Health benefits of music (net doctor)

Music has a special power to move us and stir our emotions. Anyone who has ever wiped tears away from their eyes listening to their favourite sad song will know how powerful simple notes and chords can be. 

Now, scientific studies have shown that music really can change our mood and even help us concentrate.

We look at the effects music can have, and we ask the experts what songs are likely to help you run a race, prepare for an exam or relieve stress.

Music matters

Listening to a song can have a real effect on various parts of the brain, with studies showing that areas responsible for aspects, such as memory and vision, can 'light up' in response to music. 

'There's a very wide range of reactions in the body and mind to music, and brain imaging studies have shown that various parts of the brain may be activated by a piece of music,' says Dr Victoria Williamson, lecturer in psychology at Goldsmith's College, London.

'For example, a recent study in Canada showed that there's a real causal relationship between music and the reward system, a core part of the brain that reacts to stimuli, which are good for us – food, light, sex for example – and reinforces these behaviours meaning that we do them more.'

So what benefits can music bring?

Mood boost

Some people listen to music for a boost on a tough day, while others might use music to keep them awake during a long car journey.

Everyone reacts to music in different ways. One individual may love heavy metal for example, while another is happiest listening to Mozart. 

Whatever your preference, a 2011 Canadian study, published in Nature Neuroscience, has shown that plugging in to your favourite music could help melt away a bad mood. 

Researchers at McGill University in Montreal showed that listening to pleasurable music of any description induced 'musical chills', which triggered the release of the feel-good chemical dopamine. 

'We all know from our own individual experiences that listening to music can affect mood,' says Bridget O'Connell, head of information at the mental health charity Mind. 

'Some people listen to music for a boost on a tough day, while others might use music to keep them awake during a long car journey or to purge a negative feeling. 

'The brain is very complicated – and there are many elements involved in feelings of pleasure – but it's unsurprising that research suggests dopamine release is linked with feelings of pleasure induced by music.'

Focus

Music may even be able to help you concentrate. 

A new 'digital tonic' called Ubrain, which can be downloaded onto smartphones, claims to be able to help people focus, energise, wake up as well as relax. 

The process uses two different beats in each ear to create a third 'perceived' beat (a binaural beat), which can stimulate certain activity in the brain. 

'By helping the brain cortex to generate specific brain waves, we can induce different states of alertness, depending on what we aim to do,' explains Paris-based clinical psychologist Brigitte Forgeot. 

'If we're feeling anxious or stressed, we can encourage our cerebral cortex to produce slow alpha-frequency brain waves, while on the other end of the scale, if we help our cortex to produce faster beta waves, we will be better equipped to concentrate and focus our attention on a fairly lengthy task.'

Pick up the pace

The best choices for exercise are up-beat songs that match the tempo of your running stride.

Listening to certain music could actually help you run faster.

A study at Brunel University in West London has shown that music can help increase endurance by as much as 15 per cent, helping to lower the perception of effort during exercise, as well as increasing energy efficiency by between one and three per cent.

The best choices for exercise are up-beat songs that match the tempo of your running stride and which can have a metronomic effect on the body, enabling you to run for longer.

Better mental health

Music can be an effective and positive treatment for people dealing with mental health conditions. 

'There are two distinct ways music therapy is used: either as a means of communication and self-expression or for its inherent restorative or healing qualities,' says Bridget O'Connell.

'Someone who is very withdrawn may find that music can act as an outlet for expressing things that they're unable to put into words. It can also act as a stimulus to awaken buried memories or evoke emotional responses that may take weeks to achieve with talking therapies.'

De-stress

Nearly a third of people plugged into their music players to give them a mood boost about work.

Music can be a great pick-me-up for when you are feeling stressed.

According to 2011 figures from the mental health charity Mind, nearly a third of people plugged into their music players to give them a mood boost about work, and almost one in four said that they find listening to music on the way to the workplace helps them de-stress.

Paul Farmer, the charity's CEO, backs up the statistics by saying that the therapeutic benefits of listening to music are well-known.

Tuning in to one of your favourite songs can be incredibly soothing and help to reduce anxiety.

Patient care

Music can actually have a significant positive impact on patients with long-term illnesses, such as heart disease, cancer and respiratory conditions. 

