Medical humanities
Music as Medicine

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Neurologic Function

The most highly publicized influence of music on the brain is the so-called Mozart effect. A 1995 report found that listening to Mozart improved performance on IQ tests.5 Unfortunately, subsequent research found that the purported benefit was minimal and short-lived.6 Still, learning to play music in childhood enhances neuroplasticity, resulting in certain structural changes and functional improvements that persist into adulthood.7, 8, 9 Playing music is more complex and demanding than simply

Stress, Sedation, and Analgesia

Music allows people to express their feelings and communicate with others. More than simply expressing emotions, music can alter them; indeed, Tolstoy said that music is the shorthand of emotion, and Congreve explained that music has charms to soothe a savage breast.

Few things are more stressful than illness and surgery. Music can reduce stress in these circumstances. Listening to music during cataract surgery reduces intraoperative and postoperative blood pressures and heart rates.18 Music

Cardiovascular Reactivity

The body's response to music is influenced by the type of music used. Rapid, march-like rhythms improve the gait of patients with Parkinson's disease.17 Tempos that are slow, relaxing, or joyful appear to reduce blood pressure and heart rate and promote vasodilatation, whereas fast, tension-producing music has the opposite effect.21, 22, 23, 24, 25 These changes are short-lived, but daily sessions of music-guided slow breathing may produce a sustained reduction in blood pressure not seen with

Mood and Quality of Life

Plato believed that music gives soul to the universe, wings to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life. Gaiety may be beyond the reach of patients with depression, cancer, chronic pain, and terminal illnesses, but music therapy has been able to improve mood and quality of life in these circumstances.27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 Additional research is needed to confirm these apparent benefits and elucidate their mechanisms, but Browning may have provided a clue when he observed that a person who

The Science of Art

The ancient Greeks put one god, Apollo, in charge of both medicine and music. Contemporary scientists tell us that music can enhance the function of neural networks, slow the heart rate, lower blood pressure, reduce levels of stress hormones and inflammatory cytokines, and provide some relief to patients undergoing surgery and to those with Parkinson's disease, strokes, heart attacks, depression, and painful chronic illnesses. Arnold Steinhardt, the founding first violinist of the Guarneri

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    Funding: None.

    Conflict of Interest: None.

    Authorship: The author had access to the data and played a role in writing this manuscript.

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