A simple tune, a scherzo, or a lullaby all have almost magical powers, and medicine is listening.

Simple sounds, and yet the power of music is now being appreciated as never before. We now see music functioning as a brain restructuring tool that simultaneously heals the human soul. Who would’ve thought that?

One single activity serves as a brain power booster and happiness enhancer while strengthening emotions and reducing pain. It is almost beyond comprehension how powerful it is. I am writing about, of course, music and learning to play a musical instrument.

Music works as a brain-altering instrument that serves all people, regardless of their musical abilities or age. It has been part of human life for thousands of years as a force that reshapes the brain. Even simple drumming methods used by relaxation groups help people achieve physical and mental changes.

Research conducted by modern neuroscience has provided significant insight into how music influences brain operations. How does it work? Simply by activating neural pathways that handle movement, emotion, memory, and language. Music creates permanent brain structure changes through its interaction, which develops new neural pathways while strengthening existing ones, providing lifelong benefits.

Music functions in two ways simultaneously to modify brain structure and generate new neural pathways. Our brains actively predict upcoming sounds when we hear music. Isn't that fascinating? Next? Isn’t that what artificial intelligence algorithms do — anticipate? Yes, it’s precisely what they do.

The Brain That Music Built
Music and brain science research show that brain architecture is transformed after musical education. We now understand that learning to play a musical instrument during childhood not only develops brain function but also enhances learning abilities.

Scientists at Northwestern University and UC San Francisco, using image technology, studied brain anatomy differences between musicians and non-musicians. They found that the process of musical training led to brain changes increasing the dimensions of hearing-related areas as well as emotional processing and movement coordination regions. All of this occurred because, they surmised, through music training. Of course, there might have been other things that they did not account for, but this seems to be the conclusion that many researchers have provided.

Musical study duration or level of expertise doesn’t influence the occurrence of these changes. Scientists tracked children who spent only 15 months studying music. The education led to brain changes in students who maintained regular music participation, and, regardless of their performance level, they still experienced brain development as a result of musical instruction.

According to Nina Kraus at Northwestern University, the brain-strengthening process from music training leads to improved language abilities, along with enhanced reading skills and overall learning capabilities. The brain contains networks that analyze rhythm, pitch, and timing elements in music. These same networks simultaneously function to process spoken words and written text, as well as mathematical operations. Learning music could improve your mathematical abilities, according to current understanding. Perhaps now we understand why people enroll their children early in learning to play a musical instrument and the famous Suzuki school of music.

The Chemistry of Musical Healing
We should use this information daily because music activates various chemical processes that we can use. The chemical reactions that heal our bodies simultaneously improve our well-being by changing the structure of our brain.

Brain cells produce dopamine when people listen to music they enjoy. This is the same brain chemical that plays a role in both food consumption and romantic attraction. Music produces stronger chemical reactions than basic pleasure responses. And the experience of engaging with music leads to elevated serotonin production, which benefits mood while decreasing cortisol stress levels, which is involved in anxiety and physical health problems.

Music delivers enduring mental wellness advantages through its chemical impact on the brain, which exceeds short-lived mood improvements. A review of 47 studies involving 3,000 participants demonstrated that music therapy effectively reduces stress symptoms across various demographic groups. Medical practitioners should recognize music therapy as a legitimate medical treatment, rather than classifying it as a recreational activity. It may seem recreational, but at the same time, it has a medical effect.

Staff members have observed Alzheimer’s patients develop positive responses to musical compositions they learned during their youth. The healing power of music operates through emotional connections that other therapy methods cannot achieve. I've seen Alzheimer's patients almost come alive when music is playing and, once the music is finished, they often return to a lethargic state. It is truly energizing and reaches them on levels that staff find impossible.

The inability of certain patients to express their emotions verbally seems to disappear when they listen to music. A noticeable change is physically evident and in their interactions. People dealing with depression, anxiety, or trauma find relief from expressing their emotions through rhythm and melody and movement when words become too hard to use.

Music as Medicine for All Ages
The therapeutic effects of music therapy work with patients of all ages, regardless of their medical condition. Research indicates that children with autism spectrum disorders achieve better social abilities and lower repetitive behaviors through musical interventions. The structured musical rhythms serve as attention aids for children because they provide predictable patterns that help these children stay focused while enhancing their cognitive clarity.

Rhythmic musical exercises help stroke patients regain motor skills by forming new neural connections in the brain areas affected by brain circuit damage. Patients who incorporate music in their treatment plan enable their brains to redirect resources from pain signals to musical processing, which leads to pain reduction.

Music, in fact, serves as an effective treatment for pain relief according to surprising medical discoveries. Research evidence points to music as a beneficial treatment. Pain management program should start using it. Is everybody doing this?

People can derive various therapeutic benefits from self-directed music activities, even without receiving professional music therapy. They can experience pain reduction through basic activities like singing in the shower, humming during walks, and actively listening to their preferred music. The value of basic humming activities is well known, and I have previously explained this concept.

Musical Medicine in the Future
Recent scientific breakthroughs regarding music’s brain functions have made new medical applications possible, which scientists deemed impossible just a few decades ago. Medical professionals use brain scans together with psychological assessments to generate individualized musical suggestions for their patients. Medical science had never predicted that music could function as a treatment for illness. Now, that is coming into prominence.

The majority of us listen to “elevator” music but rarely stop to think about it. Businesses utilize musical elements to create stress-reduction and team development programs for their employees. Urban planners now incorporate sound design into their planning activities to build healthier communities and improve public wellness. The concept resembles the green movement, which integrates plants into design components.

Music provides you with a dual advantage of motivation, relaxation, and creativity when you need it, so simply activate it. Your life will transform in ways you never anticipated.