functions, slowing the pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and decreasing the levels of stress hormones. As music can absorb our attention, it acts as a distraction at the same time it helps to explore emotions. This means it can be a great aid to meditation, helping to prevent the mind wandering. Musical preference varies widely between......

9 Ways Music Can Cure Depression, Drug Addiction and Stop Suicide

January 08, 2018 - 08:05 AM You know it the second you hear the first notes. It’s that one special song that makes your spine tingle. You can feel the tears welling up in your eyes. How does that happen? Only seven notes can come together to form a soul-moving melody that can break your heart, make you cry, and bring back buried, long-forgotten memories. Music is powerful. ?1. Music helps you work through your problems Often during your darkest nights, you can’t find a way through the muddy alleyways of your mind. Good news! Don’t just lie there, turn on Google play and let the music flow into you. If you cry, that’s OK. Tears represent feelings that must be expressed. Feeling is......

New study aims to improve quality of life for seniors with music

January 06, 2018 - 03:30 PM Researchers from Germany and Switzerland have teamed up to investigate the effects of music on the brains of elderly people. DW talked to the research leader about the challenges and possible outcomes of the study. People who play an instrument will often have learned the basics in early childhood, but brain researchers from Hanover and Geneva want to show that music lessons can be valuable even later in life. "This new study examines the effects of music on the quality of life of senior citizens. It aims to draw attention to the important role of well-being in old age and to support elderly people in trying new things in their lives again," said the musical neurophysiologist and research......

News

Can Music Heal Trauma? Exploring the Therapeutic Powers of Sound

Being moved by sadness-evoking music linked to high empathy

How Music Makes Us Feel Better

Alzheimer's disease: Music, meditation may improve early cognitive decline

Complementary Therapies in Cancer Care – Music Therapy

Need to get Creative? Put on a Happy Song

Can Music Help You Calm Down and Sleep Better?

The Power of Music To Reduce Stress

9 Ways Music Can Cure Depression, Drug Addiction and Stop Suicide

New study aims to improve quality of life for seniors with music

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