essay on music as a therapy

The Transformative Power of Music in Mental Well-Being

August 01, 2023
Healthy living for mental well-being, Patients and Families, Treatment

Music has always held a special place in our lives, forming an integral part of human culture for centuries. Whether we passively listen to our favorite songs or actively engage in music-making by singing or playing instruments, music can have a profound influence on our socio-emotional development and overall well-being.

Recent research suggests that music engagement not only shapes our personal and cultural identities but also plays a role in mood regulation. 1 A 2022 review and meta-analysis of music therapy found an overall beneficial effect on stress-related outcomes. Moreover, music can be used to help in addressing serious mental health and substance use disorders. 2 In addition to its healing potential, music can magnify the message of diversity and inclusion by introducing people to new cultures and amplifying the voice of marginalized communities, thereby enhancing our understanding and appreciation for diverse communities.

Healing Trauma and Building Resilience

Many historically excluded groups, such as racial/ethnic and sexual minorities and people with disabilities, face systemic injustices and traumatic experiences that can deeply impact their mental health. Research supports the idea that discrimination, a type of trauma, increases risk for mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. 3

Music therapy has shown promise in providing a safe and supportive environment for healing trauma and building resilience while decreasing anxiety levels and improving the functioning of depressed individuals. 4 Music therapy is an evidence-based therapeutic intervention using music to accomplish health and education goals, such as improving mental wellness, reducing stress and alleviating pain. Music therapy is offered in settings such as schools and hospitals. 1 Research supports that engaging in music-making activities, such as drumming circles, songwriting, or group singing, can facilitate emotional release, promote self-reflection, and create a sense of community. 5

Empowerment, Advocacy and Social Change

Music has a rich history of being used as a tool for social advocacy and change. Artists from marginalized communities often use music to shed light on social issues (.pdf) , challenge injustices, and inspire collective action. By addressing topics such as racial inequality, gender discrimination, and LGBTQ+ rights, music becomes a powerful medium for advocating for social justice and promoting inclusivity. Through music, individuals can express their unique experiences, struggles, and triumphs, forging connections with others who share similar backgrounds. Research has shown that exposure to diverse musical genres and artists can broaden perspectives, challenge stereotypes, and foster empathy among listeners especially when dancing together. 7

Genres such as hip-hop, reggae, jazz, blues, rhythm & blues and folk have historically served as platforms for marginalized voices, enabling them to reclaim their narratives and challenge societal norms. The impact of socially conscious music has been observed in movements such as civil rights, feminism, and LGBTQ+ rights, where songs have played a pivotal role in mobilizing communities and effecting change. Music artists who engage in activism can reach new supporters and help their fans feel more connected to issues and motivated to participate. 6

Fostering Social Connection and Support

Music can also serve as a catalyst for social connection and support, breaking down barriers and bridging divides. Emerging evidence indicates that music has the potential to enhance prosocial behavior, promote social connectedness, and develop emotional competence. 2 Communities can leverage music’s innate ability to connect people and foster a sense of belonging through music programs, choirs, and music education initiatives. These activities can create inclusive spaces where people from diverse backgrounds can come together, collaborate, and build relationships based on shared musical interests. These experiences promote social cohesion, combat loneliness, and provide a support network that can positively impact overall well-being.

Musicians and Normalizing Mental Health

Considering the healing effects of music, it may seem paradoxical that musicians may be at a higher risk of mental health disorders. 8 A recent survey of 1,500 independent musicians found that 73% have symptoms of mental illness. This could be due in part to the physical and psychological challenges of the profession. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Germany found that musically active people have, on average, a higher genetic risk for depression and bipolar disorder.

Commendably, many artists such as Adele, Alanis Morrisette, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi and Demi Lovato have spoken out about their mental health battles, from postpartum depression to suicidal ideation. Having high-profile artists and celebrities share their lived experiences has opened the conversation about the importance of mental wellness. This can help battle the stigma associated with seeking treatment and support.

Dr. Regina James (APA’s Chief of the Division of Diversity and Health Equity and Deputy Medical Director) notes “Share your story…share your song and let's help each other normalize the conversation around mental wellness through the influence of music. My go-to artist for relaxation is jazz saxophonist, “Grover Washington Jr” …what’s yours?” Submit to [email protected] to get featured!

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Stanford University School of Medicine blog

Recognition of the power of music in medicine is growing

As a cellist, I have experienced firsthand the restorative powers of music. From middle school through medical school, and as a surgeon and a leader of academic medical centers, playing the cello has always brought me joy and comfort. Its benefits have been particularly important to me during the pandemic, as music has served as a source of rejuvenation and resilience.

Beyond its well-known impacts on emotion and spirit, music also has a profound ability to support physical healing. Music therapy has proven effective in helping patients recover from stroke and brain injury and in managing Alzheimer's and dementia. A 2008 study published in Brain: A Journal of Neurology found that music helped people recovering from a stroke with verbal memory and maintaining focus. It also lessened depression and confusion.

Music is found in every culture, and our ability to create and interpret it is built into our anatomy. The human ear is tuned to the human voice, but its range is much greater. The frequency mothers use to communicate with their babies and the exaggerated tones and rhythms of baby talk are reflected in musical compositions.

For decades, before advances in brain imaging, the medical community saw music therapy's value purely in a support role, to foster relationships, help patients express themselves, promote emotional expression, or improve group sessions. Now, with our growing appreciation of the close link of our mental and physical health, these "softer" benefits are gaining recognition for their true importance.

Therapeutic benefits of music, dance and art

The complex and compelling concoction of melody, harmony, and rhythm activates many parts of the brain, areas that also handle language, memory, perception, cognition, and motor control functions. We use music and dance to treat patients with Parkinson's disease. The activity provides a trio of benefits: physical activity, social interaction, and mental stimulation. The profound impact of dance is the driving force behind the Stanford Neuroscience Health Center hosting a dance class led by a professional dancer specially trained in teaching dance for Parkinson's Disease.

Music therapists working at Stanford Children's Health see daily how their work helps patients -- and their families -- cope with anxiety and stress and manage pain. Yet it may be how the music provides comfort, on good days and bad, and even a measure of hope, that is just as important to healing.

This understanding served as a primary influence of Stanford Hospital 's design. The one-year-old facility -- filled with natural light and original works of art -- recognizes the need to heal the body, mind, and spirit. Multiple studies have shown that art can have positive impacts on blood pressure, anxiety, length of hospital stay, and other outcomes.

As a physician-scientist and a surgeon, my tendency and training send me to hard data, tests, and imaging. But I've learned over my career the importance of empathy and truly listening to understand what patients are feeling and, ultimately, the best course of action for their care.

Arts and humanities in medical education

Science teaches us the biological workings of the human body and the causes of disease, but the humanities help us make sense of illness and suffering, life and death. The arts enable us to more confidently navigate these waters and approach each patient with empathy and compassion. We must always remember that a disease is not the same as the experience of illness, and a patient is more than an ill person.

In the same vein, a doctor is much more than an expert in human anatomy. We have a number of innovative programs integrating the arts and humanities in medical education. Medicine and the Muse , a program within the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, benefits our entire Stanford Medicine community of clinicians, researchers, staff, and students by helping to restore perspective and bolster resilience in the face of intense stress.

I have particularly appreciated -- and enjoyed -- another program. Our pandemic-inspired virtual Stuck@Home concert series has allowed us to connect with our colleagues, share in their talents, and express ourselves in ways that would undoubtedly be more difficult during a teleconference. It has helped sustain our community. At a recent edition of this monthly concert series, I played the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." For me, the piece resonates so powerfully of hope, and it was my pleasure to share it with my colleagues.

Now I have a confession to make. I didn't always adore the cello. When I was 11, I wanted to play the trumpet. My parents thought otherwise. They suggested a string instrument. The school district had a cello to rent, and I've been playing ever since.

My parents were right. The cello was the better choice for me. At the time, I didn't realize how momentous that day was nor that I would be playing the cello 50 years later. In fostering in me a deep love and appreciation for music, the cello has been instrumental in creating the leader I am today.

Lloyd Minor , MD, is the Carl and Elizabeth Naumann dean of the Stanford School of Medicine and a professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. This piece originally appeared on his LinkedIn page .

Image by agsandrew

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Review Article
Open access
Published: 22 June 2021

Mental health and music engagement: review, framework, and guidelines for future studies

Daniel E. Gustavson ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1470-4928 1 , 2 ,
Peyton L. Coleman ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5388-6886 3 ,
John R. Iversen 4 ,
Hermine H. Maes 5 , 6 , 7 ,
Reyna L. Gordon 2 , 3 , 8 , 9 &
Miriam D. Lense 2 , 8 , 9

Translational Psychiatry volume 11 , Article number: 370 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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Medical genetics
Psychiatric disorders

Is engaging with music good for your mental health? This question has long been the topic of empirical clinical and nonclinical investigations, with studies indicating positive associations between music engagement and quality of life, reduced depression or anxiety symptoms, and less frequent substance use. However, many earlier investigations were limited by small populations and methodological limitations, and it has also been suggested that aspects of music engagement may even be associated with worse mental health outcomes. The purpose of this scoping review is first to summarize the existing state of music engagement and mental health studies, identifying their strengths and weaknesses. We focus on broad domains of mental health diagnoses including internalizing psychopathology (e.g., depression and anxiety symptoms and diagnoses), externalizing psychopathology (e.g., substance use), and thought disorders (e.g., schizophrenia). Second, we propose a theoretical model to inform future work that describes the importance of simultaneously considering music-mental health associations at the levels of (1) correlated genetic and/or environmental influences vs. (bi)directional associations, (2) interactions with genetic risk factors, (3) treatment efficacy, and (4) mediation through brain structure and function. Finally, we describe how recent advances in large-scale data collection, including genetic, neuroimaging, and electronic health record studies, allow for a more rigorous examination of these associations that can also elucidate their neurobiological substrates.

Biological principles for music and mental health

A comprehensive investigation into the genetic relationship between music engagement and mental health

The effects of playing music on mental health outcomes

Introduction.

Music engagement, including passive listening and active music-making (singing, instrument playing), impacts socio-emotional development across the lifespan (e.g., socialization, personal/cultural identity, mood regulation, etc.), and is tightly linked with many cognitive and personality traits [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. A growing literature also demonstrates beneficial associations between music engagement and quality of life, well-being, prosocial behavior, social connectedness, and emotional competence [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Despite these advances linking engagement with music to many wellness characteristics, we have a limited understanding of how music engagement directly and indirectly contributes to mental health, including at the trait-level (e.g., depression and anxiety symptoms, substance use behaviors), clinical diagnoses (e.g., associations with major depressive disorder (MDD) or substance use disorder (SUD) diagnoses), or as a treatment. Our goals in this scoping review are to (1) describe the state of music engagement research regarding its associations with mental health outcomes, (2) introduce a theoretical framework for future studies that highlight the contribution of genetic and environmental influences (and their interplay) that may give rise to these associations, and (3) illustrate some approaches that will help us more clearly elucidate the genetic/environmental and neural underpinnings of these associations.

