Music Therapy Heals Young and Old

Aug. 29 -- Just about everybody can recall a song that has made them giddy with happiness or brought back painful memories of someone who broke their heart. Now, researchers are exploring the power of music to make you healthy as well.

From the very young to the very old, science is uncovering roles for music in everything from releasing tension and improving mood to helping brain damaged stroke patients regain their ability to walk.

"Music is typically seen as benign," says Dr. O.J. Sahler, professor of pediatrics, psychiatry, medical humanities and oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. "People take it for granted as opposed to thinking about how rhythm and melody can be used to induce states that would be useful."

And researchers are getting closer to understanding how music — whether played, sung or simply listened to — works its magic. Over the past decade, major strides have been made in figuring out the neurological basis for its beneficial effects, helping music therapy and its practitioners make the move into the mainstream.

"We are really at a crossroads where certain forms of music therapy will really break through and become widely accepted and practiced because you have the science to back it up," explains Michael Thaut, professor of graduate music therapy and neuroscience and director of the Center for Biomedical Research in Music at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

Music as Therapist

Because music is so strongly linked to emotions, some music therapists use it as a tool for processing moods. Using what is known as "isomoodic" therapy, a therapist and a patient will decide on a piece of music that the patient wants to hear that fits with their current mood, and then gradually work towards more positive selections.

"Let's say you are feeling very angry about something so you may want to start out with music that is very expressive of that anger," explains Sahler. "Over the course of 45 minutes, you work into something which is much more calming and soothing to the point where you relax."