The Mysterious Power of Music: 15 Fascinating Facts
We all enjoy listening to music, but how many stop to think about what it does to our minds and bodies? Music has extraordinary benefits for our health, and it’s fascinating to learn about how it does its work.
Once you’re aware of all these facts, you may appreciate music and be ready to hear more of your favorite tracks.
1. Music Lifts Your Mood

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Listening to your favorite music allows your brain to release dopamine, which naturally makes you happier. It doesn’t matter what artist’s style you prefer; if you enjoy the tracks, they will lift your mood and put you in a better frame of mind.
Listening to your favorite songs for 15 minutes is all it takes to achieve a natural “high.”
2. Music Reduces Stress

Another chemical change music causes in the body is that it lowers levels of cortisol. Cortisol is widely known as the “stress hormone,” and higher levels can also lead to stress-related physical conditions.
Listening to music helps, but research shows that cortisol levels reduce even further if we’re actively involved. So why not play or sing along the next time you hear your favorite tunes?
3. Music Can Reduce Physical Pain

Lowering those stress levels can also boost our pain thresholds. Studies indicate that patients experience pain reduction when music therapy is applied.
This is because reducing the stress hormone cortisol produces a competing stimulus to the part of the brain that sends pain signals. It won’t eradicate the feelings, but it could help.
4. Music Aids Early Vocabulary

Research on schoolchildren between the ages of four and six showed that music benefits their verbal intelligence. With parental advisory processes to guard against explicit lyrics, you can help boost your child’s vocabulary.
It’s all about the transfer effect, which allows those children to learn new words and to explain their meaning.
5. Music Helps With Memory

At the other end of the age scale, research shows that music can also boost memory. Music therapy has even proved advantageous for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
There is no known cure for dementia or Alzheimer’s at present, but specific studies have proved that listening to music can help alleviate the symptoms to a degree.
6. More Mental Health Benefits

Music can also help with other mental health concerns. Music therapy has been shown to reduce anxiety in many patients, although the treatment also involves taking a walk outside and enjoying nature.
Further research has confirmed benefits for depression, although the most successful styles in this respect are classical music and jazz. Some soft percussion may produce similar benefits if you’re not a fan of either genre.
7. Music May Help With Physical Conditions

We now know that music can help with our mental health, but many studies have shown that there may also be benefits for our bodies.
Listening to music helps produce higher levels of the chemical serotonin. It also helps our immune system and can help with issues such as healing wounds.
8. Music is Heart Healthy

It’s been shown that listening to music helps blood flow more easily, which has several health benefits. Firstly, it lowers your heart rate.
Music can genuinely be heart-healthy, as it reduces heart rate and induces a more relaxed feeling. Those with high blood pressure could also see lower levels.
9. Music Helps You Sleep

About a third of all Americans have suffered from insomnia at some point in their lives, so this is a benefit worth investigating. Studies have shown that listening to music for 45 minutes before bed leads to a better night’s sleep than other options, including audiobooks.
The style of music might be essential here, as the studies focused on classical works. If you listen to death metal at night, it may not have the same effect.
10. Music Helps You Be a Better Driver

Playing your favorite tunes in the background could help you drive. According to a study in the Netherlands, drivers who listened to music had improved moods compared to those who traveled in silence.
A better frame of mind could lead to safer driving and less anger while on the road, so remember those studies next time you have a long journey.
11. Music Can Reduce Fatigue

While listening to music can help you get a better night’s sleep, it also has energizing effects during the day. It’s another factor that can assist while driving, as a burst of music can help you focus and reduce fatigue.
Of course, you must take regular breaks while going on longer journeys, but switching on the radio or CD player in the car has multiple benefits.
12. Music May Help Control Your Diet

We have the researchers at Georgia Tech to thank for this discovery. Their studies showed that people who ate to a background of dimmed lights and soft music tended to eat fewer calories and enjoyed their meals more.
Even if you eat alone, it’s a method you can easily follow by putting some tunes on in the background when you serve your evening meal.
13. Music Can Form a Connection

Music can help us form a connection in a crowd. Think of concerts you’ve attended and the feeling of being one with the rest of the audience. You’re out with like-minded people who enjoy the same music and are connected that way.
The same feeling of connection can appear at sporting events when everyone gets to their feet to sing the national anthem.
14. Music Helps You Excercise

Next time you head out for a run and put in your earbuds, take a moment to appreciate the benefits of music. You may not be aware of it, but those tunes are actually helping to boost your performance.
A study showed that runners were faster when they listened to motivational music. In contrast, calming music or no music at all reduced speeds throughout the run.
15. Music Can Help You Study

This claim comes with a warning: Listening to music while studying may not work for everyone. During MRI scans, researchers at Johns Hopkins found that music can stimulate the brain to improve learning capacity.
Even the promise of music following a study session was enough to light up the relevant brain areas. Not everyone responded positively to the research, but it may be worth a try.