Scope of the article

People interact with music in a wide variety of ways, with the concept of “musicality” broadly including music engagement, music perception and production abilities, and music training [ 9 ]. Table 1 illustrates the breadth of music phenotypes and example assessment measures. Research into music and mental health typically focuses on measures of music engagement, including passive (e.g., listening to music for pleasure or as a part of an intervention) and active music engagement (e.g., playing an instrument or singing; group music-making), both of which can be assessed using a variety of objective and subjective measures. We focus primarily on music engagement in the current paper but acknowledge it will also be important to examine how mental health traits relate to other aspects of musicality as well (e.g., perception and production abilities).

Our scoping review and theoretical framework incorporate existing theoretical and mechanistic explanations for how music engagement relates to mental health. From a psychological perspective, studies have proposed that music engagement can be used as a tool for encouraging self-expression, developing emotion regulation and coping skills, and building community [ 10 , 11 ]. From a physiological perspective, music engagement modulates arousal levels including impacts on heart rate, electrodermal activity, and cortisol [ 12 , 13 ]. These effects may be driven in part by physical aspects of music (e.g., tempo) or rhythmic movements involved in making or listening to music, which impact central nervous system functioning (e.g., leading to changes in autonomic activity) [ 14 ], as well as by personality and contextual factors (e.g., shared social experiences) [ 15 ]. Musical experiences also impact neurochemical processes involved in reward processing [ 10 , 13 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 18 ], which are also implicated in mental health disorders (e.g., substance use; depression). Thus, an overarching framework for studying music-mental health associations should integrate the psychological, physiological, and neurochemical aspects of these potential associations. We propose expanding this scope further through consideration of genetic and environmental risk factors, which may give rise to (and/or interact with) other factors to impact health and well-being.

Regarding mental health, it is important to recognize the hierarchical structure of psychopathology [ 19 , 20 ]. Common psychological disorders share many features and cluster into internalizing (e.g., MDD, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)), externalizing (e.g., SUDs, conduct disorder), and thought disorders (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia), with common variance shared even across these domains [ 20 ]. These higher-order constructs tend to explain much of the comorbidity among individual disorders, and have helped researchers characterize associations between psychopathology, cognition, and personality [ 21 , 22 , 23 ]. We use this hierarchical structure to organize our review. We first summarize the emerging literature on associations between music engagement and generalized well-being that provides promising evidence for associations between music engagement and mental health. Next, we summarize associations between music engagement and internalizing traits, externalizing traits/behaviors, and thought disorders, respectively. Within these sections, we critically consider the strengths and shortcomings of existing studies and how the latter may limit the conclusions drawn from this work.

Our review considers both correlational and experimental studies (typically, intervention studies; see Fig. 1 for examples of study designs). We include not only studies that examine symptoms or diagnoses based on diagnostic interviews, but also those that assess quantitative variation (e.g., trait anxiety) in clinical and nonclinical populations. This is partly because individuals with clinical diagnoses may represent the extreme end of a spectrum of similar, sub-clinical, problems in the population, a view supported by evidence that genetic influences on diagnosed psychiatric disorders or DSM symptom counts are similar to those for trait-level symptoms in the general population [ 24 , 25 ]. Music engagement may be related to this full continuum of mental health, including correlations with trait-level symptoms in nonclinical populations and alleviation of symptoms from clinical disorders. For example, work linking music engagement to subjective well-being speaks to potential avenues for mental health interventions in the population at large.

Within experimental studies, music interventions can include passive musical activities (e.g., song listening, music and meditation, lyric discussion, creating playlists) or active musical activities (e.g., creative methods, such as songwriting or improvisation and/or re-creative methods, such as song parody).

The goal of this scoping review was to integrate across related, but often disconnected, literatures in order to propose a comprehensive theoretical framework for advancing our understanding of music-mental health associations. For this reason, we did not conduct a fully systematic search or quality appraisal of documents. Rather, we first searched PubMed and Google Scholar for review articles and meta-analyses using broad search terms (e.g., “review” and “music” and [“anxiety” or “depression” or “substance use”]). Then, when drafting each section, we searched for additional papers that have been published more recently and/or were examples of higher-quality research in each domain. When giving examples, we emphasize the most recent and most well-powered empirical studies. We also conducted some targeted literature searches where reviews were not available (e.g., “music” and [“impulsivity” or “ADHD”]) using the same databases. Our subsequent framework is intended to contextualize diagnostic, symptom, and mechanistic findings more broadly within the scope of the genetic and environmental risk factors on psychopathology that give rise to these associations and (potentially) impact the efficacy of treatment efforts. As such, the framework incorporates evidence from review articles and meta-analyses from various literatures (e.g., music interventions for anxiety [ 26 ], depression [ 27 ]) in combination with experimental evidence of biological underpinnings of music engagement and the perspective provided by newly available methods for population-health approaches (i.e., complex trait genetics, gene–environment interactions).

Music engagement and well-being

A growing body of studies report associations between music engagement and general indices of mental health, including increased well-being or emotional competence, lending support for the possibility that music engagement may also be associated with better specific mental health outcomes. In over 8000 Swedish twins, hours of music practice and self-reported music achievement were associated with better emotional competence [ 5 ]. Similarly, a meta-ethnography of 46 qualitative studies revealed that participation in music activities supported well-being through management of emotions, facilitation of self-development, providing respite from problems, and facilitating social connections [ 28 ]. In a sample of 1000 Australian adults, individuals who engaged with music, such as singing or dancing with others or attending concerts reported greater well-being vs. those who engaged in these experiences alone or did not engage. Other types of music engagement, such as playing an instrument or composing music were not associated with well-being in this sample [ 4 ]. Earlier in life, social music experiences (including song familiarity and synchronous movement to music) are associated with a variety of prosocial behaviors in infants and children [ 6 ], as well as positive affect [ 7 ]. Thus, this work provides some initial evidence that music engagement is associated with better general mental health outcomes in children and adults with some heterogeneity in findings depending on the specific type of music engagement.

Music engagement and internalizing problems

MDD, GAD, and PTSD are the most frequently clustered aspects of internalizing psychopathology [ 19 , 24 , 29 , 30 ]. Experimental studies provide evidence for the feasibility of music intervention efforts and their therapeutic benefits but are not yet rigorous enough to draw strong conclusions. The most severe limitations are small samples, the lack of appropriate control groups, few interventions with multiple sessions, and publications omitting necessary information regarding the intervention (e.g., intervention fidelity, inclusion/exclusion criteria, education status of intervention leader) [ 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Correlational studies, by contrast, suggest musicians are at greater risk for internalizing problems, but that they use music engagement as a tool to help manage these problems [ 34 , 35 ].

Experimental studies

Randomized controlled trials have revealed that music interventions (including both music therapies administered by board-certified music therapists and other music interventions) are associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms [ 26 , 27 , 33 , 36 ]. A review of 28 studies reported that 26 revealed significantly reduced depression levels in music intervention groups compared to control groups, including the 9 studies which included active non-music intervention control groups (e.g., reading sessions, “conductive-behavior” psychotherapy, antidepressant drugs) [ 27 ]. A similar meta-analysis of 19 studies demonstrated that music listening is effective at decreasing self-reported anxiety in healthy individuals [ 26 ]. A review of music-based treatment studies related to PTSD revealed similar conclusions [ 36 ], though there were only four relevant studies. More recent studies confirm these findings [ 37 , 38 , 39 ], such as one randomized controlled trial that demonstrated reduced depression symptoms in older adults following musical improvisation exercises compared to an active control group (gentle gymnastic activities) [ 39 ].

This work is promising given that some studies have observed effects even when compared to traditional behavior therapies [ 40 , 41 ]. However, there are relatively few studies directly comparing music interventions to traditional therapies. Some music interventions incorporate components of other therapeutic methods in their programs including dialectic or cognitive behavior therapies [ 42 ], but few directly compare how the inclusion of music augments traditional behavioral therapy. Still other non-music therapies incorporate music into their practice (e.g., background music in mindfulness therapies) [ 43 , 44 ], but the specific contribution of music in these approaches is unclear. Thus, there is a great need for further systematic research relating music to traditional therapies to understand which components of music interventions act on the same mechanisms as traditional therapies (e.g., developing coping mechanisms and building community) and which bolster or synchronize with other approaches (e.g., by adding structure, reinforcement, predictability, and social context to traditional approaches).

Aside from comparison with other therapeutic approaches, an earlier review of 98 papers from psychiatric in-patient studies concluded that promising effects of music therapy were limited by small sample sizes and methodological shortcomings including lack of reporting of adverse events, exclusion criteria, possible confounders, and characteristics of patients lost to follow-up [ 33 ]. Other problems included inadequate reporting of information on the source population (e.g., selection of patients and proportion agreeing to take part in the study), the lack of masking of interviewers during post-test, and concealment of randomization. Nevertheless, there was some evidence that therapies with active music participation, structured sessions, and multiple sessions (i.e., four or more) improved mood, with all studies incorporating these characteristics reporting significant positive effects. However, most studies have focused on passive interventions, such as music listening [ 26 , 27 ]. Active interventions (e.g., singing, improvising) have not been directly compared with passive interventions [ 27 ], so more work is needed to clarify whether therapeutic effects are indeed stronger with more engaging and active interventions.

Correlational studies

Correlational studies have focused on the use of music in emotional self-regulation. Specifically, individuals high in neuroticism appear to use music to help regulate their emotions [ 34 , 35 ], with beneficial effects of music engagement on emotion regulation and well-being driven by cognitive reappraisal [ 45 ]. Music listening may also moderate the association between neuroticism and depression in adolescents [ 46 ], consistent with a protective effect.

A series of recent studies have used validated self-reported instruments that directly assess how individuals use music activities as an emotion regulation strategy [ 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ]. In adults, the use of music listening for anger regulation and anxiety regulation was positively associated with subjective well-being, psychological well-being, and social well-being [ 50 ]. In studies of adolescents and undergraduates, the use of music listening for entertainment was associated with fewer depression and anxiety symptoms [ 51 ]. “Healthy” music engagement in adolescents (i.e., using music for relaxation and connection with others) was also positively associated with happiness and school satisfaction [ 49 ]. However, the use of music listening for emotional discharge was also associated with greater depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms [ 51 ], and “unhealthy” music engagement (e.g., ‘hiding’ in music to block others out) was associated with lower well-being, happiness, school satisfaction, and greater depression and rumination [ 49 ]. Other work has highlighted the role of valence in these associations, with individuals who listen to happier music when they are in a bad mood reporting stronger ability for music to influence their mood than those who listen to sad music while in a negative mood [ 52 , 53 ].

