Download The Power of Music

The Power of Music
by Janine S. Pouliot
Selectively chosen and carefully designed musical compositions can help fortify our
immune system, reduce our feeling of pain, and enhance certain higher mental
functions.
Janine S. Pouliotis a freelance writer living in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Her last article for The
World & I, ``When the Call Becomes a Shout,'' appeared in April 1997.
t's been a thoroughly rotten day at work. The major project you've been nursing for weeks
just disintegrated, your boss jumped all over you for its failure, you missed an important
meeting, and your car stalled during a particularly unpleasant commute.
At last you're home. You throw your coat over a chair, grab a soda, put on your favorite CD,
and collapse on the sofa. The pacifying sounds of music fill your apartment. Slowly,
imperceptibly, you begin to relax. As tension loosens its grip, you reflect on melody's ability
to calm you down. As much as you view yourself as a corporate shark, you secretly admit you
must be an old softy. How else could music have such an impact on you?
The fact that we're influenced by music should come as no surprise. Lovers have long
recognized the intoxicating power of romantic song, and aerobics instructors couldn't
motivate without the rhythmic beat of rock. But recent studies show that music does more
than just ``put us in the mood'' or pep us up. It can actually alter the body's physiology,
making us happier, healthier, and smarter.
Boosting immunity
Researchers have begun to examine the connection between the body's functions and music.
Take, for instance, the Institute of HeartMath, a nonprofit corporation located in Boulder
Creek, California. In conjunction with Dr. Alan Watkins of the Department of University
Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, England, scientists at the institute
examined music's effect on the immune functions in healthy adults.
Their investigation built upon earlier research indicating that when exposed to images
(photographs or videos) that triggered positive emotions such as care and compassion,
subjects produced greater quantities of antibodies in the class called immunoglobulin A (IgA),
as measured in the saliva. Immunoglobulin A --the first line of defense in the body's immune
system --is present not only in the saliva but in other secretions as well, such as tears,
intestinal fluids, and milk. When a virus or other microbe enters the body, we immediately
increase our production of IgA to intercept and fight off the invading pathogen.
Based on the preliminary research, investigators at the Institute of HeartMath reasoned that if
music induces a positive mind-set, it should help enhance the production of salivary IgA. To
test this hypothesis, 10 male and 4 female subjects between the ages of 27 and 53 were
instructed to think of someone (such as a spouse or child) or some activity (such as a job or
hobby) that gave them a feeling of appreciation. They had to maintain that feeling with
absolute concentration.
Subjects were then exposed to three types of music --rock, New Age, and ``designer'' music -for 15 minutes per day on separate days. Designer music, which doesn't fit into any of the
established categories of music, consists of melodies and rhythms created to produce the
desired result. It came about partly through a trial-and-error process and partly through
intuition and prior knowledge. In these experiments, saliva samples were collected
immediately before and after the listening period, and the samples were tested for the change
in content of salivary IgA.
Supporting earlier research, subjects demonstrated a 40 percent increase in salivary IgA after
self-induced, positive emotional states. But what occurred after the introduction of designer
music proved really dramatic: Salivary IgA shot up 140 percent, indicating a major boost for
the immune system. By contrast, rock and New Age music did not lead to statistically
significant changes in IgA levels.
To corroborate the connection between music and the immune system, institute researchers
examined another body indicator: heart rate variability (HRV), which is the term for the
(normally occurring) beat-to-beat changes in the rate of heartbeats. HRV is influenced by the
autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is also responsible for the output of salivary IgA. So
HRV, the ANS, and our immune system vitality are interrelated.
One function of the ANS is to cause the heart to speed up or slow down in response to a
stimulus, such as sudden exposure to a fearful situation, or to an emotion such as anger or
anxiety. The ANS has two components --the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves --and in
a healthy person they work harmoniously to keep the body on an even keel.
But there's a tendency for these two components to end up battling each other. When your
boss walks into your office to chew you out, your sympathetic nerves kick in to speed up your
heart. At the same time, your parasympathetic nerves are desperately trying to slow your heart
and calm you down. So your body is locked into an internal confrontation. ``It's like driving
with one foot on the gas pedal and one foot on the brake,'' says Howard Martin, coproducer of
the designer music used during the testing. ``We know this isn't good for a car, and it's not
good for the body either.''
To test the effects of music on HRV, participants were seated in straight, high-back chairs to
minimize postural changes and fitted with electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes. The positive
electrode was located on the left side of the chest, and the reference was placed over the right.
ECG measurements were recorded during a 15-minute baseline period and 15 minutes of
music that followed. This was done for the three categories of music: rock, New Age, and
designer.
