THE SPIRITUAL POWER OF MUSIC # 1
I still believe in things I can't see ... I believe in things I can feel: Music Love and God."
Lina Loy
I thought I would begin this blog with the better known benefits of music that are not necessarily spiritual but more cognitive and healing in nature.
Dr. Langer more than three decades ago showed that if you turn back the clock psychologically this can have the same effect physically. A group of men between 70 and 80 years old relived a week in 1959 in a building refurbished to fit the era, viewed shows from that decade on black and white T.V., discussed those current events and listened to the music of that time. After the week it was noted that their memory, physical strength, vision and hearing improved.
Recent research showed that listening and singing songs that were personalized and relevant to the musical memory of dementia patients lit up brain areas of F.M.R.I. that were relatively undamaged by the disease. The music animated those with Altzheimers and reduced anxiety, agitation and depression. It also enable loved ones to communicate with them more easily.
Musical memories were preserved because many areas were spared from the amyloid deposition from the disease. Moreover, music takes varied other pathways through the brain. Although music seemed to anchor the patients back into reality there was little affect of this treatment on the general condition of the patients.
Musical memories were preserved because many areas were spared from the amyloid deposition from the disease. Moreover, music takes varied other pathways through the brain. Although music seemed to anchor the patients back into reality there was little affect of this treatment on the general condition of the patients.
It is interesting to note that the late Glen Campbell developed Altzheimers but was still capable of giving performances with the help of his devoted family. The audience did not seem to care when he sometimes had to be reminded about the lyrics.
Music has also been used to treat traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's disease, P.T.S.D. and other brain disorders. Motzart's piano sonata in D major apparently decreased epileptic seizures.
On the other hand Motzart's music may not have beneficial effects on childrens' spatial reasoning abilities (The Mozart effect) but rather appear to be due to "enjoyment arousal" and possible with other music and others positive stimuli as well.
Music can make children smarter but the effects are short term and non specific and no different to other methods of stimulating their brains.
However, children who become musicians have more neural connections, higher spatial intelligence, a more symmetrical brain with a larger corpus callosum and higher test and I.Q. scores. This may be akin to learning another language. Musicians also have an enhanced auditory system with a greater ability for identifying pitch and recognizing musical pieces.
However, the effects of music go far beyond its therapeutic affects.
The concept of Coherence has been described as the Maharishi effect. Maharishi university showed that if a critical number of folks meditated in an area the crime rate decreased. This might also be described as the "Butterfly Affect" when a butterfly flaps its wings it can be felt even more potently on the opposite side of the planet. Coherence (balance, harmony, unity) is positive energy or vibration which spreads beyond its immediate environment.
With music, hidden and repressed emotions can be released. If you listen to music with a tempo slower that the heart rate, the heart rate slows down.
The Heart Math institute has extended this concept to the idea of Coherence of heart rhythms in relationship to Heart Rate Variability (H.R.V.) Heart rate Coherence occurs when the Parasympathetic and Sympathetic nervous systems are in balance.
The heart is known to send more signals to the brain than the other way around. Heart Coherence has the potential to create emotional balance in the brain and can occur with any meditative technique, active or passive, mental or physical and with selected music.
The right kind of music also has the potential to create heart and hence brain Coherence by facilitating the Parasympathetic nervous system. This can override stress and the negative emotions that arise from a Sympathetic flight of fight response.
Music can be healthful, enhance immune function and positive emotional states;
the wrong kind - the opposite.
Music can do many things to our inner beings and we have to be careful in how we select it. The Nazis used it to torture Jews, the military to march soldiers to their deaths in war, others to court and woo prospective mates ...
and all shades of light and dark in-between ...
Chassidic wisdom teaches that song is also the most powerful way to mourn. Africans and Celt would agree.
The Safe Sound Protocol was developed by Dr. Porges for children who have suffered severe abuse for the sake of improving their social engagement through high frequency auditory stimuli which simulate the frequencies of the human voice. Sadly, because of dorsal vagal nerve overstimulation their ears have been primed to detect low frequency threatening, predatory sounds only and tune out the more healthful, human ones.
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