Sunday morning, Feb. 15 saw the launch of the Happy Valley Bluegrass Church at Iron Horse Music Hall. It was led by Jim Henry and the Deep River Ramblers, joined by singer and banjo player Annie Patterson, editor of the well-known Rise Up Singing singalong anthologies.
Those of us lucky enough to get tickets for this sold out show had smiles on our faces for two hours as we belted out songs of love, freedom, peace, and resistance by songwriters like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and the Beatles. My euphoria lasted throughout the day.
There is a mounting body of scientific evidence explaining the reason for this high. Music, especially of the active variety — like singing or dancing — has significant effects on the
brain’s Ventral Tegmentum Area (VTA). The VTA, located in the crowded midbrain, functions as a Grand Central Station, with direct connections to the nearby walnut shaped
amygdala and seahorse shaped hippocampi (one for each hemisphere). The amygdala is a center of emotions, and the hippocampi are the centers for memory. Music triggers the release of dopamine that triggers the reward system, acting both as a powerful feel-good drug and motivator (as do drugs, sex, adventurous sports). Music’s effect on the hippocampus is the reason for the nostalgia associated with hearing an old song or advertising jingle.
It’s not surprising that music therapy, in which trained therapists play instruments, sing,
or have patients sing or write songs to address specific health care needs is growing in popularity. There is an entire wing at Mt Sinai Hospital in New York, the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, devoted to this mode of therapy.
Music helps all ages, beginning before birth. Research shows that listening to music and singing during pregnancy may help maternal blood pressure and improve bonding after birth.
Some studies suggest that music therapy helps children on the autism spectrum with speech and social functioning. I saw many, if not the majority of my ASD patients benefit from dance, singing, or playing an instrument at places like the Northampton Community Music School. Self-expression through the arts is a potent tool for those who have trouble expressing themselves verbally.
Neural networks connect the midbrain with the somatosensory cortex, so music can act
to decrease pain perception, through the release of endogenous opioids. Metanalyses (an
assessment of many studies) in 2016 and 2017 concluded that listening to music, especially if chosen by the patient, decreases the pain of childbirth, osteoporosis, sickle cell disease,
fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, lithotripsy (breaking up kidney stones), and pain associated with egg retrieval in IVF. A study of 623 military recruits from China suffering from GI symptoms had the soldiers listen to “light music” played for 15 minutes while they rested after lunch and progressive muscle relaxation, for 15 minutes, at bedtime. The results: dramatically decreased symptoms of regurgitation, heartburn, abdominal pain, and constipation.
What about other diseases? We know that music can have potent effects on the central nervous system, so it is not surprising that it is helpful for neurologic disorders. A kind of
auditory stimulation called rhythmic pulsed therapy may help people with Parkinson’s Disease walk better and faster. Movement therapy and dance can help these folks with motor function generally, and singing has been shown to help Parkinson’s patients with speech.
Kids, and adults with ADHD, often benefit from listening to music while they work. Music therapy can help people with brain injury from stroke or trauma recover speech,
balance, memory and ability to walk. A specific modality called receptive auditory stimulation (playing a metronome while subjects performed motor activity) can be especially helpful. This is not surprising, given the pleasure so many of us derive from rhythms involving toe tapping, clapping, drumming, or dancing.
Studies show music therapy and simply listening to songs often helps hospitalized patients, which makes one wonder why the fallback entertainment for the patients I saw in the hospital was TV or video games, instead of music.
The combination of memory use in learning scores, social interaction, collective goals, and ego enhancement involved in choral singing makes this activity especially helpful for older
folks — a good reason for the popularity of groups like the Valley Jazz Voices and The Young at Heart Chorus. Music, in general has been found to increase the quality of life among the elderly. The studies of the effects of music on cognition are mixed, but most of us know of older family members who might forget the name of the person they met a moment ago, or even names of loved ones, but be able to sing entire songs.
Not surprising is the effect of music on mood. All of the studies I’ve already described also found that listening to music, or even more, singing or dancing to it, has positive effects on frame of mind. Music based interventions — like listening to self-selected songs — decreases the anxiety of pre-operative patients, worry among people with cancer, and may help dental patients — when combined with relaxation therapy. Melody is good for anyone who is anxious and can help depression as well. Listening to tunes has even helped those with schizophrenia with the “negative symptoms” of depression and self-neglect.
What kind of music is best? The answer seems to be whatever we most prefer. If the music is chosen by someone else, there is a risk that it might trigger a traumatic memory; for
example if someone heard opera growing up in an abusive household, opera shouldn’t be played to the patient. And music can occasionally be used in destructive ways, like the deafening heavy metal music played over loudspeakers at Guantanamo to try to break prisoners.
The Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, of the NIH, summarized over
50 recent studies on the effects of music interventions on stress, in general, involving over 12,000 individuals. They found that measures of stress, like heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones, all dropped significantly. A musical program called “Healing In Harmony” has been utilized in conflict zones in Africa to help heal PTSTD and significantly reduce anxiety and depression. Music interventions in prisons, like listening to music, song writing, and even playing in a string ensemble have been shown to decrease anxiety, depression, anger, and boredom among those who are incarcerated in prisons or detention centers.
The Pioneer Valley is bursting with opportunities to hear, sing, dance, or play almost any
type of music imaginable. We live in a melodically healing environment.
Dr. David Gottsegen of Belchertown is a pediatrician who focuses on the interrelationship between mind body and spirit. His book “Mending the Body with the Mind: Harnessing Kids’ Superpowers to Heal and Stay Healthy” was published on Nov. 25.