Numerous trials have shown that music can help lower heart rate, blood pressure and help relieve pain, anxiety and improve patient quality of life. 

'Music can be incredibly useful for somebody who is in a situation where they have lost a lot of control from their external environment – say they are in hospital for a long period of time with a serious illness and less able to move around,' says Dr Williamson.

'It can give them a sense of control back, as well as creating a calm personal atmosphere and blocking out some of the disturbances around the patient.'

Which music?

While there are certain trends – fast upbeat music for exercising and slower-paced music to relax – choosing songs that have the desired effect is often linked to personal preference.

'The effect of different types of music on mood will largely depend on people's individual preference and experience,' says Bridget O'Connell. 

'If you grow up with rock music, you might not find classical music uplifting at all. On the flipside, some people can't bear rock music, so they are more likely to be wound up than uplifted.

'Music can also invoke particular memories for people, including some that could potentially make them upset. On the other hand, it could also bring them out of a severely withdrawn state or act as a form of communication in place of words.'

There are some rules of thumb though, admits Dr Williamson. 'For a general rule, if you want to relax you should choose songs with slower tempo, less key changes and more predictable structure.' 
 


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Alzheimer’s & dementia prevention pillar #3: Mental stimulation

Those who continue learning new things throughout life and challenging their brains are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, so make it a point to stay mentally active. In essence, you need to “use it or lose it.”

Activities involving multiple tasks or requiring communication, interaction, and organization offer the greatest protection. Set aside time each day to stimulate your brain. Cross-training with these brain-boosting activities will help keep you mentally sharp:

• Learn something new. Study a foreign language, learn sign language, practice a musical instrument, read the newspaper or a good book, or take up a new hobby. The greater the novelty and challenge, the larger the deposit in your brain reserves.
• Practice memorization. Start with something short, progressing to something a little more involved, such as the 50 U.S. state capitals. Create rhymes and patterns to strengthen your memory connections.
• Enjoy strategy games, puzzles, and riddles. Brain teasers and strategy games provide a great mental workout and build your capacity to form and retain cognitive associations. Do a crossword puzzle, play board games or cards, or work word and number games, such as Scrabble or Sudoku.
• Practice the 5 W’s. Observe and report like a crime detective. Keep a “Who, What, Where, When, and Why” list of your daily experiences. Capturing visual details keeps your neurons firing.
• Follow the road less traveled. Take a new route, eat with your non-dominant hand, rearrange your computer file system. Vary your habits regularly to create new brain pathways.

Link: http://www.helpguide.org/elder/alzheimers_prevention_slowing_down_treatment.htm

Alzheimer’s & dementia prevention pillar #1: Regular exercise

According to the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation, physical exercise reduces your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 50 percent.

Regular exercise can also slow further deterioration in those who have already started to develop cognitive problems.

If you’ve been inactive for a while, starting an exercise program can be intimidating. But you don’t have to take up jogging or sign up for a gym membership. Look for small ways to add more movement into your day. Park at the far end of the parking lot, take the stairs, carry your own groceries, or walk around the block or pace while talking on your cell phone.

Tips for getting started and sticking with your exercise plan:

• Aim for at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five times per week. Try walking, swimming, or any other activity that gets your heart rate up. Even routine activities such as gardening, cleaning, or doing laundry count as exercise.
• Build muscle to pump up your brain. Moderate levels of weight and resistance training not only increase muscle mass, they help you maintain brain health. Combining aerobics and strength training is better than either activity alone. For those over 65, adding 2-3 strength sessions to your weekly routine may cut your risk of Alzheimer’s in half.
• Include balance and coordination exercises. Head injuries from falls are an increasing risk as you grow older, which in turn increase your risk for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Balance and coordination exercises can help you stay agile and avoid spills. Try yoga, Tai Chi, or exercises using balance discs or balance balls.
• Stick with it for a month. It takes approximately 28 days for a new routine to become habit. Once you’re over this hump, keeping up your exercise routine will feel natural. In the meantime, write realistic goals on a workout calendar and post it on the fridge. Build in frequent rewards, and within no time, the feel-good endorphins from regular exercise will help you forget the remote…and head out the door.
• Protect your head. Studies suggest that head trauma at any point in life significantly increases your risk of Alzheimer’s disease. This includes repeated hits in sports activities such as football, soccer, and boxing, or one-time injuries from a bicycle, skating, or motorcycle accident. Protect your brain by wearing properly fitting sports helmets, buckling your seatbelt, and trip-proofing your environment. Avoid activities that compete for your attention—like talking on your cell while driving. A moment’s distraction can lead to a brain-injuring thud!

