Psychology: Music can make our mood

There is a natural music to springtime.


The sounds of the singing birds, the trickle of the brook filled with water from winter’s snow and the hum of the breeze in the newly budding trees are all magical to hear. Sometimes, it almost seems like you can hear the flowers pushing their way up through the earth, ready to show us their vibrant colors. The music of life is all around us if we take the time to pay attention.

Music is one of the more delightful and powerful forces in human experience. Evolutionary psychologists believe that humans may have detected rhythms and likely communicated in song long before ever mastering speech. This is much like the way babies seem to hum and sing long before speaking.

This seems intuitively right as we store and remember musical experiences much more effectively than verbal ones. How many of us have heard a song for the first time in many years and yet we can recall the lyrics like we just heard it yesterday?

An experiment tested people’s memories when listening to music. The people who learned a list of words with music in the background recalled more words than when they tried to remember without music.

It was as if the music helped to lay down a background soundtrack for their memory. This helps to explain why when we hear certain music, it can evoke memories, thoughts and even strong emotions that were seemingly forgotten long ago.

Studies of human development and brain growth have repeatedly shown that exposure to music stimulates both of these processes in humans. In one study, brain scans were taken of young adults between ages 19 and 21 and showed that brain regions related to hearing and self-awareness were significantly larger in people who had taken music lessons as children.

Another study found that people who had musical training had greater connectivity between brain regions and more white matter in the corpus callosum.

A recent neurosciences conference found that music may be useful in the prevention and treatment of learning difficulties someday. Music seems to have the ability to stimulate growth and even to heal brain difficulties.

Of course, music can also influence, enhance and alter human emotional experience, both for better and worse.

A review of literature by an international group concluded that music therapy may also help some people with depression alleviate their symptoms and remain functional and healthier.

Four of the five studies reviewed showed that people who participated in some type of music therapy, either listening or playing music, reported a greater reduction of depressive symptoms than people who received other types of therapy without music.

On the other hand, there are also a multitude of studies that demonstrate that music can influence people negatively and worsen strong emotional states such as depression or behaviors like substance abuse. A European study found a strong association between music lyrics referring to substance abuse and higher rates of substance abuse among adolescents that listened to the music.

Likewise, music that reiterates or encourages depressive moods can serve to amplify existing unhappiness or depression in listeners who are already suffering from symptoms.

While censorship is not the answer, it is important to understand that it does appear that music is capable of amplifying existing problems.

Understanding this may mean that people struggling with their emotions or striving to overcome addictions may be best served by listening to music with themes that lift them up or encourage them in their efforts.

There is no denying that music affects our moods. In a study conducted at Penn State University, students kept a music and mood diary. The researchers found that listening to music, regardless of what type of genre, improved mood.

The students in the study consistently reported more positive emotions after listening to music, and already positive emotions were intensified by listening to music.

It didn’t seem to matter if the music was heard while doing an activity such as dressing, driving or socializing — it still impacted positively on their mindset.

The study found that after listening to music, people reported being more optimistic, more joyful, more friendly, more relaxed and calmer. They also reported being less pessimistic and less sad after exposure to music. Other negative emotions such as hatred and aggression also dropped in their experience, although for some reason, fearfulness did not seem to change.

Given these findings about the power of music, it makes sense to strive to surround ourselves and our children with positive, happy music. While we are at it, we should make sure that we take some time to listen to the music of springtime.

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