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Music is a key part of the balance of the mind and may be one of the greatest healing factors for our stressed-out brains and minds. But before we look at mental wellbeing, and moreover the health of our brain and the part that music may play, we must look at the evolutionary evidence which places music centrally in the development of our human brain.<\/strong> Why does the brain respond to music and why might music be good for our mental health and wellbeing?<\/strong><\/p> Some 40,000 years ago, across the frozen landscape of central Europe, hunting parties of early (\u2018Cro-Magnon\u2019) humans relentlessly pursued their prey \u2013 mobile herds of deer and wild boar. Those hunters faced formidable challenges. Emigrating out of the Middle East, they encountered brutal winters and the hard going of huge, endless forests. But these early humans brought with them their technologies and their inventiveness which, against the odds, quickly established their presence. And they also brought music.<\/p> In 2009, in a remote cave in south-west Germany, buried in a Palaeolithic midden heap, scientists discovered the oldest known musical instruments \u2013 four flutes, ingeniously made to generate tonal differences. One, made of a vulture wing bone, is about a foot long. For deeper tone, others were made from the ivory of mammoth tusks. These early musicians clearly had leisure time not only to play and create cave art but to make instruments. Scientists have little doubt that music is so basic to human nature that it goes back to our earliest days as a species. A virtuous cycle involving diet, culture, technology, social relationships and genes led to the modern human brain coming into existence by about 200,000 years ago. And the rest is history \u2013 music became embedded in our brains.<\/p> From the earliest choral music<\/strong><\/a> in ancient Egypt to the Classical and Romantic symphonies of the 18th and 19th centuries, we see in all cultures and eras the importance of music. Greek philosophers contemplated the healing effects of music \u2013 the art of the Muses (including Calliope, above left), the nine daughters of Zeus, king of the gods, and Mnemosyne, Titan goddess of memory. <\/p> We need little investigation to tell us that music is enjoyed by people of all ages around the world. In the words of Longfellow, \u2018Music is the universal language of mankind.\u2019 So, we can unite to share stories through music. Communication is so integral to our mental health, so too is music. <\/p> We don\u2019t need to be scientists to know that music engages us physically and emotionally. The right song might prompt us to tap our toes or snap our fingers. It might inspire us to hum or sing or get up and dance. And the profoundest symphony can deeply inspire us. Music can spark memories from many years in the past \u2013 bringing back sights, smells and feelings from when we first heard the song that is now radiating throughout the room.<\/p> First, we must define what the brain needs in order to thrive and be healthy. Over 1.5 million years, evolution has contrived three vital brain functions to work together seamlessly: executive function, or our ability to think and reason; social cognition, which enables us to interact successfully with others; and emotion regulation, through which we generate our sense of mental health and wellbeing.<\/p> As a member of the expert music group convened in 2020 by the Global Council for Brain Health, among the many issues discussed I was struck particularly by two of them. The first was that music is unique in simultaneously engaging more areas of the brain than any other activity of daily life. The regions include those parts of the brain involved in hearing and listening, movement, attention, language, emotion, memory<\/strong> and thinking skills and, uniquely, all four lobes of the cerebral hemispheres and the brain stem. Music not only engages multiple parts of the brain but helps them work together. Playing and listening<\/strong><\/a>, the members concluded, is indisputably a powerful way to stimulate your brain and gives the brain a total workout, thus supporting your mental health. <\/p> Secondly, the neuroscientists in the meeting repeatedly said that they weren\u2019t able to answer with certainty the many claims that are made about music and the brain because of the absence of a critical mass of scientific research. (This absence was due in a large part to the low priority given to the science of music by the research funding bodies. This is a grave disadvantage \u2013 it both limits the rightful claims that can be made about the benefits of music, particularly high-order classical work, and deprives us of the opportunity to make recommendations on truly beneficial practical measures for our brain health.) But there are many things we can say with certainty.<\/p> Yes, music is important in promoting mental wellbeing, a keystone of brain health requiring as it does the balancing of powerful negative and positive emotions. In general, the positive effect of music is a result of its impact on mood and arousal, and the listener\u2019s enjoyment. By mood, we mean long-lasting emotions. By arousal, we mean the level of physiological activation \u2013 the key to regulating consciousness, attention, alertness and information processing. The emotional impact of music<\/strong><\/a> seems to be determined by its tempo and the mode (key). Fast tempo and major mode music tend to evoke a positive\/happy mood and higher arousal levels, whereas slow tempo and minor mode music evoke a more negative\/sad mood and lower arousal levels.<\/p> We need no better example of the uplifting effects of music than Mstislav Rostropovich\u2019s cello recital as the Berlin Wall came crashing down in 1989<\/a><\/strong>. Enhanced mood and arousal levels plus listener enjoyment all lead indirectly to improved cognitive function, particularly memory and learning. Interestingly, background music appears to have a different effect than listening directly to music \u2013 the so-called the \u2018Mozart Effect\u2019. <\/p> Dancing<\/strong><\/a> also provides an indirect way in which music leads to better brain health \u2013\u00a0and, as a result, your mental health. In scientific studies, dancers themselves report multiple cognitive benefits of their activity. Moreover, an astonishing study in 2003 at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine showed that of many different types of physical activities, only dancing was associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Another study, this time in Germany, gave us a clue as to how: dancing was associated with increased hippocampal volume (the hippocampus being a centre of memory and learning) and with the production of a brain protein, BDNF, which stimulates the growth of new brain cells.<\/p> So, the $64,000 question. If, say, cellist Yo-Yo Ma<\/strong><\/a> and guitarist Sharon Isbin<\/strong> (who we named as one of the best female guitarists of all time<\/a><\/strong>) live to be 100, will their musical training help them fend off the depredations of dementia? An overall review of the evidence makes clear that music is very powerful in improving mental health and well-being. But a great deal of work is needed to understand fully some fundamental issues, such as whether music promotes memory and thinking skills as we age and whether listening to or performing music protects the brain against cognitive decline. For example, we know that playing a musical instrument uses many different cognitive skills, such as attention and memory, but we don\u2019t know whether continually exercising those skills maintains them in later age. <\/p> There is also some evidence that playing an instrument throughout life is associated with a lower risk of dementia, but we don\u2019t know whether performing music actually causes the brain to be more resilient to disease. And we don\u2019t know whether the evidence that resilience observed in the brains of musicians is only true for people playing since childhood, or whether it applies equally to musicians who begin as adults.<\/p> Positively, we know that listening to music stimulates many parts of the brain; that music promotes brain connectivity and has much therapeutic value for healthy ageing, for pathologies such as stroke, Parkinson\u2019s and dementia<\/strong><\/a>, and for reducing stress and promoting wellbeing. The outstanding research questions need to be answered to provide proof of what we know intuitively about the importance and relevance of music in all aspects of life. Personally, I\u2019m convinced that the power of music to restore, rejuvenate and regenerate the brain will become our new received wisdom.<\/p>Why do humans respond emotionally to music and why do we enjoy it?<\/h2>
Music as communication<\/h2>
What does the brain need to be healthy?<\/h2>
How can music help support brain health?<\/h2>
Is music important in helping mental wellbeing?<\/h2>
Why is dancing good for your brain health?<\/h2>
Does music help stave off dementia?<\/h2>
What is the future of music and mental health?<\/h2>