This work highlights the importance of considering individuals’ motivations for engaging with music in examining associations with well-being and mental health, and are consistent with the idea that individuals already experiencing depression, anxiety, and stress use music as a therapeutic tool to manage their emotions, with some strategies being more effective than others. Of course, these correlational effects may not necessarily reflect causal associations, but could be due to bidirectional influences, as suggested by claims that musicians may be at higher risk for internalizing problems [ 54 , 55 , 56 ]. It is also necessary to consider demographic and socioeconomic factors in these associations [ 57 ], for example, because arts engagement may be more strongly associated with self-esteem in those with higher education [ 58 ].

It is also necessary to clarify if musicians (professional and/or nonprofessional) represent an already high-risk group for internalizing problems. In one large study conducted in Norway ( N = 6372), professional musicians were higher in neuroticism than the general population [ 56 ]. Another study of musician cases ( N = 9803) vs. controls ( N = 49,015) identified in a US-based research database through text-mining of medical records found that musicians are at greater risk of MDD (Odds ratio [OR] = 1.21), anxiety disorders (OR = 1.25), and PTSD (OR = 1.13) [ 55 ]. However, other studies demonstrate null associations between musician status and depression symptoms [ 5 ] or mixed associations [ 59 ]. In N = 10,776 Swedish twins, for example, professional and amateur musicians had more self-reported burnout symptoms [ 54 ]. However, neither playing music in the past, amateur musicianship, nor professional musicianship was significantly associated with depression or anxiety disorder diagnoses.

Even if musicians are at higher risk, such findings can still be consistent with music-making being beneficial and therapeutic (e.g., depression medication use is elevated in individuals with depressive symptoms because it is a treatment). Clinical samples may be useful in disentangling these associations (i.e., examining if those who engage with music more frequently have reduced symptoms), and wider deployment of measures that capture emotion regulation strategies and motivations for engaging with music will help shed light on whether high-risk individuals engage with music in qualitatively different ways than others [ 51 , 57 ]. Later, we describe how also considering the role of genetic and environmental risk factors in these associations (e.g., if individuals at high genetic and/or environmental risk self-select into music environments because they are therapeutic) can help to clarify these questions.

Music engagement and externalizing problems

The externalizing domain comprises SUDs, and also includes impulsivity, conduct disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), especially in adolescents [ 20 , 24 , 60 , 61 ]. Similar to the conclusions for internalizing traits, experimental studies show promising evidence that music engagement interventions may reduce substance use, ADHD, and other externalizing symptoms, but conclusions are limited by methodological limitations. Correlational evidence is sparce, but there is less reason to suspect musicians are at higher risk for externalizing problems.

Intervention studies have demonstrated music engagement is helpful in patients with SUDs, including reducing withdrawal symptoms and stress, allowing individuals to experience emotions without craving substance use, and making substance abuse treatment sessions more enjoyable and motivating [ 62 , 63 , 64 ] (for a systematic review, see [ 65 ]). Similar to the experimental studies of internalizing traits, however, these studies would also benefit from larger samples, better controls, and higher-quality reporting standards.

Music intervention studies for ADHD are of similar quality. Such interventions have been shown to reduce inattention [ 66 ], decrease negative mood [ 67 ], and increase reading comprehension for those with ADHD [ 68 ]. However, there is a great amount of variability among children with ADHD, as some may find music distracting while others may focus better in the presence of music [ 69 ].

Little research has been conducted to evaluate music engagement interventions for impulsivity or conduct disorder problems, and findings are mixed. For example, a music therapy study of 251 children showed that beneficial effects on communication skills (after participating in a free improvisation intervention) was significant, though only for the subset of children above age 13 [ 70 ]. Another study suggested the promising effects of music therapy on social skills and problem behaviors in 89 students selected based on social/emotional problem behaviors, but did not have a control group [ 71 ]. Other smaller studies ( N < 20 each) show inconsistent results on disruptive behaviors and aggression [ 72 , 73 ].

Correlational studies on externalizing traits are few and far between. A number of studies examined how listening habits for different genres of music relate to more or less substance use [ 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 ]. However, these studies do not strongly illuminate associations between music engagement and substance use because musical genres are driven by cultural and socioeconomic factors that vary over the lifespan. In the previously cited large study of American electronic medical records [ 55 ] where musicianship was associated with more internalizing diagnoses, associations were nonsignificant for “tobacco use disorder” (OR = 0.93), “alcoholism” (OR = 1.01), “alcohol-related disorders” (OR = 1.00), or “substance addiction and disorders” (OR = 1.00). In fact, in sex-stratified analyses, female musicians were at significantly decreased risk for tobacco use disorder (OR = 0.85) [ 55 ]. Thus, there is less evidence musicians are at greater risk for externalizing problems than in other areas.

Regarding other aspects of externalizing, some studies demonstrate children with ADHD have poor rhythm skills, opening a possibility that working on rhythm skills may impact ADHD [ 78 , 79 ]. For example, music might serve as a helpful scaffold (e.g., for attention) due to its regular, predictable rhythmic beat. It will be important to examine whether these associations with music rhythm are also observed for measures of music engagement, especially in larger population studies. Finally, musicians were reported to have lower impulsiveness than prior population samples, but were not compared directly to non-musicians [ 80 , 81 ].

Music engagement and thought disorders

Thought disorders typically encompass schizophrenia and bipolar disorder [ 20 ]. Trait-level measures include schizotypal symptoms and depression symptoms. Much like internalizing, music interventions appear to provide some benefits to individuals with clinical diagnoses, but musicians may be at higher risk for thought disorders. Limitations of both experimental and correlational studies are similar to those for internalizing and externalizing.

Music intervention studies have been conducted with individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. A recent meta-analysis of 18 music therapy studies for schizophrenia (and similar disorders) [ 82 ] demonstrated that music therapy plus standard care (compared to standard care alone) demonstrated improved general mental health, fewer negative symptoms of schizophrenia, and improved social functioning. No effects were observed for general functioning or positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Critiques echoed those described above. Most notably, although almost all studies had low risk of biases due to attrition, unclear risk of bias was evident in the vast majority of studies (>75%) for selection bias, performance bias, detection bias, and reporting bias. These concerns highlight the need for these studies to report more information about their study selection, blinding procedure, and outcomes.

More recent papers suggest similar benefits of music therapies in patients with psychosis [ 83 ] and thought disorders [ 84 ], with similar limitations (e.g., one study did not include a control group). Finally, although a 2021 review did not uncover more recent articles related to bipolar disorder, they argued that existing work suggests music therapy has the potential both to treat bipolar disorder symptoms and alleviate subthreshold symptoms in early stages of the disorder [ 85 ].

Much like internalizing, findings from the few existing studies suggest that musicians may be at higher risk for thought disorders. In the large sample of Swedish twins described earlier [ 54 ], playing an instrument was associated with more schizotypal symptoms across multiple comparisons (professional musicians vs. non-players; amateur musicians vs. non-players; still plays an instrument vs. never played). However, no associations were observed for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder diagnoses across any set of comparison groups. Another study demonstrated that individuals with higher genetic risk for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder were more likely to be a member of a creative society (i.e., actor or dancer, musician, visual artist, or writer) or work in a profession in these fields [ 86 ]. Furthermore, musician status was associated with “bipolar disorder” (OR = 1.18) and “schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders” (OR = 1.18) in US electronic health records (EHRs) [ 55 ].

Interim summary

There is promising evidence that music engagement is associated with better mental health outcomes. Music engagement is positively associated with quality of life, well-being, social connectedness, and emotional competence. However, some individuals who engage with music may be at higher risk for mental health problems, especially internalizing and thought disorders. More research is needed to disentangle these contrasting results, including clarifying how “healthy” music engagement (e.g., for relaxation or social connection) leads to greater well-being or successful emotion regulation, and testing whether some individuals are more likely to use music as a tool to regulate emotions (e.g., those with high neuroticism) [ 34 , 35 ]. Similarly, it will be important to clarify whether the fact that musicians may be an at-risk group is an extension of working in an artistic field in general (which may feature lower pay or lack of job security) and/or if similar associations are observed with continuous music engagement phenotypes (e.g., hours of practice). As we elaborate on later, genetically informative datasets can help clarify these complex associations, for example by tested whether musicians are at higher genetic risk for mental health problems but their music engagement mitigates these risks.

Music intervention studies are feasible and potentially effective at treating symptoms in individuals with clinical diagnoses, including depression, anxiety, and SUDs. However, it will be essential to expand these studies to include larger samples, random sampling, and active control groups that compare the benefits of music interventions to traditional therapies and address possible confounds. These limitations make it hard to quantify how specific factors influence the effectiveness of interventions, such as length/depth of music training, age of sample, confounding variables (e.g., socioeconomic status), and type of intervention (e.g., individual vs. group sessions, song playing vs. songwriting, receptive vs. active methods). Similarly, the tremendous breadth of music engagement activities and measures makes it difficult to identify the specific aspects of music engagement that convey the most benefits to health and well-being [ 87 ]. It is therefore necessary to improve reporting quality of studies so researchers can better identify these potential moderators or confounds using systematic approaches (e.g., meta-analyses).

Various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the therapeutic effects of music on mental health, including psychological (e.g., building communities, developing coping strategies) [ 10 , 11 ] and specific neurobiological drivers (e.g., oxytocin, cortisol, autonomic nervous system activity) [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. However, it will be vital to conduct more systematic research comparing the effects of music interventions to existing therapeutic methods and other types of creative activities (e.g., art [ 88 ]) to quantify which effects and mechanisms are specific to music engagement. Music interventions also do not have to be an alternative to other treatments, but may instead support key elements of traditional interventions, such as being engaging, enjoyable, providing social context, and increasing structure and predictability [ 89 ]. Indeed, some music therapists incorporate principals from existing psychotherapeutic models [ 42 , 90 ] and, conversely, newer therapeutic models (e.g., mindfulness) incorporate music into their practice [ 43 , 44 ]. It is not yet possible to disentangle which aspects of music interventions best synergize with or strengthen standard psychotherapeutic practices (which are also heterogeneous), but this will be possible with better reporting standards and quality experimental design.

To encapsulate and extend these ideas, we next propose a theoretical framework that delineates key aspects of how music engagement may relate to mental health, which is intended to be useful for guiding future investigations in a more systematic way.

Theoretical framework for future studies

Associations between music engagement and mental health may take multiple forms, driven by several different types of genetic predispositions and environmental effects that give rise to, and interact with, proposed psychological and neurobiological mechanisms described earlier. Figure 2 displays our theoretical model in which potential beneficial associations with music are delineated into testable hypotheses. Four key paths characterize specific ways in which music engagement may relate to (and influence) mental health traits, and thus represent key research questions to be addressed in future studies.