The benefits of exercise

In addition to protecting against Alzheimer’s and dementia, regular exercise:

• Reduces stress
• Boosts mood
• Improves memory
• Increases energy

 Link: http://www.helpguide.org/elder/alzheimers_prevention_slowing_down_treatment.htm

Biology - Brain: Memory

Memory is one of the activities of the human mind, much studied by cognitive psychology. It is the capacity to retain an impression of past experiences. There are multiple types of classifications for memory based on duration, nature and retrieval of perceived items.

The main stages in the formation and retrieval of memory, from an information processing perspective, are:

• Encoding  (processing of received information by acquisition)
• Storage  (building a permanent record of received information as a result of consolidation)
• Retrieval  (calling back the stored information and use it in a suitable way to execute a given task)

A basic and generally accepted classification (depending on the duration of memory retention and the amount of stored information during these stages) identifies three distinct types of memory:

• sensory memory
• short-term memory
• long-term memory

The first stage corresponds approximately to the initial moment that an item is perceived. Some of this information in the sensory area proceeds to the sensory store, which is referred to as short-term memory.

 

Sensory memory is characterized by the duration of memory retention from miliseconds to seconds and short-term memory from seconds to minutes. Once the information is stored, it can be retrieved in a period of time, which ranges from days to years and this type of memory is called long-term memory.

The sensory and short-term memory are bio-electrical types of memory, as they store information in form of electrical signals, whereas the long-term memory is a bio-chemical type of memory.

When we are given a seven digit number, we can remember it only for a few seconds and then forget (short term memory). On the other hand we remember our telephone numbers, since we have stored it in our brain after long periods of consolidation (long term memory).

The definition of working memory, which is erroneously used as a synonym of short-term memory, is based on not only the duration of memory retention but also the way how it is used in daily life activities. For instance, when we are asked to multiply 45 with 4 in our head, we have to perform a series of simple calculations (addition and multiplications) to give the final answer. The process of keeping in mind all this information for a short period of time is called working memory.

Another good example is a chess player, who is playing with multiple opponents at the same time and trying to remember the positions of pieces in all games and using this information to make a good move, when required. Long-term memory can further be classified as declarative (explicit) and procedural (implicit).

Explicit memory requires conscious recall, in other words the information must be called back consciously when it is required. If this information is about our own lives (what we ate for breakfast in this morning, our birth date etc.), it is called episodic memory, if it concerns our knowledge about the world (capital of France, presidents of US etc.), then it is called semantic memory.

Implicit memory is not based on the conscious recall of information stored in our brain, but on the habituation or sensitization of learned facts. We perform better in a given task each time we repeat the task, that is we use our implicit memory without necessarily remembering the previous experiences but using the previously learned behaviours unconsciously. For example, classical conditioning is one kind of implicit memory.

 

Another example is memory resulting from motor learning, which depends upon the cerebellum and basal ganglia. 

Link: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_brain01.htm

Different Kinds of Music That Affect Your Memory While Studying

“It occurred to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition,” said Albert Einstein, who did badly in school until his parents bought him a violin that he played to help him decipher various equations. Einstein believed that music was a key factor in helping him become a genius. Music can not only influence emotions and behavior, but it also can stimulate the memory. Researchers throughout the world have conducted various studies to prove that music can improve childhood development and stimulate memory while studying. An experiment in Los Angeles revealed that after schoolchildren received keyboard lessons their spatial-temporal reasoning test skills increased by as much as 34 percent.

1. Baroque Music

   • In experiments conducted in the 1950s and 1960s, Bulgarian psychologist Dr. George Lozanov found that incorporating classical music from the baroque period that uses a 60 beat per minute interval helped students learn new languages. His method helped students retain vocabulary information for half of a school year in just one day; students could learn foreign languages in less than a month at an 85 percent to 100 percent rate of efficiency. Students who took part in this study were able to recall information almost perfectly after four years without having to review what they had previously learned.
     