The split-second timing between thousands of heartbeats was recorded through a specialized
computer program. When the data were plotted, they formed a wavelike pattern. The
mathematical transformation of the data into a visual image revealed the links between sound
perception, emotional state, cardiovascular function, and immunity.
The HRV pattern was also analyzed to measure the sympathetic and parasympathetic factors
that influence heartbeat. After listening to a session of designer music, the participants seemed
to show a significant increase in the harmony and coherence of these two factors. Rock and
New Age music, on the other hand, produced no increase in coherence.
These results are meaningful because greater synchrony in ANS activity suggests higher
immune system vitality, less stress on the nervous system, and better hormonal balance. Thus
the results of the two studies supported each other and demonstrated the physiological
benefits of designer music.
Relieving pain
Another element of health is a sense of well-being --including freedom from pain and
suffering. Numerous studies indicate that certain types of vibrations, particularly musically
fluctuating vibrations, have a strong influence on our perception of pain and thus on our
overall sense of health.
Pain signals are transmitted through specific neurons in the spinal cord en route to the brain.
This transmission is scientifically measurable because it is accompanied by an increase in
electrical activity in the neurons. Taking advantage of this knowledge, scientists at McGill
University recently examined the effects of vibrations on pain signals in animals. The
anesthetized animal was given a painful stimulus at a specific site on its body and
simultaneously treated with vibrations at carefully established frequencies and amplitudes. At
low frequencies, no change in neuronal activity was detectable; at high frequencies (above 60
hertz), activity in the neurons dramatically decreased, indicating a reduction in the
transmission of pain. These results helped provide the foundation for music vibration therapy.
The next step was to determine if the same effect could be achieved using music vibrations
with humans. Kris Chesky, research assistant professor of music at the University of North
Texas in Denton, is a leading investigator in the area of pain relief and music. He and Donald
Michel, a renowned expert in music therapy and professor emeritus of Texas Woman's
University (also in Denton), believed that music would enhance the effects of vibration
because it offered both meaning and fluctuation of the vibrational stimulus to the patient.
To test their theory, Chesky designed a ``music vibration table'' that uses a sophisticated
computer system to control and measure the vibration frequencies and amplitudes at specific
points on the subject's body. The first study, conducted at the University of North Texas
Health Science Center in Fort Worth, tested whether music and musically fluctuating
vibrations could significantly decrease the amount of pain in subjects diagnosed with
rheumatoid arthritis. This study gave positive responses and led to further development of the
music vibration table.
Chesky and Michel then turned their attention to patients suffering from fibromyalgia (FMS),
a musculoskeletal pain disorder that strikes roughly 2 percent of the general population.
Twenty-six FMS patients were enlisted to participate in a double-blind, placebo-controlled
study at the University of Texas in San Antonio. The patients were divided randomly into two
groups. When members of one group reclined on the vibration table, their body was
stimulated with controlled vibrations (at 60?300 hertz) derived from a source of music, and
they also listened to the same music. Those in the control group received just a sustained,
lower-frequency vibration (20 hertz) when lying on the table.
The whole key, points out Chesky, is that the amplitude and frequency of the vibrations must
be administered precisely, to stimulate the neurons in a desired manner and reduce pain.
Otherwise, music vibrations applied at unspecified levels could induce more damage than
good by causing swelling and increased pain. It's also significant that the music be meaningful
to the patient. In this study, because the subjects were of Hispanic cultural heritage, soothing
instrumentals with strong Spanish influences were used.
Following 30-minute sessions, patients were escorted back to an examination room where
they reported on their level of pain. While pain is a subjective feeling, it was charted using
sophisticated measurements. This study relied on a pain measurement system approved by the
American College of Rheumatology. The parameter measured was the pressure-to-pain
threshold at 19 predesignated tender points on the body.
At the conclusion of testing, the group of subjects exposed to music and music vibration
reported significant reduction of pain levels. This study also showed that the body's pain
receptors respond differently to the various vibration frequencies.
Chesky expanded this research to treat children and adolescents who had spinal scoliosis
(curvature) and were about to undergo spinal surgery --a procedure that normally leads to
severe pain. Studies have shown that presurgical psychological states can influence
postoperative recovery and pain. In addition, the changes in neurons following any surgery
may involve heightened and prolonged painful experiences.
In this series of pilot studies, 15 adolescent girls in a large medical center were exposed to
music and music vibration immediately before and a day or so after spinal fusion surgery. On
theoretical grounds, the music vibration table was used as a preemptive approach for dealing
with postoperative pain. This treatment is thought to place the neurons in a positively charged
state, which reduces the level of pain transmitted through these neurons.