Progression of mental health problems is based on a diathesis-stress model, where genetic predispositions and environmental exposures result in later problems (which can be remedied through treatment). Potential associations with music engagement include (Path 1; blue arrows) correlated genetic/environmental influences and/or causal associations between music engagement and trait-level mental health outcomes; (Path 2; red arrows) interactions between music engagement and risk factors to predict later trait-level or clinical level symptoms; and (Path 3; gold arrow) direct effects of music engagement on reducing symptoms or improving treatment efficacy. Path 4 (orange arrows) illustrates the importance of understanding how these potential protective associations are driven by neuroanatomy and function. MDD major depressive disorder, GAD generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD posttraumatic stress disorder, SUD substance use disorder(s).

Path 1: Music engagement relates to mental health through correlated genetic and environmental risk factors and/or causation

The diathesis-stress model of psychiatric disease posits that individuals carry different genetic liabilities for any given disorder [ 91 , 92 , 93 ], with disorder onset depending on the amount of negative vs. protective environmental life events and exposures the individual experiences. Although at first glance music engagement appears to be an environmental exposure, it is actually far from it. Twin studies have demonstrated that both music experiences and music ability measures are moderately heritable and genetically correlated with cognitive abilities like non-verbal intelligence [ 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 ]. Music engagement may be influenced by its own set of environmental influences, potentially including socioeconomic factors and availability of instruments. Thus, music engagement can be viewed as a combination of genetic and environmental predispositions and availability of opportunities for engagement [ 98 ] that are necessary to consider when evaluating associations with mental health [ 54 ].

When examining music-mental health associations, it is thus important to evaluate if associations are in part explained by correlated genetic or environmental influences (see Fig. 3 for schematic and explanation for interpreting genetic/environmental correlations). On one hand, individuals genetically predisposed to engage with music may be at lower risk of experiencing internalizing or externalizing problems. Indeed, music engagement and ability appear associated with cognitive abilities through genetic correlations [ 3 , 99 ], which may apply to music-mental health associations as well. On the other, individuals at high genetic risk for neuroticism or psychopathology may be more likely to engage with music because it is therapeutic, suggesting a genetic correlation in the opposite direction (i.e., increased genetic risk for musicians). To understand and better contextualize the potential therapeutic effects of music engagement, it is necessary to quantify these potential genetic associations, while simultaneously evaluating whether these associations are explained by correlated environmental influences.

Variance in any given trait is explained by a combination of genetic influences (i.e., heritability) and environmental influences. For complex traits (e.g., MDD or depression symptoms), cognitive abilities (e.g., intelligence), and personality traits (e.g., impulsivity), many hundreds or thousands of independent genetic effects are combined together in the total heritability estimate. Similarly, environmental influences typically represent a multitude of factors, from individual life events to specific exposures (e.g., chemicals, etc.). The presence of a genetic or environmental correlation between traits indicates that some set of these influences have an impact on multiple traits. A Displayed using a Venn diagram. Identifying the strength of genetic vs. environmental correlations can be useful in testing theoretical models and pave the way for more complex genetic investigations. Beyond this, gene identification efforts (e.g., genome-wide association studies) and additional analyses of the resulting data can be used to classify whether these associations represent specific genetic influences that affect both traits equally (i.e., genetic pleiotropy ( B )) or whether a genetic influence impacts only one trait which in turn causes changes in the other (i.e., mediated genetic pleiotropy ( C )). Environmental influences can also act pleiotropically or in a mediated-pleiotropy manner, but only genetic influences are displayed for simplicity.

Beyond correlated genetic and environmental influences, music engagement and mental health problems may be associated with one another through direct influences (including causal impacts). This is in line with earlier suggestions that music activities (e.g., after-school programs, music practice) engage adolescents, removing opportunities for drug-seeking behaviors [ 100 ], increasing their social connections to peers [ 101 ], and decreasing loneliness [ 41 ]. Reverse causation is also possible, for example, if experiencing mental health problems causes some individuals to seek out music engagement as a treatment. Longitudinal and genetically informative studies can help differentiate correlated risk factors (i.e., genetic/environmental correlations) from causal effects of music engagement (Fig. 2 , blue arrows) [ 102 ].

Path 2: Engagement with music reduces the impact of genetic risk

Second, genetic and environmental influences may interact with each other to influence a phenotype. For example, individual differences in music achievement are more pronounced in those who engage in practice or had musically enriched childhood environments [ 97 , 98 ]. Thus, music exposures may not influence mental health traits directly but could impact the strength of the association between genetic risk factors and the emergence of trait-level symptoms and/or clinical diagnoses. Such associations might manifest as decreased heritability of trait-level symptoms in musicians vs. non-musicians (upper red arrow in Fig. 2 ). Alternatively, if individuals high in neuroticism use music to help regulate their emotions [ 34 , 35 ], those who are not exposed to music environments might show stronger associations between neuroticism and later depressive symptoms or diagnoses than those engaged with music (lower red arrow in Fig. 2 ). Elucidating these possibilities will help disentangle the complex associations between music and mental health and could be used to identify which individuals would benefit most from a music intervention (especially preventative interventions). Later, we describe some specific study designs that can test hypotheses regarding this gene-environment interplay.

Path 3: Music engagement improves the efficacy of treatment (or acts as a treatment)

For individuals who experience severe problems (e.g., MDD, SUDs), engaging with music may reduce symptoms or improve treatment outcomes. This is the primary goal of most music intervention studies [ 27 , 33 ] (Fig. 2 , gold arrow). However, and this is one of the central messages of this model, it is important to consider interventions in the context of the paths discussed above. For example, if music engagement is genetically correlated with increased risk for internalizing or externalizing problems (Path 1) and/or if individuals at high genetic risk for mental health problems have already been using music engagement to develop strategies to deal with subthreshold symptoms (Path 2), then may be more likely to choose music interventions over other alternatives and find them more successful. Indeed, the beneficial aspects of music training on cognitive abilities appear to be drastically reduced in samples that were randomly sampled [ 103 ]. Therefore, along with other necessary reporting standards discussed above [ 32 , 33 ], it will be useful for studies to report participants’ prior music experience and consider these exposures in evaluating the efficacy of interventions.

Path 4: Music engagement influences brain structure and function

Exploring associations between music engagement and brain structure and function will be necessary to elucidate the mechanisms driving the three paths outlined above. Indeed, there are strong links between music listening and reward centers of the brain [ 104 , 105 ] including the nucleus accumbens [ 106 , 107 ] and ventral tegmental areas [ 108 ] that are implicated in the reward system for all drugs of abuse [ 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 ] and may relate to internalizing problems [ 113 , 114 , 115 ]. Moreover, activity in the caudate may simultaneously influence rhythmic sensorimotor synchronization, monetary reward processing, and prosocial behavior [ 116 ]. Furthermore, music listening may help individuals control the effect of emotional stimuli on autonomic and physiological responses (e.g., in the hypothalamus) and has been shown to induce the endorphinergic response blocked by naloxone, an opioid antagonist [ 18 , 117 ].

This work focusing on music listening and reward processing has not been extended to music making (i.e., active music engagement), though some differences in brain structure and plasticity between musicians and non-musicians have been observed for white matter (e.g., greater fractional anisotropy in corpus callosum and superior longitudinal fasciculus) [ 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 ]. In addition, longitudinal studies have revealed that instrument players show more rapid cortical thickness maturation in prefrontal and parietal areas implicated in emotion and impulse control compared to non-musician children/adolescents [ 122 ]. Importantly, because the existing evidence is primarily correlational, these cross-sectional and longitudinal structural differences between musicians and non-musicians could be explained by genetic correlations, effects of music training, or both, making them potentially relevant to multiple paths in our model (Fig. 2 ). Examining neural correlates of music engagement in more detail will shed light on these possibilities and advance our understanding of the correlates and consequences of music engagement, and the mechanisms that drive the associations discussed above.

New approaches to studying music and mental health

Using our theoretical model as a guide, we next highlight key avenues of research that will help disentangle these music-mental health associations using state-of-the-art approaches. They include the use of (1) genetic designs, (2) neuroimaging methods, and (3) large biobanks of EHRs.

Genetic designs

Genetic designs provide a window into the biological underpinnings of music engagement [ 123 ]. Understanding the contribution of genetic risk factors is crucial to test causal or mechanistic models regarding potential associations with mental health. At the most basic level, twin and family studies can estimate genetic correlations among music ability or engagement measures and mental health traits or diagnoses. Genetic associations can be examined while simultaneously quantifying environmental correlations, as well as evaluating (bidirectional) causal associations, by testing competing models or averaging across different candidate models [ 102 , 124 ], informing Path 1.

By leveraging samples with genomic, music engagement, and mental health data, investigators can also examine whether individuals at higher genetic risk for psychopathology (e.g., for MDD) show stronger associations between music engagement measures and their mental health outcomes (Path 2). As a theoretical example, individuals with low genetic risk for MDD are unlikely to have many depressive symptoms regardless of their music engagement, so the association between depressive symptoms and music engagement may be weak if focusing on these individuals. However, individuals at high genetic risk for MDD who engage with music may have fewer symptoms than their non-musician peers (i.e., a stronger negative correlation). This is in line with recent work revealing the heritability of depression is doubled in trauma exposed compared to non-trauma exposed individuals [ 125 ].

Gene–environment interaction studies using polygenic scores (i.e., summed indices of genetic risk based on genome-wide association studies; GWAS) are becoming more common [ 126 , 127 ]. There are already multiple large GWAS of internalizing and externalizing traits [ 128 , 129 , 130 ], and the first large-scale GWAS of a music measure indicates that music rhythm is also highly polygenic [ 131 ]. Importantly, is not necessary to have all traits measured in the same sample to examine cross-trait relationships. Studies with only music engagement and genetic data, for example, can still examine how polygenic scores for depression predict music engagement, or interact with music engagement measures to predict other study outcomes. Figure 4 displays an example of a GWAS and how it can be used to compute and apply a polygenic score to test cross-trait predictions.

A GWAS are conducted by examining whether individual genetic loci (i.e., single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, depicted with G, A, C, and T labels within a sample (or meta-analysis) differentiate cases from controls. The example is based on a dichotomous mental health trait (e.g., major depressive disorder diagnosis), but GWAS can be applied to other dichotomous and continuous phenotypes, such as trait anxiety, musician status, or hours of music practice. Importantly, rather than examining associations on a gene-by-gene basis, GWAS identify relevant genetic loci using SNPs from across the entire genome (typically depicted using a Manhattan plot, such as that displayed at the bottom of A ). B After a GWAS has been conducted on a given trait, researchers can use the output to generate a polygenic score (sometimes called a polygenic risk score) in any new sample with genetic data by summing the GWAS effect sizes for each SNP allele present in a participant’s genome. An individual with a z = 2.0 would have many risk SNPs for that trait, whereas an individual with z = −2 would have much fewer risk SNPs. C Once a polygenic score is generated for all participants, it can be applied like any other variable in the new sample. In this example, researchers could examine whether musicians are at higher (or lower) genetic risk for a specific disorder. Other more complex analyses are also possible, such as examining how polygenic scores interact with existing predictors (e.g., trauma exposure) or polygenic scores for other traits to influence a phenotype or predict an intervention outcome. Created with BioRender.com.

