Put Those Records On: The Science Behind Why We All Need Music In Our Lives

How does your favourite song make you feel? What memories does it bring up?

We associate so much with certain music, but it’s not just good for reminiscing, it’s also physically and psychologically beneficial. This post will look at my own experiences and how music has played into my wellness journey, as well as recent research into the power of music for many conditions and illnesses. I’ll also share the questions you may want to ask yourself, in order to determine what your playlist should be! Or, if reading’s not your thing, check out the Wilde About Wellbeing podcast episode.

My first real experience with seeing how music can change my mood, or at least learning that music could change my mood, was when I was in Los Angeles a few months ago, and I sat in my coach’s office. He put on a song, he only played maybe a quarter of this track, at gut-punching volume, where you can kind of feel it in your very being. It made me realise, in that moment, the effects that music can have on me. I went from feeling pretty depressed, as I was thinking about leaving LA in a few days’ time, to feeling quite upbeat.

Being surrounded by music, externally hearing the music, internally feeling the bass, made me realize that I had been using my iTunes collection all wrong. I’d always listen to music quietly, if at all! I’m someone that, more often than not, will sit in silence rather than put the radio on. I’ve also tended to use music in a depressing way, avoiding high energy playlists and opting for things like country music dirges.

I feel that I’m getting better at learning to use it. I’m recognising that I can use music to keep me lifted and buoyant, whereas silence doesn’t really do me good — and the research I want to look at now proves just that!

The Science Bit

Exercise — I mostly listen to music in group workout classes, rather than when I work out alone. However, there’s some research out of Sydney that suggests I may wish to rethink that! It is universally accepted that when we are hot, our exercise performance levels drop, when we look at cardiovascular effort. In the Aussie research, participants exercised in both a neutral temperature room, and a room that had been heated, with and without a self-selected motivational playlist. In the heated room, with their music playing, participants performance increased by about 10%.

Anti-social Behaviour — A McDonald’s in Shepherds Bush in London found that playing classical music (and removing free wifi!) reduced the level of crime and anti-social behaviour around the restaurant. Similar music has also been used in the past at London Tube stations and bus stops, again to reduce aggression and anti-social actions.

Premature Babies — From teenagers to teeny-tiny babies… Research in Spain involved healthy premature babies, born between 32 and 36 weeks gestation. At that age, they have to go into a neonatal unit, which is naturally a very noisy place. They divided the babies into two groups, and played relaxing music to one group for twenty minutes, three times a day over three consecutive days, whilst the other group were given silence for those times. The babies who were played music reduced their respiration rate to healthier levels, whilst the babies subjected to silence displayed an increase in their heart rates.

So, babies, who do not even know what music is are able to react to it — and find silence more disturbing than either the everyday noise of the ward or relaxing music. That is just fascinating, right?

Older Adults — Some more Spanish research (at this point, I’m convinced they’re just interested in the two ends of the age scale!) showed that playing music to those with declining cognitive function helped them to connect to past memories. It was actually found that, in a group of 47 people, cognitive function improved quite dramatically, whereas a control group who didn’t have the music experienced a significant decline in cognitive behaviour.

Creative Mindset — A joint study between researchers in the Netherlands and Australia explored how ‘happy music’ effected thinking. They discovered that the happy music actually led to an increase in what is referred to as ‘divergent thinking’, which is essentially the ability to think outside of the box and solve problems.

Schizophrenia — NHS trusts in the UK researched how music therapy could be used in the treatment of schizophrenia, as an adjunct to the patients’ usual medication and therapy.

Sixty people attended four or more sessions of music therapy over twelve weeks, and this resulted in an increase in their wellbeing scores and a decrease in their generalized schizophrenia symptoms. A control group who had the same pharmacological intervention, but no music showed no such improvements.

Mood Improvement — An Irish study found that if people were put into a negative mood, ten minutes of their chosen music could reduce their anger. Interestingly, the older adult group (60–81 years of age) had a more increased mood than the younger adults. There is a natural tendency in psychology which does mean that older adults perform better, but I also wonder if it is down to things like having had longer in life to become cognizant of which songs lift them.

Stress and Anxiety Reduction — A study asked its participants to listen to music for thirty minutes a day, over three weeks and they’re stress symptoms dropped. The control group who weren’t asked to do that actually saw an increase in their symptoms.

The Playlist Pointers

What kind of music works for you?

Once you decide on the music that works for you, you need to think about what works for you in a certain mood, at a certain time of day, and so on — and then develop a playlist for each. Maybe you’ll have a playlist for when you’re concentrating on work, one that’s for exercise or lifting your energy, one that wakes you up in the morning, one that calms you for sleep, and so on.

Do lyrics distract you?

Perhaps you find that you pay more attention to the lyrics than the music, and that if they’re negative you pulled down by the lyrics. I am like that: I identify with lyrics, rather than the music that’s behind them.

Do we need to feel or heighten the emotion we’re going through?

Even though a mood may be very negative, sometimes we need to go through it in order to to reduce it. Anger, for example, may need to be felt in order to prevent future resentments — music that incites your wrath to a point where you’ve just had enough of it. Sometimes we need to reach that point, in order to totally release the emotion.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed researching it, because it has been one of the most intriguing topics I have looked into. Actually, I’ve been blown away by the idea that babies, straight out of the womb, can relate to music. It’s also really exciting to see the music-related therapies that we can offer, at a relatively cheap level, to people who are suffering from really chronic illnesses, like schizophrenia, to help them as an add-on to their regular medication, so that they feel empowered over their illness management. We are incredibly lucky to live in such progressive times.

For more on this topic, listen to the Wilde About Wellbeing episode that tackled this!