Music may be far more awesome than you think. It’s deeper than the universal thrill of hearing your favorite song on the radio. We have internal factors built right in that cause music to have a remarkable impact on our lives. Below are five possibly surprising benefits of listening to music.
Pain, Pain, Go Away
Music, all by its lonesome, can help people with the management of chronic pain. Specifically, patients suffering from fibromyalgia experienced a significant reduction in the amount of pain they suffered if they listened to one hour of music per day, compared to a control group that didn’t incorporate music into their daily lives.
Stress Less
Stress is arguably the single biggest threat to health today, but music can come to the rescue. Research was done in which participants were exposed to a psychosocial stress test. Afterwards, those who participated were divided into three groups, as follows:
- One group listened to sounds of rippling water.
- One group listened to relaxing or meditative music.
- One group had no auditory stimulation.
Can you guess which group recovered the quickest? Ding-ding-ding—that’s right! The music listeners, though, perhaps notably, they weren’t listening to rock and roll.
No Ginkgo Biloba? No Problem
You may have heard that the ginkgo plant has properties that help to improve memory problems, and a lot of people take gingko biloba supplements. There’s another way to give your memory a boost that may be easier on your budget and more enjoyable all around. Listening to music as you study may help you retain what you’re learning. In groups that were tested, the type of music that had beneficial effects was an individual matter, with some exceptions. For example, students who had musical training performed best on learning tests when the music they listened to was neutral. Those who had no musical training responded best, as far as memory formation, when listening to positive music that elicited positive emotions.
Appetite Suppressant
Looking for a new miracle cure for weight loss? Look no further than your iPod. Research shows that individuals who ate in restaurants consumed 18% less food when there was soft music and low lighting. The assumption is that the music caused relaxation that made them more comfortable, and they ate more slowly. As a result, they became aware that they were feeling full and didn’t eat as much.
More Brain Power
Forget about trying to cop a prescription to Adderall, to help with your level of focus for working or doing school work. All you may need is some upbeat music. A study discovered that if music is playing in the background as adults are mostly focused on another activity, their performance on cognitive tasks is improved. Okay. Full disclosure. This specifically applied to older adults, but that may not mean it doesn’t work for everybody. More details of the study show that downbeat music helps with memory and upbeat music improves processing speed. If you want to give it a try, it may help to choose instrumental music, so that the lyrics don’t interfere with your focus.
Did you know music had these powers? This is actually just the tip of the iceberg. Music also releases the feel-good hormone dopamine. If you think music is something to sing about from the rooftops, get this “Make Music not Enemies” hoodie from TrendTee.com and set your life to music every day.