Finally, longitudinal twin and family studies continue to be a promising resource for understanding the etiology and developmental time-course of the correlates of mental health problems. Such designs can be used to examine whether associations between music and mental health are magnified based on other exposures or psychological constructs (gene-by-environment interactions) [ 132 ], and whether parents engaged with music are more likely to pass down environments that are protective or hazardous for later mental health (gene-environment correlations) in addition to passing on their genes. These studies also provide opportunities to examine whether these associations change across key developmental periods. The publicly available Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, for example, is tracking over 10,000 participants (including twin and sibling pairs) throughout adolescence, with measures of music engagement and exhaustive measures of mental health, cognition, and personality, as well as neuroimaging and genotyping [ 133 , 134 ]. Although most large samples with genomic data still lack measures of music engagement, key musical phenotypes could be added to existing study protocols (or to similar studies under development) with relatively low participant burden [ 135 ]. Musical questionnaires and/or tasks may be much more engaging and enjoyable than other tasks, improving volunteers’ research participation experience.

Neuroimaging

Another way to orient the design of experiments is through the exploration of neural mechanisms by which music might have an impact on mental health. This is an enormous, growing, and sometimes fraught literature, but there is naturally a great potential to link our understanding of neural underpinnings of music listening and engagement with the literature on neural bases of mental health. These advances can inform the mechanisms driving successful interventions and inform who may benefit the most from such interventions. We focus on two areas among many: (1) the activation of reward circuitry by music and (2) the impact music has on dynamic patterns of neural activity, both of which are likely vectors for the interaction of music and mental health and provide examples of potential interactions.

Music and reward

The strong effect of music on our emotions has been clearly grounded in its robust activation of reward circuitry in the brain, and motivational and hedonic effects of music listening have been shown to be specifically modulated by dopamine [ 16 , 105 , 136 ]. The prevalence of reward and dopaminergic dysfunction in mental illness makes this a rich area for future studies. For example, emotional responses to music might be used as a substitute for reward circuit deficiencies in depression, and it is intriguing to consider if music listening or music engagement could potentiate such function [ 137 , 138 ].

Music and brain network dynamics

The search for neuronally based biomarkers of aspects of mental illness has been a central thrust within the field [ 139 ], holding promise for the understanding of heterogeneity within disorders and identification of common mechanistic pathways [ 140 ]. A thorough review is beyond the scope of this paper, but several points of contact can be highlighted that might suggest neuro-mechanistic mediators of musical effects on mental health. For example, neurofeedback-directed upregulation of activity in emotion circuitry has been proposed as a therapy for MDD [ 141 ]. Given the emotional effects of music, there is potential for using musical stimuli as an adjuvant, or as a more actively patient-controlled output target for neurofeedback. Growing interest in measures of the dynamic complexity of brain activity in health and disease as measured by magnetic resonance imaging or magneto/electroencephalography (M/EEG) [ 142 ] provides a second point of contact, with abnormalities in dynamic complexity suggested as indicative of mental illness [ 143 ], while music engagement has been suggested to reflect and perhaps affect dynamic complexity [ 144 , 145 ].

The caveats identified in this review apply equally to such neuro-mechanistic studies [ 146 ]. High-quality experimental design (involving appropriate controls and randomized design) has been repeatedly shown to be critical to providing reliable evidence for non-music outcomes of music engagement [ 103 ]. For such studies to have maximal impact, analysis of M/EEG activity not at the scalp level, but at the source level, has been shown to improve the power of biomarkers, and their mechanistic interpretability [ 147 , 148 ]. Moreover, as with genetic influences that typically influence a trait through a multitude of small individual effects [ 149 ], the neural underpinnings of music-mental health associations may be highly multivariate. In the longer term, leveraging large-scale studies and large-scale data standardization and aggregation hold the promise of gleaning deeper cross-domain insights, for which current experimentalists can prepare by adopting standards for the documentation, annotation, and storage of data [ 150 ].

Biobanks and electronic health records

Finally, the use of EHR databases can be useful in quantifying associations between music engagement and mental health in large samples. EHR databases can include hundreds of thousands of records and allow for examination with International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems codes, including MDD, SUD, and schizophrenia diagnoses. This would allow for powerful estimates of music-mental health associations, and exploration of music engagement with other health outcomes.

The principal roadblock to this type of research is that extensive music phenotypes are not readily available in EHRs. However, there are multiple ways to bypass this limitation. First, medical records can be scraped using text-mining tools to identify cases of musician-related terms (e.g., “musician”, “guitarist”, “violinist”). For example, the phenome-wide association study described earlier [ 55 ] compared musician cases and controls identified in a large EHR database through text-mining of medical records and validated with extensive manual review charts. This study was highly powered to detect associations with internalizing and thought disorders (but showed null or protective effects for musicians for SUDs). Many EHR databases also include genomic data, allowing for integration with genetic models even in the absence of music data (e.g., exploring whether individuals with strong genetic predispositions for musical ability are at elevated or reduced risk for specific health diagnosis).

EHRs could also be used as recruitment tools, allowing researchers to collect additional data for relevant music engagement variables and compare with existing mental health diagnoses without having to conduct their own diagnostic interviews. These systems are not only relevant to individual differences research but could also be used to identify patients for possible enrollment in intervention studies. Furthermore, if recruitment for individual differences or intervention studies is done in patient waiting rooms of specific clinics, researchers can target specific populations of interest, have participants complete some relevant questionnaires while they wait, and be granted access to medical record data without having to conduct medical interviews themselves.

Concluding remarks

Music engagement, a uniquely human trait which has a powerful impact on our everyday experience, is deeply tied with our social and cultural identities as well as our personality and cognition. The relevance of music engagement to mental health, and its potential use as a therapeutic tool, has been studied for decades, but this research had not yet cohered into a clear picture. Our scoping review and framework integrated across a breadth of smaller literatures (including extant reviews and meta-analyses) relating music engagement to mental health traits and treatment effects, though it was potentially limited due to the lack of systematic literature search or formal quality appraisal of individual studies. Taken together, the current body of literature suggests that music engagement may provide an outlet for individuals who are experiencing internalizing, externalizing, or thought disorder problems, potentially supporting emotion regulation through multiple neurobiological pathways (e.g., reward center activity). Conducting more rigorous experimental intervention studies, improving reporting standards, and harnessing large-scale population-wide data in combination with new genetic analytic methods will help us achieve a better understanding of how music engagement relates to these mental health traits. We have presented a framework that illustrates why it will be vital to consider genetic and environmental risk factors when examining these associations, leading to new avenues for understanding the mechanisms by which music engagement and existing risk factors interact to support mental health and well-being.

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This work was supported by NIH grants DP2HD098859, R01AA028411, R61MH123029, R21DC016710, U01DA04112, and R03AG065643, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) research lab grants 1863278-38 and 1855526-38, and National Science Foundation grant 1926794. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or National Endowment for the Arts. The authors would like to thank Navya Thakkar and Gabija Zilinskaite for their assistance.

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Gustavson, D.E., Coleman, P.L., Iversen, J.R. et al. Mental health and music engagement: review, framework, and guidelines for future studies. Transl Psychiatry 11 , 370 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01483-8

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Print version: page 46

The beep of ventilators and infusion pumps, the hiss of oxygen, the whir of carts and the murmur of voices as physicians and nurses make rounds — these are the typical noises a premature infant hears spending the first days of life in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). While the sounds of such life-saving equipment are tough to mute, a new study suggests that some sounds, such as lullabies, may soothe pre-term babies and their parents, and even improve the infants' sleeping and eating patterns, while decreasing parents' stress ( Pediatrics , 2013).

Researchers at Beth Israel Medical Center's Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine conducted the study, which included 272 premature babies 32 weeks gestation or older in 11 mid-Atlantic NICUs. They examined the effects of three types of music: a lullaby selected and sung by the baby's parents; an "ocean disc," a round instrument, invented by the Remo drum company, that mimics the sounds of the womb; and a gato box, a drum-like instrument used to simulate two-tone heartbeat rhythms. The two instruments were played live by certified music therapists, who matched their music to the babies' breathing and heart rhythms.

The researchers found that the gato box, the Remo ocean disc and singing all slowed a baby's heart rate, although singing was the most effective. Singing also increased the amount of time babies stayed quietly alert, and sucking behavior improved most with the gato box, while the ocean disc enhanced sleep. The music therapy also lowered the parents' stress, says Joanne Loewy, the study's lead author, director of the Armstrong center and co-editor of the journal Music and Medicine .

"There's just something about music — particularly live music — that excites and activates the body," says Loewy, whose work is part of a growing movement of music therapists and psychologists who are investigating the use of music in medicine to help patients dealing with pain, depression and possibly even Alzheimer's disease. "Music very much has a way of enhancing quality of life and can, in addition, promote recovery."

Music to treat pain and reduce stress

While music has long been recognized as an effective form of therapy to provide an outlet for emotions, the notion of using song, sound frequencies and rhythm to treat physical ailments is a relatively new domain, says psychologist Daniel J. Levitin, PhD, who studies the neuroscience of music at McGill University in Montreal. A wealth of new studies is touting the benefits of music on mental and physical health. For example, in a meta-analysis of 400 studies, Levitin and his postgraduate research fellow, Mona Lisa Chanda, PhD, found that music improves the body's immune system function and reduces stress. Listening to music was also found to be more effective than prescription drugs in reducing anxiety before surgery ( Trends in Cognitive Sciences , April, 2013).

"We've found compelling evidence that musical interventions can play a health-care role in settings ranging from operating rooms to family clinics," says Levitin, author of the book "This is Your Brain on Music" (Plume/Penguin, 2007). The analysis also points to just how music influences health. The researchers found that listening to and playing music increase the body's production of the antibody immunoglobulin A and natural killer cells — the cells that attack invading viruses and boost the immune system's effectiveness. Music also reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

"This is one reason why music is associated with relaxation," Levitin says.

One recent study on the link between music and stress found that music can help soothe pediatric emergency room patients ( JAMA Pediatrics , July, 2013). In the trial with 42 children ages 3 to 11, University of Alberta researchers found that patients who listened to relaxing music while getting an IV inserted reported significantly less pain, and some demonstrated significantly less distress, compared with patients who did not listen to music. In addition, in the music-listening group, more than two-thirds of the health-care providers reported that the IVs were very easy to administer — compared with 38 percent of providers treating the group that did not listen to music.

"There is growing scientific evidence showing that the brain responds to music in very specific ways," says Lisa Hartling, PhD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta and lead author of the study. "Playing music for kids during painful medical procedures is a simple intervention that can make a big difference."

Music can help adult patients, too. Researchers at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Singapore found that patients in palliative care who took part in live music therapy sessions reported relief from persistent pain ( Progress in Palliative Care , July, 2013). Music therapists worked closely with the patients to individually tailor the intervention, and patients took part in singing, instrument playing, lyric discussion and even song writing as they worked toward accepting an illness or weighed end-of-life issues.

