While you may enjoy turning the music up in the car or singing in the shower, did you know that music can have significant effects on mental and physical health? From infants in the pre-natal unit to stressed out adults dealing with chronic pain or even recovering from illness, the effects of music on the brain and body are more than mood elevating or groove inducing. Read on to find out about what science has found are some major benefits of listening to music on our health.

Lullabies for Healing Babies (and stressed out parents)

For newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), each spike of heart beat and the routines of eating and sleeping are significant. Researchers at Beth Israel Medical Center wanted to look at effects of different types of music and music therapy benefits on babies in the NICU. They compared the effects of an “ocean disc,” which simulates the sound of the womb, a lullaby sung by one of the baby’s parents, and a gato box, which simulates two-tone heartbeat rhythms. They found that all the therapies slowed babies’ heart rate. However, the singing was the most effective and increased the amount of time babies stayed quiet. It also lowered the parents’ stress levels.

Benefits to Adult Health

Humans have used music for different reasons throughout our entire history on this earth. Today, we know that music can give many health benefits. Using music for stress relief, lowering our stress levels, altering our state of consciousness, helping us access different potentials (think about listening to music while meditating or creating art), and enhancing moods is becoming more widely used.

Physical health benefits of listening to music

Physical healing benefits – music has been proven to be able to reduce perception of pain, especially for those recovering from illness or in situations of palliative medicine.

Physical exercise benefits – while listening to music, its been shown that people experience increased motivation, increased adrenaline, increased endurance, and because of all of these increases, better overall performance. Not only that, but one study even found that by listening to music, you can speed up your post-workout recovery!

Sleep better – listening to calming music has been shown to help induce certain brain wave activity and help to lull you into a deep sleep. Listening to classical music before bed has even been shown to be effective for college students dealing with insomnia.

Appetite suppressant – music plays a role in the perceived speed at which something should happen, which is clear when you listen to the music that restaurants play. It’s been proven that by playing slow music and dimming the lights, diners will eat more slowly and even consume smaller quantities of food. On the other hand, by playing fast music, diners will eat faster and possibly more.

Mental health benefits of listening to music

Stress reduction – lots of research has found that by listening to music, biochemical stress reducers can be released. In a study by the University of Maryland, researchers found that listening to mind relaxing music was a stress-reducer for both healthy people and those with health issues. They found that listening to calming music can lower blood pressure, heart rate, and even levels of anxiety.

Help achieve a meditative state – It has been shown that music with certain frequencies and beats can induce a meditative state because of the therapeutic effect of creating specific brainwave states. This can have a positive effect on migraines, PMS, and even some behavioral issues.

Improve mental performance – Have you heard of the “Mozart Effect”? Well, researchers had students listen to Mozart, other music, or nothing before they completed cognitive tasks and found that students who listened to Mozart consistently scored higher. Now, there is scientific proof that there is some sort of cognitive connection between classical music and the brain. It is possible that listening to music helps to improve cognitive function because music affects mood, but either way, it’s a great way to fight that 3pm slump!

Music may already be a part of your life, but by being more aware of the positive effects it can have in almost every aspect of your day, you can now use it to boost motivation at the gym (or car on the way to work), and help you to calm down before bed. Happy listening!