Music

    Written by:
    Nick Milazzo
    Last Updated: January 10, 2024

    Music is a form of art that involves organized sound elements such as melody, harmony, and rhythm. Its therapeutic benefits largely lie in the emotional and psychological salience it carries for individual people, meaning that different types of music will affect people differently. Depending on the type of music and the characteristics of the listener, music can have a wide range of effects.



    1.

    Music and Dopamine

    Music has the ability to release dopamine. The effect of this seems to be via a calmodulin-dependent system.[2]

    Dopamine release from the nucleus accumbens occurs during peak emotional arousal (the best part) and from caudate (another brain organ) during periods of anticipation for the peak emotional arousal.[3]

    2.

    Effects on Blood Pressure

    Via a calcium/calmodulin-dependent dopamine-synthesizing system, dopamine can potentially reduce blood pressure.[4] Via this mechanism, music has been shown to reduce blood pressure (albeit in lab animals) and has more potency at higher frequencies (albeit still being calming music).[5] This effect may be only applicable to those with higher blood pressure in the first place (and hopefully not only rats).[6]

    3.

    Music and Pain Relief

    Music has been found reduce the intensity of pain experienced.[7][8][9]

    4.

    Music and Exercise

    Music administered during exercise has the ability to increase time to exhaustion during aerobic exercise while reducing blood pressure and heart rate, hypothesized to be via relaxation mechanisms.[10] Differences in adrenaline between the two groups were noted. These changes in adrenaline stop upon cessation of music, are dependent on the tempo of the music, and do not seem to be causative of the changes in performance during exercise to a significant degree.[11]

    Listening to motivational music (music that encourages motion and activity) encourages enhanced blood lactate clearance possibly via unintentional additional movement.[12]</di|authors=Eliakim M, Bodner E, Eliakim A, Nemet D, Meckel Y|journal=J Strength Cond Res]

    5.

    Music and Addiction

    Music appears to have the potential to augment already addictive behaviors via association. This result can be either positive or detrimental depending on context.[13][14]

    References

    1. ^Ding T, Yan A, Liu KWhat is noise-induced hearing loss?Br J Hosp Med (Lond).(2019-Sep-02)
    2. ^Sutoo D, Akiyama KMusic improves dopaminergic neurotransmission: demonstration based on the effect of music on blood pressure regulationBrain Res.(2004 Aug 6)
    3. ^Salimpoor VN, Benovoy M, Larcher K, Dagher A, Zatorre RJAnatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to musicNat Neurosci.(2011 Feb)
    4. ^Sutoo D, Akiyama KRegulation of blood pressure with calcium-dependent dopamine synthesizing system in the brain and its related phenomenaBrain Res Brain Res Rev.(1997 Sep 30)
    5. ^Akiyama K, Sutoo DEffect of different frequencies of music on blood pressure regulation in spontaneously hypertensive ratsNeurosci Lett.(2011 Jan 3)
    6. ^Lemmer BEffects of music composed by Mozart and Ligeti on blood pressure and heart rate circadian rhythms in normotensive and hypertensive ratsChronobiol Int.(2008 Nov)
    7. ^Nilsson S, Kokinsky E, Nilsson U, Sidenvall B, Enskär KSchool-aged children's experiences of postoperative music medicine on pain, distress, and anxietyPaediatr Anaesth.(2009 Dec)
    8. ^Bradshaw DH, Donaldson GW, Jacobson RC, Nakamura Y, Chapman CRIndividual differences in the effects of music engagement on responses to painful stimulationJ Pain.(2011 Dec)
    9. ^Cepeda MS, Carr DB, Lau J, Alvarez HMusic for pain reliefCochrane Database Syst Rev.(2006 Apr 19)
    10. ^Szmedra L, Bacharach DWEffect of music on perceived exertion, plasma lactate, norepinephrine and cardiovascular hemodynamics during treadmill runningInt J Sports Med.(1998 Jan)
    11. ^Yamamoto T, Ohkuwa T, Itoh H, Kitoh M, Terasawa J, Tsuda T, Kitagawa S, Sato YEffects of pre-exercise listening to slow and fast rhythm music on supramaximal cycle performance and selected metabolic variablesArch Physiol Biochem.(2003 Jul)
    12. ^Effect of Motivational Music on Lactate Levels during Recovery from Intense Exercise(2011 Nov 4. [Epub ahead of print)
    13. ^Polston JE, Rubbinaccio HY, Morra JT, Sell EM, Glick SDMusic and methamphetamine: conditioned cue-induced increases in locomotor activity and dopamine release in ratsPharmacol Biochem Behav.(2011 Mar)
    14. ^Feduccia AA, Duvauchelle CLAuditory stimuli enhance MDMA-conditioned reward and MDMA-induced nucleus accumbens dopamine, serotonin and locomotor responsesBrain Res Bull.(2008 Oct 22)