"Active music engagement allowed the patients to reconnect with the healthy parts of themselves, even in the face of a debilitating condition or disease-related suffering," says music therapist Melanie Kwan, co-author of the study and president of the Association for Music Therapy, Singapore. "When their acute pain symptoms were relieved, patients were finally able to rest."

The healing power of vibration

At its core, music is sound, and sound is rooted in vibration. Led by Lee Bartel, PhD, a music professor at the University of Toronto, several researchers are exploring whether sound vibrations absorbed through the body can help ease the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, fibromyalgia and depression. Known as vibroacoustic therapy, the intervention involves using low frequency sound — similar to a low rumble — to produce vibrations that are applied directly to the body. During vibroacoustic therapy, the patient lies on a mat or bed or sits in a chair embedded with speakers that transmit vibrations at specific computer-generated frequencies that can be heard and felt, says Bartel. He likens the process to sitting on a subwoofer.

In 2009, researchers led by Lauren K. King of the Sun Life Financial Movement Disorders Research and Rehabilitation Centre at Wilfrid Laurier University, in Waterloo, Ontario, found that short-term use of vibroacoustic therapy with Parkinson's disease patients led to improvements in symptoms, including less rigidity and better walking speed with bigger steps and reduced tremors ( NeuroRehabilitation , December, 2009). In that study, the scientists exposed 40 Parkinson's disease patients to low-frequency 30-hertz vibration for one minute, followed by a one-minute break. They then alternated the two for a total of 10 minutes. The researchers are now planning a long-term study of the use of vibroacoustic therapy with Parkinson's patients, as part of a new partnership with the University of Toronto's Music and Health Research Collaboratory, which brings together scientists from around the world who are studying music's effect on health.

The group is also examining something called thalmocortical dysrhythmia — a disorientation of rhythmic brain activity involving the thalamus and the outer cortex that appears to play a role in several medical conditions including Parkinson's, fibromyalgia and possibly even Alzheimer's disease, says Bartel, who directs the collaboratory.

"Since the rhythmic pulses of music can drive and stabilize this disorientation, we believe that low-frequency sound might help with these conditions," Bartel says. He is leading a study using vibroacoustic therapy with patients with mild Alzheimer's disease. The hope is that using the therapy to restore normal communication among brain regions may allow for greater memory retrieval, he says.

"We've already seen glimmers of hope in a case study with a patient who had just been diagnosed with the disorder," Bartel says. "After stimulating her with 40-hertz sound for 30 minutes three times a week for four weeks, she could recall the names of her grandchildren more easily, and her husband reported good improvement in her condition."

The goal of all of this work is to develop "dosable" and "prescribable" music therapy and music as medicine protocols that serve specific neurologic functions and attend to deficits that may result from many of these neurologically based conditions. Rather than viewing music only as a cultural phenomenon, Bartel says, the art should be seen as a vibratory stimulus that has cognitive and memory dimensions.

"Only when we look at it in this way do we start to see the interface to how the brain and body work together."

Amy Novotney is a writer in Chicago.

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Front Psychol

Reviewing the Effectiveness of Music Interventions in Treating Depression

Associated data.

Depression is a very common mood disorder, resulting in a loss of social function, reduced quality of life and increased mortality. Music interventions have been shown to be a potential alternative for depression therapy but the number of up-to-date research literature is quite limited. We present a review of original research trials which utilize music or music therapy as intervention to treat participants with depressive symptoms. Our goal was to differentiate the impact of certain therapeutic uses of music used in the various experiments. Randomized controlled study designs were preferred but also longitudinal studies were chosen to be included. 28 studies with a total number of 1,810 participants met our inclusion criteria and were finally selected. We distinguished between passive listening to music (record from a CD or live music) (79%), and active singing, playing, or improvising with instruments (46%). Within certain boundaries of variance an analysis of similar studies was attempted. Critical parameters were for example length of trial, number of sessions, participants' age, kind of music, active or passive participation and single- or group setting. In 26 studies, a statistically significant reduction in depression levels was found over time in the experimental (music intervention) group compared to a control ( n = 25) or comparison group ( n = 2). In particular, elderly participants showed impressive improvements when they listened to music or participated in music therapy projects. Researchers used group settings more often than individual sessions and our results indicated a slightly better outcome for those cases. Additional questionnaires about participants confidence, self-esteem or motivation, confirmed further improvements after music treatment. Consequently, the present review offers an extensive set of comparable data, observations about the range of treatment options these papers addressed, and thus might represent a valuable aid for future projects for the use of music-based interventions to improve symptoms of depression.

Introduction

“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” −Einstein, 1929 .

Depression is one of the most serious and frequent mental disorders worldwide. International studies predict that approximately 322 million (WHO, 2017 ) of the world's population suffer from a clinical depression. This disorder can occur from infancy to old age, with women being affected more often than men (WHO, 2017 ). Thus, depression is one of the most common chronic diseases. Depressive suffering is associated with psychological, physical, emotional, and social impairments. This can influence the whole human being in a fundamental way. Without clinical treatment, it has the tendency to recur or to take a chronic course that can lead to loneliness (Alpass and Neville, 2003 ) and an increasing social isolation (Teo, 2012 ). Depression can have many causes that range from genetic, over psychological factors (negative self-concept, pessimism, anxiety and compulsive states, etc.) to psychological trauma. In addition, substance abuse (Neighbors et al., 1992 ) or chronic diseases (Moussavi et al., 2007 ) can also trigger depression. The colloquial use of the term “depressed” has nothing to do with the depression in the clinical sense. The ICD-10 (WHO, 1992 ) and the DSM-V (APA, 2013 ) provide a classification based on symptoms, considering the patient's history and its severity, duration, course and frequency. Within the last two decades, research on the use of music medicine or music therapy to treat depression, showed a growing popularity and several publications have appeared that documented this movement (e.g., Lee, 2000 ; Loewy, 2004 ; Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ; Verrusio et al., 2014 ; Chen et al., 2016 ; Fancourt et al., 2016 ). However, most researchers used a very specific experimental setup (Hillecke et al., 2005 ) and thus, for example, focused only on one music genre (i.e., classical, modern; instrumental, vocal), used a predefined experimental setup (group or individual) (e.g., Kim et al., 2006 ; Chen et al., 2016 ), or specified precisely the age range (i.e., adolescents, elderly) of participants (e.g., Koelsch et al., 2010 ; Verrusio et al., 2014 ). A recent meta-analysis (Hole et al., 2015 ) reviewed 72 randomized controlled trials and concluded that music was a notable aid for reducing postoperative symptoms of anxiety and pain.

Dementia patients showed significant cognitive and emotional benefits when they sang, or listened to familiar songs (Särkämö et al., 2008 , 2014 ). Beneficial effects were also described for CNMP (Chronic Non-Malignant Pain) patients with depression (Siedliecki and Good, 2006 ) 1 . Cardiology is an area where music interventions are commonly used for intervention purposes. Various explanations were postulated and the broad range of effects on the cardiovascular system was investigated (Trappe, 2010 ; Hanser, 2014 ). Music as a therapeutic approach was evaluated (Gold et al., 2004 ), and found to have positive effects before heart surgery (Twiss et al., 2006 ), used to increase relaxation during angiography (Bally et al., 2003 ), or decrease anxiety (Doğan and Senturan, 2012 ; Yinger and Gooding, 2015 ). A systematic review (Jespersen et al., 2015 ) concluded that music improved subjective sleep quality in adults with insomnia, verbal memory in children (Chan et al., 1998 ; Ho et al., 2003 ), and episodic long-term memory (Eschrich et al., 2008 ). Music conveyed a certain mood or atmosphere (Husain et al., 2002 ), allowed composers to trigger emotions (Bodner et al., 2007 ; Droit-Volet et al., 2013 ), based on the cultural background (Balkwill and Thompson, 1999 ), or ethnic group (Werner et al., 2009 ) someone belonged to. In contrast, the emotional state itself plays a role (Al'tman et al., 2004 ) on how music is interpreted (Al'tman et al., 2000 ), and durations are evaluated (Schäfer et al., 2013 ). Subjective impressions embedded in a composition caused physiological body reactions (Grewe et al., 2007 ; Jäncke, 2008 ) and even strengthened the immune system (McCraty et al., 1996 ; Bittman et al., 2001 ). The pace of (background) music (Oakes, 2003 ), has also been used as an essential element of many marketing concepts (North and Hargreaves, 1999 ), to create a relaxed atmosphere. An in-depth, detailed illustration described the wide variety of conscious, as well as subconscious influences music can have (Panksepp and Bernatzky, 2002 ), and endorsed future research on this subject.

Distinction between the terms “Music Therapy [MT]” and “Music Medicine [MM]”

Most of us know what kind of music or song “can cheer us up.” To treat someone else is something completely different though. Therefore, evidence-based procedures were created for a more pragmatic approach. It is important to differentiate between music therapy and the therapeutic use of music. Music used for patient treatment can be divided into two major categories, namely [MT] and [MM], although the distinction is not always that clear.

Music therapy [MT]

Term used primarily for a setting, where sessions are provided by a board-certified music therapist. Music therapy [MT] (Maratos et al., 2008 ; Bradt et al., 2015 ) stands for the “… clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program ” (AMTA) 2 . Many different fields of practice, mostly in the health care system, show an increasing amount of interest in [MT]. Mandatory is a systematic constructed therapy process that was created by a board-certified music therapist and requires an individual-specific music selection that is developed uniquely for and together with the patient in one or more sessions. Therapy settings are not limited to listening, but may also include playing, composing, or interacting with music. Presentations can be pre-recorded or live. In other cases (basic) instruments are built together. The process to create these tailor-made selections requires specific knowledge on how to select, then construct and combine the most suitable stimuli or hardware. It must also be noted that music therapy is offered as a profession-qualifying course of study.

Music medicine [MM] (i.e., functional music, music in medicine)

Carried out independently by professionals, who are not qualified music therapists, like relaxation therapists, physicians or (natural) scientists. A previous consultation, or collaboration, with a certified music therapist can be helpful (Register, 2002 ). In recent years, significant progress has been made in both the research and clinical application of music as a form of treatment. It has valuable therapeutic properties, suitable for the treatment of several diseases. The term “music medicine” is used as a term for the therapeutic use of music in medicine (Bradt et al., 2015 , 2016 ), to be able to differentiate it from “music therapy.” [MM] stands for a medical, physiological and physical evaluation of the use of music. If someone listens to his or her favorite music, this is sometimes also considered as a form of music medicine. [MM] deliberately differs from music therapy as part of psychiatric care or psychotherapy. It is important to stress out that the term “Music Therapy [MT]” should not be used for any kind of treatment involving music, although there is without doubt a relationship between [MT] and [MM]. What all of them have in common is the focus on a scientifically, artistically or clinically based approach to music.

