Science: Listening to Music Benefits You Throughout Your Life
We probably don't need to tell you that listening to music is fun. If we do, there's something wrong with you. In fact, if you don't listen to much music, not only are you missing out on good times, you're missing out on a slew of other mental and emotional benefits throughout your entire life. There's a growing amount of research that shows people who listen to tunes enjoy benefits at every stage of their lives.
In one study, conducted by researchers at Boston University, children who had at least two years of private music lessons had more activity in the area of the brain that processes information, solves problems, and regulates behavior versus children who didn't have lessons. In other words, kids who are forced to take piano lessons end up being better behaved. The team behind the study suggested schools should consider their findings and change curriculums to add more music classes.
"Since executive functioning [the area of the brain that fired up in children who had music lessons] is a strong predictor of academic achievement, even more than IQ, we think our findings have strong educational implications," the study's lead author, Nadine Gaab, told The Independent."While many schools are cutting music programs and spending more and more time on test preparation, our findings suggest that musical training may actually help to set up children for a better academic future."
Another paper, which analyzed 20 years of cognitive work with teenagers, found that music (specifically rock music) allowed them to feel more comfortable in their own skin and deal with any troubling emotions. As we're all former teens, you know just how important that is. "Researcher Jukka Tervo found that music helps teens process and deal with inner emotional trauma," reported Mic magazine. "Overall, rock music most benefited adolescents, helping them express inner feelings of anger, rage, grief and longing in controlled and cathartic ways. Additionally, it gave them opportunities to experience closeness, isolation and those early sexual fantasies and feelings. Rock and roll was literally a path to adulthood for young listeners when a path was hardest to come by."
In yet another study, a team of experts found that listening to music improves our memories. When the subjects were exposed to music, the areas of their brains that updated memory kicked into high gear. It would stand to reason, then, that listening to music as you get old would help you retain as much cognitive functioning as possible.
Music, as you can see, is a truly powerful force. So why not give it a listen and see how much better you feel afterward. If you don't feel better, try listening to something other than Lil Jon.
[Image via Flickr - Alexandre Normand]
