The Brain and Music

The topic of music and the brain is endlessly fascinating to me!  If we could only really understand the power of music to improve not only our health, but our entire lives, the greatest labs on the planet would be working on this around the clock.  Of course, this is not happening around the clock, but it is finally happening a lot more often than it was even fifty years ago.

Neuroscientists and neuromusicologists are investigating all kinds of exciting phenomena in illness, wellness and greatly improved quality of life.  We all know that certain music can make us feel ecstatically happy, devastatingly sad, fantastically energized,  and superbly relaxed!!  And the music that does this will vary from person to person!  That is why those of us in the fields of music medicine or music therapy or music healing or sound healing, know that letting the patient choose their preferred music is so important.

But how does the music enter the brain?  Well, the exact location is the 8th cranial nerve, but there’s so much more fascinating information to learn about this.  Recently, an article appeared that looks at all the benefits of music on stress management and concluded that

The kids listen 15 minutes a day, five days a week.

Alexis Obeldobel, 7, says, “I like the sound of the instruments.”

Her Mom says it works for her three children who are using the program.

“I can tell the behavior, they’re much calmer and more focused when they do listen,” she said.

Damien Maine, 7, also likes to listen. His mom, Jennifer, loves the program.

She says, “He’s actually able to sit down and focus on something and deal with outside noises and not have a problem thinking, listening and writing.”

“The Listening Program” works for adults, too, whether they want to improve executive function or reduce stress.

Dantry, who uses it for the kids she helps at the school, tried it herself.

“I know for me, I’m a high stress person, and it made me a lot more calm, able to deal with things on a daily basis easier than I typically would,” she said.

The Listening program is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is used across the country and must be through a licensed and trained occupational therapist.

• To learn more, go to this link:
  http://a.advancedbrain.com/tlp/the_listening_program.jsp