“Seamless Transitions” between music therapy [MT] and music medicine [MM]

Activity used for treatment is ambiguous or not clearly labeled as “Music Therapy” or “Music Medicine.” It should not be forgotten that the definition of “Music Therapy” is not always clearly distinguishable from “Music Medicine.” One possible scenario would be a physician (i.e., “non-professional”), who is not officially certified by the AMTA (or comparable institutions), but still acts according to the mandatory rules. In addition, depending on one's home country, uniform standards or eligibility requirements might be substantially different. We think that every effort should be recognized and therefore postulate one definition that can describe the main principle of [MT], [MM], and everything in between, in one sentence: “ Implementation of acoustic stimuli (“music”) as a medium for the purpose of improving symptoms in a defined group of participants (patients) suffering from depression.”

Materials and methods

Literature search.

Search strategy and selection process was performed according to the recommended guidelines of the Cochrane Centre on systematic literature search (Higgins and Green, 2008 ). Our approach ( Figure 2 ) was according to their scientific relevance, supplemented by the analysis of relevant journals, conferences and workshops of recent years. We obtained 60,795 articles from various search engines as initial result. Retrieved data was collected and processed on an existing personal computer with the latest Windows operating system.

Search, collection, selection, and review strategies

We used a combination of words defining three search-categories (Music-, Treatment-, and Depression associated) as well as several words (e.g., Sound, Unhappy, and Treatment) assigned to each category as described in the collection process.below. If synonyms of those keywords were identified, they were added as well. Theme-categories 3 were created next, then related keywords identified and added into a table. “Boolean Operators 4 ” were used as logical connectives to broaden and/or narrow our search results within many databases (mostly search engines as described below).

This way the systematic variation of keyword-based queries and search terms could be performed with much more efficiency. To find the most relevant literature on the subject, keywords were entered into various scientific search engines, namely PubMed, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar. After the collection process, several different steps were used to reduce the number of retrieved results. Selection out of the collected material included to narrow down search results to a limited period of time. We decided to choose a period between 1990 and 2016 (i.e., not exceeding 26 years), because within these years several very interesting works of research were published, but often not mentioned explicitly, discussed in detail, or the main target of a comparative review. After several papers were excluded, a systematic key phrases search was conducted once more to retrieve results, limited to original research articles 5 . We also removed search results that quoted book chapters, as well as reports from international congresses and conferences. Research papers that remained were distinguished from duplicates (or miss-matches not dismissed yet). Based on our predefined criteria for in- and ex-clusion, relevant publications were then selected for an intensified review process. Our plan was to apply the following inclusion criteria: Original research article, published at time of selection, music and/or instruments were used intentionally to improve the emotional status of participants (i.e., intended or officially confirmed as music therapy). The following exclusion criteria were used: No original research, article was not published (e.g., project phase, in review), unverified data or literature was used, participants did neither receive nor interact with music. Not relevant for in- or exclusion was the kind of questionnaire used to measure depression, additional diagnostic measures for pathologies other than depression, spatial and temporal implementation of treatment, demographics (i.e., number, age, and gender) participants had, or distinctive features (like setting, duration, speakers, live version, and recorded) of stimuli. After the initial number of results, the remaining articles were manually checked for completeness and accuracy of information. Our final selection of articles included 28 research papers.

General information — (Figure (Figure1 1 )

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“Road-Map” Outline of the following results section (idea, concept and creation of this Figure by Leubner).

Evaluating the methodological quality of our meta-review

During the review process, we used a very strict self-monitoring procedure to ensure that the quality of scientific research was met to the best of our knowledge and stood in accordance with the standards of good scientific practice. Every effort has been made to provide the accuracy of contents as well as completeness of data published within our meta-review. Inspired by another author's meta-review (Kamioka et al., 2014 ), we evaluated our work by the AMSTAR checklist (Shea et al., 2007 ) 6 and found no reasons for objection regarding our selection of reviews. AMSTAR (acronym for “Assessment of Multiple SysTemAtic Reviews”), a questionnaire for assessing systemic reviews, is based on a rating scale with 11 items (i.e., questions). AMSTAR allows authors to determine and graduate the methodological quality of their systematic review.

Effect size

We investigated a wide variety of scholarly papers within our review. There were many different approaches and several procedures. As far as intervention approaches and procedures were concerned, we found (very) similar trends in several papers. To ensure that those different tendencies were not only based on our pure assumption as well as biased interpretation, we also calculated the effect-size correlation by using the mean scores as well as standard deviations for each of the treatment and control groups, if this setup was used by the respective researcher. Most trials showed a small difference in between the experimental and control group at baseline, what almost always turned into a large effect size regarding post-measurement.

Depression score improvement (DSI) — approach to compare questionnaires

As mentioned above, we selected 28 scholarly articles that used different questionnaires to measure symptoms of depression for experimental and control groups. According to common statistical standards we used a formula to evaluate and compare the relative standing of each mean to every other mean. To avoid confusion, we decided to refer to it as “Depression Score Improvement (DSI).” Mathematically speaking it stands for the mean difference between the pre-test and post-test results (i.e., score changes) in percent. (DSI Ind ) stands for an individual and (DSI{ Gr ) for a group setting. Please refer to the Supplementary Materials (Table: “Complete Display of Statistical Data”) 7 for additional information.

The results will review the works in terms of demographics, treatment implementation, and diagnostic measures.

Literature search results — (Figure (Figure2 2 )

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Overview of our Collection, Selection, and Review Process (idea, concept and creation of this Figure by Leubner). Initially, the total number of retrieved results was 118,000 as far as google-scholar was concerned. Analysis was complicated by the disproportionately high number of results from google-scholar. Therefore, we decided to narrow down this initial search query to a period from 1990 up to 2016, and reduced the results from google-scholar to 60,000 this way. Compared to the other two search engines, this process was done two steps ahead. At google-scholar we excluded patents as well as citations in the initial window for our search results. Unfortunately search options are very limited, and though we retrieved at first this overwhelming number of 118,000 results!. Some keywords (e.g., anxiety, pain, fear, violence) were deliberately excluded right from the beginning. This was done right at the start of our selection/search process, to prevent a systematic distortion of retrieved results.

Collection process – results

A large list of keywords, based on several questions we had, was created initially. They were combined into search-terms and finally put into search-categories as category-dependent keywords. In addition, we discussed several parameters and agreed on three categories (associated to music, treatment, and depression). By querying scientific databases, using the above-mentioned category-dependent keywords as input criteria, we retrieved a very large number of results. We then searched for a combination of the following words and/or phrases (e.g., “ music AND therapy AND depression”; “acoustic AND intervention AND unhappy” ), narrowed down the retrieved results according to a combination of several keywords (e.g., “ music therapy”; “acoustic intervention” ), and sorted this data according to relevance.

Selection process – results

In step two we applied the above-mentioned approach and narrowed down our search query to a limited period of time, then systematically searched for key phrases, and excluded duplicates as well as previously overlooked miss-matches. Our inclusion criteria can be summarized as follows: Original research article, already published at time of selection, music and/or instruments were used intentionally to improve the emotional status of participants. Our exclusion criteria were: No original research, article was not published (e.g., project phase, in review), unverified data or literature was used, participants did neither receive nor interact with music.

Review process – results

Based on our predefined criteria for inclusion and exclusion, relevant publications were then selected and used for our intensified review process. After reducing the initial number of results, we obtained the remaining articles, conducted a hand-search in selected scientific journals, and manually checked for completeness as well as accuracy of the contained information. The final selection of articles, according to our selection criteria, included 28 papers.

Demographics 8

To begin with, the number of participants as well as age and gender related basic demographics were analyzed.

Participants – results

Our final selection of 28 studies included 1,810 participants, with group sizes between five and 236 persons (n av = 64.64; SD = 56.13). For experimental groups, we counted 954 individuals ( n min = 5; n max = 116; n av = 34.07; SD = 27.78), and 856 ( n min = 10; n max = 120; n av = 30.57; SD = 29.10) for the control respectively. Although three authors (Ashida, 2000 ; Guétin et al., 2009b ; Schwantes and Mckinney, 2010 ) did not use a control sample, those articles were nevertheless considered for calculating accurate and up-to-date data. Depending on each review, sample groups differed profoundly in number of participants. The smallest one had five participants (Schwantes and Mckinney, 2010 ), followed by three authors (Hendricks et al., 1999 ; Ashida, 2000 ; Guétin et al., 2009b ) who used between 10 and 20 individuals in their clinical trials. Medium sized groups of up to 100 participants were found in six articles (Gupta and Gupta, 2005 ; Castillo-Pérez et al., 2010 ; Erkkilä et al., 2011 ; Wang et al., 2011 ; Lu et al., 2013 ). Large groups with more than 100 (Koelsch et al., 2010 ; Silverman, 2011 ), or 200 (Chen et al., 2016 ) participants were the exception, and 236 participants (Chang et al., 2008 ) presented the upper end in our selection.

Age groups – results

Within our selected articles, the youngest participant was 14 (Hendricks et al., 1999 ), and the oldest 95 years of age (Guétin et al., 2009a ). We then separated relevant groups, according to their age, into three categories, namely “young,” “medium,” and “elderly.”

Participants were defined as “young,” if their mean age was below or equal to 30 years (≤30). Young individuals did show minimal better (i.e., higher) depression score improvements (DSI) (mean difference between the pre-test and post-test results was calculated in percent), if they attended group (mean DSI Gr = 53.83%) 9 , rather than individual (DSI Ind = 40.47%) music intervention sessions. These results may be due to the beneficial consequences of social interactions within groups, and thus confirm previous study results (Garber et al., 2009 ; Tartakovsky, 2015 ).

We used the term “medium” for groups of participants, whose mean ages ranged between 31 (>30) and 59 years (<60). Medium-aged participants presented much better results (i.e., higher depression score improvements), if they attended a group (mean DSI Gr = 48.37%), rather than an individual (mean DSI Ind = 24.79%) intervention setting. However, it should be stressed that our findings only show a positive trend and thus should not be evidence.

The third and final group was defined by us as “elderly” and included participants with a mean age of 60 years or above (≥60). Noticeable results were found for the age group we defined as elderly, as participants showed slightly better (i.e., higher) score improvements (mean DSI Ind = 48.96%), if they attended an individual setting. Considering the music selection that had been used for elderly participants, a strong tendency toward classical compositions was found (e.g., Chan et al., 2010 ; Han et al., 2011 ). Because a relevant number of participants came from Asian countries (e.g., China, Korea), elderly people from those research articles received, in addition to classical music, quite often Asian oriented compositions as well. Despite our extensive investigations, the influence this combination had on results, remained uncertain. Positive tendencies within those groups might be due to “traditional” and/or “culture related” factors. It is, however, also conceivable that combining Western classical with traditional Asian music is notably suited to produce better results. Concerning this matter, future research on western depression patients treated with a combination of classical Western, and traditional Asian music might be a promising concept to be further explored.