   The Mozart Effect

   • Named after a 1993 experiment by Professor Frances Rauscher and Dr. Gordon Shaw, the Mozart Effect said that listening to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart can induce relaxation and increase the IQ, study retention and testing-taking ability of listeners. The Mozart Effect often proves to temporarily help increase memorization so that students can receive better results on certain types of tests. Researchers think this type of music releases chemicals in the brain called neurons that help the body relax so that students can study and retain information with greater efficiency. Listen to any of Mozart’s music, including Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, before studying or taking a test so that you can relax and increase your ability to retain process and recall information.
     

   Background Music

   • A test performed by researchers at the University of Texas in 1982 demonstrated how background music can help students memorize vocabulary words. The researchers separated students into three groups. The first group imagined the study words while listening to George Frideric Handel’s “Water Music.” The second group read the study words while listening to the same music as group 1, and the third group used no music at all. Students in groups 1 and 2 both received better scores than those in group 3.
     

Source: Different Kinds of Music That Affect Your Memory While Studying | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_5965674_different-music-affect-memory-studying.html#ixzz27n8MaEQy

10 Life-Enhancing Things You Can Do in Ten Minutes or Less

By Barton Goldsmith, Ph.D.

Created Apr 17 2010 - 9:48am

 

It usually takes us much longer to change our moods than we’d like it to take. Here are ten things you can do in ten minutes or less that will have a positive emotional effect on you and those you love.

1.    Watch "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. See it online at Oprah.com. This is a deeply moving segment that may be the best ten minutes you've ever invested in front of a computer.

2.    Spend a little while watching the sunset with your mate. Nothing extra is necessary. Just sit and take in the natural beauty of the sky and appreciate being able to share it with the one you love.

3.    Sit quietly by yourself. It doesn't really matter where or when. Just let your feelings bubble up and then experience the thoughts flowing out of your mind. Clearing your head and heart will give you extra energy to get through the rest of the day.

4.    Write a thank you note to your mate. When was the last time you thanked your partner for just being who he or she is and being with you? Doing this in writing will give your partner something to cherish for the rest of his or her life.

5.    Take out your oldest family photo album and look through it. The experience will fill you with fond memories and perhaps make you a bit wistful for days gone by.

6.    Play with a child. Most kids have short attention spans; ten minutes of quality time from a loving adult can make their day. It will also help you stay in touch with the child inside of you.

7.    Visualize or imagine a positive outcome for any issue. Medical doctors recommend visualization to patients with chronic and potentially fatal illnesses. If it can help them, it can do the same for you. 

8.    Go to bed with the one you love ten minutes earlier than usual. Then spend that time just holding each other. Let the feeling of warmth from your mate move through you.

9.    Hang out by some water. Studies show that hospital patients who can see a natural body of water from their beds get better at a 30 percent faster rate. If you're not near the coast or a lake, try taking a bath. Doing so is also healing.

10.  Get your body moving. Shake, twist, and jump around. Let yourself feel the joy of moving to your favorite music, or just the sounds in your head. Run, walk, and bike to your hearts content. You will live longer and love it more.

Sadly, many people measure happiness by how long the experience lasts. The truth is that a few minutes of joy here and there can make a big difference in what you get out of life.

Source:  http://www.psychologytoday.com/print/40925

How can I improve concentration and memory?

Atten­tion (or con­cen­tra­tion), and mem­ory are two men­tal skills directly related. In fact, many mem­ory com­plaints have noth­ing to do with the actual abil­ity to remem­ber things. They come from a fail­ure to focus prop­erly on the task at hand.

Take the exam­ple of not remem­ber­ing where you parked your car after shop­ping at the mall… It is likely that you did not pay much atten­tion to where you parked the car in the first place, thus leav­ing your brain with few oppor­tu­ni­ties to reg­is­ter any infor­ma­tion that could be recalled later to help you find your car. The same rea­son­ing goes for not remem­ber­ing where we put our glasses!

