The music we love can often have an effect that creeps into the physical realm. There’s a reason why many people listen to music while exercising, for instance, and the dopamine rush that accompanies certain musical moments is undeniable. (In a recent Hearing Things piece, Andy Cush described this phenomenon as “the big release,” which seems apt.) But can this go beyond improving your workout or your mood to actively boosting your health?
According to a study published last month in the journal Scientific Reports, music can play a role in addressing pain — but, like musical taste itself, it varies a lot depending on the listener. The paper’s authors tested five different genres of music as part of the study. What they learned was that “listening to a favored music genre has a significant positive influence on pain tolerance, irrespective of the kind of genre.”
As the authors note, this is at odds with a school of thought that suggests that classical music is ideal for pain relief. These findings suggest that classical music could serve this function — but for patients who would normally enjoy listening to classical music. In other words, as the paper’s authors point out, “the general music (genre) preference emerged as an essential factor for pain tolerance, whereas the rating of whether individuals think that a genre works against pain did not.”
The study that appeared in Scientific Reports isn’t the only research being done into this matter. In a recent Associated Press article, Christina Larson explored the larger efforts to understand how music can affect surgery and recovery. Larson also spoke with health care workers who have taken steps to introduce music into hospital settings, including UC San Diego Health nurse Rod Salaysay, who uses musical instruments to address what he referred to as a “cycle of worry, pain, anxiety” found in hospital settings.
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Research suggets there’s more to the relationship between music and physical exertion than a simple “distraction”As Larson points out, the idea of using music to reduce medical pain isn’t new; instead, it dates back to the 19th century. What’s changing now is the way in which scientists understand its inner workings. In an interview with Nautilus last fall, I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine author Daniel J. Levitin — a neuroscientist and cognitive psychologist — succinctly explained the role music plays in recovery.
“[I]f you can reduce psychological and physical stress, you’re enabling your body’s immune system to do what it’s meant to do,” he explained. “Music can promote IgA levels. They can promote cytokine production, the production of natural killer cells, T cells, plus, they can increase serotonin, which boosts your mood, which in turn, can create this cascade of neurochemical activity.” It’s a welcome conclusion: the music you enjoy might be good for you as well.
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