Moving to the Music

Our bodies love structured rhythms. In fact, they run off of rhythms, regulated by our autonomic nervous system. Some examples of these rhythms are our heart rate, breathing rate, and longer rhythms like the circadian rhythm. When we are listening to music, it stimulates our autonomic nervous system and can elicit a sense of safety because the steady rhythms and predictability help bring our body closer to homeostasis. The rhythms of our body even start to sync up with what we are listening to. Music therapists use this knowledge to help regulate people’s heart rate, respiratory rate, stress levels, and pain perception. This can be done in all clinical settings but can especially be helpful in the hospital where a person’s body rhythms may need extra support to stabilize.

Music = A Lit Up Brain

Engaging with music lights up many areas in the brain simultaneously. Because of this, it promotes increased communication between areas in the brain via neural pathways. Neural pathways involve neurons transmitting signals from one area of the brain to another in order for us to complete a task or understand a concept. Music strengthens existing neural pathways and can even create new pathways.  This is especially important information for music therapists who work with people who have experienced a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or people with dementia. 

Music and Mental Health

One particular area that is excited by music is our limbic system. This system includes the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus. These structures are responsible for our emotional responses, memory storage, feelings of pleasure, motivation, and reward. Researchers have been intrigued as to why music activates these reward and pleasure centers of the brain when they are typically only stimulated by survival needs (food, sex, etc.). 

When these systems are activated, we experience an increase in dopamine, often referred to as the “feel-good” hormone. Serotonin increases as well. Those who struggle with mental health challenges often have an imbalance of one or both of these neurotransmitters. Many of us associate dopamine and serotonin with mood; however, they also play a crucial role in sleep, appetite, digestion, movement, motivation, and memory. 

Experiencing mental health challenges often results in feeling isolated from others.  Making music with other people is known to increase hormones such as oxytocin (bonding hormone), endorphins (pain relieving hormone), and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (decreases stress and arousal). Knowing this, music therapists use group singing and group instrumental play when working in mental health settings in order to decrease feelings of loneliness and increase feelings of connectedness and social purpose. 

The information in this blog is just touching the surface of what is going on in our brains when engaging with music. If you are interested in learning more, please visit the links below!