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How Music Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Stress and Anxiety are two very unavoidable things in our world today; there is always something that will cause those two things. Some amount of stress and anxiety can be healthy to have, but how can music help us manage an excess of those emotions? Listening to music can already have a very clear effect…
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Neuroplasticity and Music: Can Music Change the Brain Long-Term?
Neuroplasticity can be defined as the brain’s remarkable ability to reorganize its structure, functions, and neural connections throughout life in response to experiences, learning, injury, or environmental changes, essentially allowing it to adapt, rewire, and form new pathways to develop new skills or recover lost functions. Scientists have discovered that playing music, and possibly even…
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Does Playing Music Affect the Brain Differently Than Listening? Here’s What the Research Shows
We’ve thought much about music listening in the past articles, but now it’s time to dive into the brains of musicians. How does being a musician affect the brain differently? In this meta-analysis, through analyzing many neuroimages to find out the differences between the brains of musicians and non-musicians, and how they react to music…
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How Music Can Regulate Stress and the Autonomic Nervous System
In the last article, I touched on music and how it affects your emotions – quite literally in your brain. But what about the other parts of the body? How can music help to regulate stress and your Nervous System? In a systematic search done by various scientists(link here), there were many studies uncovered relating…
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What Actually Happens in your Brain when you Listen to Music? Here’s What Research Shows
Music – a universal language. Something that can fight across many modern barriers. But how does your brain actually process music? And how can that be useful in medicine? This article is fairly technical – while there is much explanation, as I process these studies, I suggest looking up the basic brain structures and what…
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Music and Rewards: How Music Triggers Dopamine in the Brain
Dopamine is your brain’s way of telling you when it enjoys something. You’ve probably heard about dopamine in the media, but what exactly is dopamine, and how does music affect it? First off, what even is Dopamine? Dopamine is a chemical messenger in your brain that helps control feelings of pleasure, motivation, and reward. When…
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Music and Memory: Can Music Actually Help Improve Your Memory in the Long Term? Here’s What Research Says
Music has long captured the attention of neurologists, especially for its potential to improve memory in people with diseases that cause progressive memory loss, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s. But can it really help? And can it even be beneficial for prevention? In a study done by the University of Utah School of Medicine, researchers…
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Stress vs. Your Brain: Can Music Defend You? Here’s What the Research Shows
Stress in our everyday lives is a very prominent thing—perhaps more prominent than ever before. But can music help reduce the effects of stress on your brain? Effective stress recovery is important to prevent long-term consequences of stress. Listening to music could be beneficial for stress reduction. In a meta-analysis (read the study here!), 14…
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Does Music Benefit the Brain? Here’s What Research Says
Could music be the brain’s secret defense against aging?Recent research suggests that playing an instrument or even listening to music may do more than just lift your mood; it could actually shield your brain from cognitive decline. Recent studies show that music may enhance cognitive function and promote healthy aging. Playing an instrument has been…
Music is Medicine
A student led knowledge hub exploring the science of music and the brain.
