Brain Chemistry & Biology
the "feel good" transmitter, associated with reward and pleasure, spikes in the brain when you listen to your favorite songs.
dopamine
This type of professional therapy uses music to help patients recover from stroke, manage pain, improve speech, and more!
music therapy
Music from a person's youth can vividly trigger memories even in late-stage patients suffering from this progressive memory-loss disease.
Alzheimer’s disease (or Dementia)
Learning to play an instrument as a child has been proven to drastically improve this school-related skill, especially in reading and math.
academic performance (or cognitive development)
Many people create specialized high-energy playlists of this fast-paced music to help motivate them while exercising.
workout music (or upbeat/dance music)
Listening to relaxing music can significantly lower levels of this primary stress hormone.
cortisol
Because rhythm bypasses damaged speech centers, stroke patients with this condition—the inability to speak—can often sing their words before they can say them.
aphasia
Often called the "Mozart Effect," early research suggested that listening to classical music could temporarily boost this specific type of spatial reasoning.
IQ (or cognitive performance)
Playing an instrument requires reading notation and moving fingers simultaneously, drastically improving this "hand-to-eye" ability.
coordination
Singing along to your favorite song in the car or shower is a great way to release tension and instantly improve this overall mental state.
mood
Music is one of the few activities that activates both the left and right hemispheres at once, a phenomenon often described as a full-body workout for this organ
The brain
Parkinson's patients often use a steady musical beat to overcome "freezing" and improve this physical activity.
walking (or gait/motor function)
This deep brain structure, crucial for emotional memory, is highly active when a song triggers a sudden, powerful wave of nostalgia.
amygdala
Musicians generally possess a superior "working" type of this, allowing them to hold and manipulate information in their heads more efficiently.
working memory
Gentle, slow-tempo music without a heavy beat is frequently used at night to help the brain unwind and battle this sleep disorder.
insomnia
This large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres is often larger in musicians, allowing for faster communication between sides.
corpus callosum
Studies show that listening to music before, during, or after surgery can significantly reduce a patient's perception of this unpleasant physical sensation.
pain
Background music without these can improve reading comprehension and focus, whereas having them present usually distracts the brain.
lyrics
This specific executive function—the ability to ignore distractions and stay on task—is highly developed in people who practice music.
attention (or focus/selective attention)
Listening to comforting or sad music when you are feeling down can help you process your feelings, a healthy emotional release known by this 9-letter "C" word.
catharsis
Fast-paced music can stimulate the production of these brainwaves, which are associated with heightened alertness, focus, and concentration.
beta or gamma waves
This term refers to the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections, a process heavily triggered by learning a musical instrument.
neuroplasticity
Music-evoked memories are incredibly resilient because they are stored in both the explicit memory system and this "muscle memory" system.
implicit (or procedural) memory
Regular musical training increases the volume of this "colored" brain tissue, which contains most of the brain's neuronal cell bodies.
gray matter
This term describes the phenomenon where a catchy song or melody gets stuck on a loop inside your head.
ear worm