Music Benefits Your Brain and Body Alike

Here’s a lovely duet that cranks the good news up to 11.

Two musically based medical studies have hit the news wires. One provides additional insight into the way that learning a musical instrument beneficially rewires your brain, while a second gives scientific support for listening to music as an effective motivational component of your exercise routine.

A press release published by EurekAlert points to a study published online at Faculty of 1000 Biology Reports (registration required) that explores the effects on brain plasticity of learning to play a musical instrument. The neuroscience literature contains a large and growing body of work on the measurable differences in the brain structures of professional musicians compared to the brains of others.

The new study by University of Zurich neuroscientist Lutz Janke, however, reveals that changes in the wiring of the brain accrue with novice music students as well. Further, the brain restructuring that occurs leads Janke to maintain that musical training may be of great benefit as a therapeutic tool in rehabilitative approaches to aiding problems with language, cognition and emotional well-being.

And here’s still more music to your ears: a study published by Live Science implores us to tune in, turn on and drop pounds.

Brunel University sports psychologist Costas Karageorghis has investigated the ear to foot connection and the relationship between music and exercise for two decades. His latest study has found that particularly when the tempo of the music is well-matched to the rhythm required of the body during exercise, using running as the primary focus of the study, output and endurance increase during the workout.

Part of the payoff stems from maintaining rhythmic activity, driven by the beat of the music, which gets the heart pumping at the desired rate. Accordingly, the tempo of the music becomes a critical factor. Karageorghis finds that music with a tempo of approximately 120 beats per minute is what’s most beneficial to get you moving.

Photo courtesy of kevindooley, via Flickr