on disease
THE BASICS:
› Dementia: A condition in which patients
are cognitively impaired. This affects things like memory, thinking, language, personality, and judgement.22
› CVD (Cerebrovascular Disease): Also known
as stroke, this occurs when blood flow to the brain stops. This is similar to a heart attack, but it occurs in the brain. Lack of blood kills brain cells, causing brain damage.23
› Heart Failure: When the heart stops working.
This may occur suddenly or over a period of time.24
music listening and music therapy on disease incidence: Studies have suggested that attending music
therapy sessions or participation in leisure activities like listening to music can reduce the incidence of heart failure and dementia, respectively. the research: In a study conducted on elderly Japanese patients with CVD* and dementia*, it was found that at least 10 weeks of weekly 45-minute music therapy sessions (consisting of Japanese pop music, nursery rhymes, folk songs, and hymns) led to a reduced rate of heart failure events.25 Another study that followed elderly people without dementia over 7 years found that people who spent more time doing things for leisure (such as listening to music) were less likely to develop dementia.*26
the bottom line Though much research has been conducted to try to understand the potential effects of music on wellbeing, we still only have bits and pieces of a vast puzzle. A lot of evidence suggests that music can play a role (albeit small in most circumstances) in giving “wings to the mind” (through emotional regulation, affected time perception, better pain tolerance, and better cognition) and providing “constitution for the body” (through better stomach function, improved exercise performance, better immunity, better sleep, and better disease outcomes). But just remember to take these results with a grain of salt, as nothing is yet conclusive in this field. tw References 1. “Dopaminergic reward system: a short integrative review.” Int Arch Med. (2010). 2. “Reward Processing by the Opioid System in the Brain.” Physiol Rev. (2009). 3. “Current Advances in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Music.” Ann N Y Acad Sci. (2009). 4. “Thrills in response to music and other stimuli.” Physiol Psychol. (1980). 5. “The Effect of Music on the Production of Neurotransmitters, Hormones, Cytokines, and Peptides.” Music Med. (2011). 6. “Human Performance on the Temporal Bisection Task.” Brain Cogn. (2010). 7. “The influence of music on consumers’ temporal perceptions: Does time fly when you’re having fun?” J Consum Psychol. (1992). 8. “Changes in the representation of space and time while listening to music.” Front Psychol. (2013). 9. “Music, health, and well-being: A review.” Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being. (2013). 10. “What is Spatial-Temporal Reasoning?” wisegeek.com. (2013). 11. “The Mozart effect.” J R Soc Med. (2011). 12. “Multiple Intelligences, the Mozart Effect, and Emotional Intelligence: A Critical Review.” Educ Psychol. (2006). 13. “The Effect of Music on Cognitive Performance: Insight From Neurobiological and Animal Studies.” Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev. (2005). 14. “Effects of Melodic Complexity and Rhythm on Working Memory as Measured by Digit Recall Performance.” Music Med. (2011). 15. “Effects of music on gastric myoelectrical activity in healthy humans.” Int J Clin Pract. (2007). 16. “Music in the exercise domain: a review and synthesis (Part I).” Int Rev Sport Exerc Psychol. (2012). 17. “Music During Exercise: Does Tempo Influence Psychophysical Responses?” psycho.philica.com. (2013). 18. “The impact of music on metabolism.” J Nutr. (2012). 19. “What is gene expression?” news-medical.net. (2013). 20. “Antibodies.” rcsb.org. (2001). 21. “The neurochemistry of music.” Trends Cogn Sci. (2013). 22. “Dementia.” ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. (2011). 23. “Stroke.” ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. (2013). 24. “Heart Failure Overview.” ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. (2013). 25. “Effects of Music Therapy on Autonomic Nervous System Activity, Incidence of Heart Failure Events, and Plasma Cytokine and Catecholamine Levels in Elderly Patients with Cerebrovascular Disease and Dementia.” Int Heart J. (2009). 26. “Influence of leisure activity on the incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease.” Neurology. (2001).
what does it all mean?: These studies suggest that musicrelated activities can reduce the risk for certain dangerous conditions (such as heart failure and dementia) in elderly people, thus potentially extending the lifespan and increasing quality of life. Keep in mind that these studies were highly specific, however, so this conclusion still needs to be confirmed.
on sleep sleep better.
the research: Check out the article (Musical Beats for Sleep and Stress Relief) following this one to read about the effects of music on sleep and stress. what does it all mean?: To sum it up, sleeping with certain types of music (especially relaxing or sedative music) playing in the background may help improve sleep quality, potentially by increasing the time spent in deep sleep. Scientists believe that this may be because of the stress-reducing or relaxing effects of some types of music.
34
original illustrations by karin yuen
total wellness ▪ winter 2014
music on sleep quality: Listening to music may help us