After a session of music treatment postsurgery, subjects chose from among various facial
expression illustrations on a ``Faces Pain Scale'' to indicate their pain experiences. On a
seven-point scale, the typical numerical response prior to music application was a six -evidence of intense pain. Subsequent responses were rated at three: an almost 50 percent
improvement. Thus these teens were able to drastically reduce their suffering with music and
music vibration.
Enhancing mental functions
By diminishing our perception of pain and our anxiety connected with the experience, music
improves our quality of life. But music may also go one step further. A research team at the
University of California, Irvine, recently conducted studies to determine whether exposure to
music would improve the performance of young people on standardized intelligence tests. The
team was led by theoretical physicist Gordon Shaw and research psychologist Frances
Rauscher. (Rauscher is now at the University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh.)
Their work was based on earlier reports suggesting a relationship between music and spatial
intelligence --that is, the ability to recognize objects visually, form mental images of them,
and detect variations among objects. Shaw has proposed that these processes involve certain
firing patterns in highly structured, interconnected neurons in the brain. The development of
these firing patterns allows us to perform complex tasks requiring advanced reasoning, such
as chess, mathematics, and engineering.
Shaw and Rauscher suggested that music cognition required the same temporal sequences as
spatial-temporal reasoning and that the ability to execute the higher reasoning tasks could be
strengthened through experience or learning. Exposure to music, therefore, might excite and
enhance these firing patterns.
In one study, 36 undergraduates were asked to listen to 10 minutes of Mozart's Sonata for
Two Pianos, K. 448. Immediately after, they scored 8 to 9 points higher on the spatial IQ
section of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test, compared with their scores after a period of
silence or mental relaxation. This result has come to be called the ``Mozart effect.''
Heartened, the researchers launched another study. This time, 79 students were presented
with 16 paper puzzles involving folding and cutting, requiring the proper execution of
reasoning skills. The group was split into three sections. For 10 minutes before being tested,
the ``silence group'' sat quietly, the ``Mozart group'' listened to the classical sonata, and the
``mixed group'' heard various types of music. Their tests were evaluated based on a modified
version of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Within a few days, the Mozart group had left
their counterparts in the dust. The researchers concluded that music helped organize the
cortical firing patterns that translate into certain higher brain functions.
If music worked this well for college students, would it also enhance the abilities of younger
kids? In a subsequent study, 42 boys and 36 girls of normal intelligence, between the ages of
three and five, were selected for the research. Of these, 34 kids were placed in the ``keyboard''
group and given private piano lessons and group singing lessons. The remaining 44 were
divided into three other groups: ``singing,'' ``computer,'' and ``no lessons.'' The singing group
participated in just the vocal activities of the keyboard group's lessons. The computer group
received private computer lessons for periods matching the piano keyboard exercises. The nolessons party received no training.
The piano was the instrument of choice because it gives a linear representation of the spatial
relationships between different pitches. Rauscher and Shaw believed that coupling visual
information with aural information might assist the neural pattern development relevant to
spatial-temporal operations, which are also used in mathematical and scientific reasoning.
The children in the keyboard group studied pitch, intervals, fine motor coordination,
fingering techniques, sight-reading, music notation, and playing from memory. After six
months, all children were able to perform basic, primer-level melodies and simple tunes by
Beethoven and Mozart. The singing group learned popular children's songs and folk melodies.
The computer kids were taught to use entertaining, age-appropriate, commercial software
programs requiring simple DOS commands. The software was designed to teach reading and
simple math skills.
Prior to and at the conclusion of training, all participants were tested for spatial reasoning
from the performance subtest of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of IntelligenceRevised. The results revealed that music training for the keyboard group produced a dramatic
overall increase in spatial-temporal abilities such as figuring out jigsaw puzzles and shape
arrangements. Pretraining scores produced a mean value of 9.79, while the posttraining
outcome had a mean of 13.41. The other groups measured a full two points behind.
To determine whether this effect was merely a short-term glitch, the researchers compared
the scores of children tested right after their last lesson to those of kids tested one or more
days later. They found no significant difference in test results. This truly broke new ground.
For, while the positive results seen earlier with college students were short-term in nature, the
younger kids appeared to have improved their reasoning abilities over a longer term.
Music training thus seems to produce lasting modifications in underlying neural circuitry in
regions of the brain not primarily connected with music. The ramifications of this are vast.
Could all kids be made to execute math and science better if piano lessons were a
requirement? To raise our children's academic achievement, do we need only to require a
curriculum of music lessons?
While the studies discussed don't provide final answers, they do advance the concept that
music has the capacity to make us smarter, happier, and healthier. Whether it's in terms of
enhancing our immune system, reducing our feeling of pain, or heightening our ability to
reason and perform logical operations, music may be just the panacea we're all looking for.