Many of our actions are per­formed auto­mat­i­cally. By oppo­si­tion, focus­ing atten­tion is effort­ful. As you know, with age the brain needs more time to process infor­ma­tion.  Along with speed of pro­cess­ing, other brain func­tions decline. A cru­cial one is the abil­ity to focus and ignore distraction.

As we age it thus get harder and harder to pay atten­tion. But focus­ing our atten­tion on the task at hand is key for bet­ter mem­ory per­for­mance. What can we do then to improve con­cen­tra­tion and memory?

One gen­eral solu­tion is to keep the brain healthy. This can be done by adher­ing to the main pil­lars of brain health and main­te­nance: bal­anced diet, phys­i­cal exer­cise, cog­ni­tive stim­u­la­tion, stress man­age­ment, and social engage­ment.

How to improve concentration

• Focus on the task at hand: If talk­ing with some­one: ask ques­tions; if read­ing a book or a report: ask your­self how you would sum­ma­rize what you just read to a friend or to your boss.

• In gen­eral, avoid and/or elim­i­nate dis­trac­tions. Tune out every­thing else. The harder the task, the more impor­tant it is to tune out distractions.

• Do not try to double-task, this will increase your errors and divide your atten­tion. Atten­tion is lim­ited. When you try to do sev­eral things at once, you nec­es­sar­ily have to divide your atten­tion and thus con­cen­trate less on each indi­vid­ual tasks.

• Use med­i­ta­tion. Sev­eral stud­ies have shown that med­i­ta­tion can be a good brain train­ing tool that affects espe­cially atten­tional / con­cen­tra­tion skills.

How to improve memory

• Pay atten­tion and con­cen­trate! (see above)

• Relate to the infor­ma­tion you are learn­ing. The more per­sonal the infor­ma­tion becomes, the eas­ier it is to remem­ber it. Ask your­self how it makes you feel. Ask your­self where else you have heard this. Ask your­self whether there is some­thing in your per­sonal life related to this piece of information.

• Repeat the infor­ma­tion: Come back to it more than one time. This has been found in tons of stud­ies: repeated infor­ma­tion is eas­ier to recall. Spaced retrieval (a method with which a per­son is cued to recall a piece of infor­ma­tion at dif­fer­ent inter­vals) is one of the rare meth­ods that show some results with Alzheimer’s patients.

• Elab­o­rate on the infor­ma­tion: think about it. Things that are con­crete and have a clear mean­ing are eas­ier to remem­ber than abstract and vague ones. Try­ing to attach mean­ing to the infor­ma­tion you are try­ing to mem­o­rize will make it eas­ier to recall later. Your brain will have more cues to look for. For instance, try to pic­ture the infor­ma­tion in your head. Pic­tures are much eas­ier to mem­o­rize than words. To remem­ber fig­ures and per­cent­ages it is much eas­ier to pic­ture these in a graph for instance. Relate the infor­ma­tion to some­thing you know already.

Let’s put it all together: Remem­ber­ing names

We often for­get names in the few sec­ond after we have heard them. Most of the time this phe­nom­e­non can be related to a lack of atten­tion or con­cen­tra­tion. It is also caused by the fact that names have no spe­cific mean­ing and are thus hard to mem­o­rize. Say you are intro­duced to Kim today:

1. Pay atten­tion to the name: Ask Kim to repeat her name if you have not heard it very well. Make a con­scious effort of try­ing to mem­o­rize the name: Focus on it (“Her name is Kim. I want to remem­ber it.”)

2. Relate to the name: What does this per­son make you feel like? Do you know some­one else named like this? Think about this other per­son. (“She seems quite ner­vous, I won­der why. She makes me feel a bit uneasy. Not at all like the other Kim I know from the gym.”)

3. Repeat the name: Use the name sev­eral times in the con­ver­sa­tion. (“What do you think of this, Kim?”) If applic­a­ble, use the person’s busi­ness card later on to read her name over and over.

4. Elab­o­rate on the name: Relate the name to pre­vi­ous infor­ma­tion (“Kim, as in Kim Wilde I used to lis­ten to when I was a kid. Well, she sure doesn’t look like Kim Wilde!”). Pic­ture her face later on in the day as you repeat her name.

Hope this helps!

Source:  http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2007/03/01/how-can-i-improve-my-concentration-and-my-memory/