Gender – results

As far as gender was concerned, we subdivided each sample group in its female and male participants. Women and men were found in 20 study designs. This was the most frequently used constellation. Within this selection, we did not find any significant differences, and so no further analysis was done. Only women took part in two studies (Chang et al., 2008 ; Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ) 10 . Interestingly the same stimuli setup was used in both cases. It consisted of instrumental music without vocals, stored on a digital record, and was presented via loudspeakers from a CD (Chang et al., 2008 ) or MP3 player (Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ). Only men were seen in four research papers (Gupta and Gupta, 2005 ; Schwantes and Mckinney, 2010 ; Albornoz, 2011 ; Chen et al., 2016 ). A significant improvement of depression scores was reported for every experimental group, and once (Albornoz, 2011 ) for a corresponding control setting (received only standard and no alternative treatment). Three articles (Schwantes and Mckinney, 2010 ; Albornoz, 2011 ; Chen et al., 2016 ) shared several similarities, as percussion instruments (e.g., drums, tambourines) were part of each genre selection, all participants received music interventions in a group setting, and stimuli were actively produced within a live performance. In addition, the BDI questionnaire has also been used in three cases (Gupta and Gupta, 2005 ; Albornoz, 2011 ; Chen et al., 2016 ), and thus we were able to perform a search for similarities or tendencies. The average duration for one music intervention was 80 ( SD = 45) min and the total number of sessions was 17 ( SD = 5) in average. Two publications (Hsu and Lai, 2004 ; Wang et al., 2011 ) did not offer any information about gender related distribution of participants.

Music therapy [MT] vs. music medicine [MM] — study results

Music-therapy [mt].

Within our selection of 28 articles, six explicitly mentioned a certified music therapist (Hanser and Thompson, 1994 ; Choi et al., 2008 ; Schwantes and Mckinney, 2010 ; Erkkilä et al., 2011 ; Han et al., 2011 ; Silverman, 2011 ) 11 . For five articles with available data, a combined average depression score improvement (DSI) of 40.87% ( SD = 7.70%) was calculated for the experimental groups. As far as the relevant control groups were concerned, only twice depression scores decreased at all (Choi et al., 2008 ; Erkkilä et al., 2011 ; Table Table1 1 ).

Music-Therapy interventions—music types and results.


				]				)]
							-Level				-Level
Choi et al.,	Drumming, Relax-Music, Singing	[MT]	BDI	49.30 (3.10)	25.50 (2.20)	48.28	< 0.001	47.40 (2.80)	44.80 (3.80)	5.49	> 0.05
Erkkilä et al.,	Drumming (Djembe Drum)	[MT]	MADRS	24.60 (6.40)	14.10 (8.77)	42.68	< 0.05	23.00 (7.60)	16.43 (9.33)	28.57	> 0.05
Han et al.,	Drumming Singing, Dancing, Improvisation with various Instruments	[MT]	RMBPC	20.50 (23.5)	11.70 (15.9)	42.93	< 0.05	13.10 (21.0)	24.60 (34.70)	−87.79	> 0.05
			AES	18.20 (6.40)	19.0 (4.80)	−4.40	> 0.05	17.10 (4.30)	16.60 (5.10)	2.92	> 0.05
Hanser and Thompson,	Relax-Music, Improvisational Harp Music, PMR (spoken cues)	[MT] Visit	GDS-30	17.30 (5.85)	7.70 (3.66)	55.49	< 0.05	15.30 (5.85)	16.20 (6.13)	−5.88	> 0.05
		[MT] Call	GDS-30	17.60 (7.89)	12.30 (8.65)	30.11	< 0.05
Schwantes and Mckinney,	Drumming, Guitar, Piano	[MT]	CES-D	21.60 (3.22)	15.60 (2.66)	27.78	< 0.05	–	–	–	–
Silverman,	12-bar BLUES, Blues Songwriting	[MT]	BDI	n/a	18.79 (9.14)	(–?–)	> 0.05	n/a	20.28 (9.53)	(–?–)	> 0.05

Regarding the kind of music provided by a board-certified music therapist, we found some similarities that stood out and appeared more frequently, when compared to music medicine interventions. Percussion music (mainly drumming) was used by four researchers (Choi et al., 2008 ; Schwantes and Mckinney, 2010 ; Erkkilä et al., 2011 ; Han et al., 2011 ). One author (Choi et al., 2008 ) used music based on instruments that were selected according to participant's preferences. Included were, for example, egg shakes, base-, ocean-, and paddle-drums. Participants actively played and passively listened to instruments or sounds, complemented by singing together. Another researcher (Erkkilä et al., 2011 ) preferred the African Djembe 12 drum as well as a selection of several percussion sounds created digitally by an external MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface ) synthesizer. Percussion-oriented improvisation that included rhythmic drumming and vocal patterns was another approach one scholar (Han et al., 2011 ) used for his stimuli selection. Congas, Cabassas, Ago-Gos, and Claves was the percussion-based selection (in addition a guitar and a Piano was also available) in the fourth music-therapy article (Schwantes and Mckinney, 2010 ). Twice, music without the use of percussion instruments or drums in general, was selected for the intervention. Once (Hanser and Thompson, 1994 ) relaxing, slow and rhythmic harp-samples, played from a cassette-player, were used. In addition, each of the participants was invited to bring some samples of her or his favored music titles. The second one (Silverman, 2011 ) decided to play a “12-bar Blues” (i.e., “blues changes”) 13 progression as an introduction, followed by a Blues songwriting session. The last-mentioned music-therapy project was the only article out of six, where participants within their respective music intervention group did not present a significant reduction of depression. A very interesting “fund” was that none of the music-therapy articles neither concentrated their main music selection on classical, nor on Jazz music. When we looked for other distinctive features it turned out that stimuli were actively produced within a live performance in five articles. There was only one exception (Hanser and Thompson, 1994 ), where a passive presentation of recorded stimuli was preferred by the scholar.

Music-medicine [MM]

The remaining 22 research articles did not explicitly mention a certified music therapist. In those cases, some variant of music medicine was used for intervention. Often the expression music therapy was used, although a more detailed description or specific information was neither published nor available upon our request. With one exception (Castillo-Pérez et al., 2010 ), we could calculate the (DSI) 9 for 25 articles that used some variant of music-medicine [MM].

When we investigated the kind of music that was used, a broader selection of genres was found. Percussion based tracks and drumming appeared in five scholarly papers (Ashida, 2000 ; Albornoz, 2011 ; Lu et al., 2013 ; Chen et al., 2016 ; Fancourt et al., 2016 ). Researchers that used drums reported a significant depression score improvement for every experimental group and we calculated an average of 53.71% for those five articles. Regarding the kind of genre used in our selection of music-medicine articles, a wider range of genres was found. One of the biggest differences was that only music-medicine articles used, in addition to percussion stimuli, also classical and Jazz music for their intervention. Please note that for reasons of confusion, we do not mention the Seamless Transitions between Music Therapy [MT] and Music Medicine [MM] from the “Materials and Methods Section.”

Music genres (selection of music titles) – results

Regarding the kind of music used in our selection of research articles, a wide range of genres was found. Mainly three styles, classical 14 (9x), percussion 15 (9x), and Jazz (5x) music were used more frequently for music intervention. The evaluation took place when specific compositions showed significantly greater improvements in depression compared to other research attempts. Utilizing our comprehensive data analysis, music titles were categorized according to genre or style (e.g., classical music, Jazz), narrowed down (e.g., Jazz), sorted by magnitude of depression score improvements (DSI) 9 , and finally examined for distinctive features (like setting, duration, speakers, live version, recorded). Similarities that stood out and appeared more frequently among one selected music genre were compared with the 28 scholarly articles we selected for our meta-review.

Classical music – results

In nine articles, classical music (Classical or Baroque period) 22 was used. Several well-known composers such as W.A. Mozart (Castillo-Pérez et al., 2010 ), L. v. Beethoven (Chang et al., 2008 ; Chan et al., 2009 ) and J. S. Bach (Castillo-Pérez et al., 2010 ; Koelsch et al., 2010 ) have been among the selected samples. If classical music was used as intervention, our calculations revealed that four studies out of eight 16 were among those with depression score improvements (DSI) 31 that were above the average 17 of 39.98% ( SD = 12). When we looked for similarities between these, three of the four studies (Harmat et al., 2008 ; Chan et al., 2009 ; Guétin et al., 2009a ) used individual sessions, rather than a group setting (Koelsch et al., 2010 ). For all four articles mentioned above, we calculated an average of 11 ( SD = 10) for the total number of sessions that included classical music. The remaining five articles on the other hand, presenting results not as good as the aforementioned, showed an average of 30 ( SD = 21) music interventions. One plausible hypothesis might be “saturation effect” caused by too many interventions in total. Too little variety within the selection of music titles has probably played an important role as well. A general tendency that less intervention sessions in total would lead to better results for every case where classical compositions were included could not be confirmed for our selection.

Percussion (drumming-based) music – results

Percussion music (mainly drumming) was used by nine 18 researchers, and among those, two ways of integration were found. On the one hand, rhythmic percussion compositions were included as part of the music title selection used for intervention. On the other hand, and this was the case in nine articles, various forms of drums had been offered to those who joined the experimental groups, allowing them to “produce their own” music. Sometimes participants were accompanied by a music therapist (e.g., Albornoz, 2011 ) or professional artist (Fancourt et al., 2016 ), who gave instructions on how to use and play these instruments. When we looked for trends or distinctive features percussion music (in particular drumming) had, it turned out that, except one article (Erkkilä et al., 2011 ), all were carried out within a group, rather than an individual setting. A further search for additional similarities, leading to better outcome scores, did not deliver any new findings as far as improvement of depression was concerned. Participants in altogether 7 out of 9 percussion groups were medium aged, two authors (Ashida, 2000 ; Han et al., 2011 ) described elderly participants, whereas none of the percussion groups included young participants.

A wide and even distribution of reduced depression scores across all outcome levels became apparent, when participants received percussion (or drumming) interventions. We calculated an average depression score improvement (DSI) of 47.80% ( SD = 14). Above-average results regarding depression score improvement (DSI), were achieved in four experiments that had an average percussion session duration of 63 ( SD = 19) min. In comparison, we calculated for the remaining five articles an average of 93 ( SD = 26) min. Although a difference of 30 min showed a clear tendency, it was not enough of a difference to draw any definitive conclusions.

Jazz music – results

Finally, five 19 researchers used primarily Jazz 20 as music genre for their intervention. Featured performers (artists) were Vernon Duke (“April in Paris”) (Chan et al., 2009 ), M. Greger (“Up to Date”), and Louis Armstrong (“St. Louis Blues”) (Koelsch et al., 2010 ). Unfortunately, available data was quite limited, mainly since most authors did not disclose relevant information and a detailed description was rarely seen. Some interesting points were also found for research articles that used Jazz as a treatment option. All five of them were among those with good outcome scores, as far as depression reduction was concerned. Test scores ranged between a significance level of p < 0.01 (Guétin et al., 2009a ; Verrusio et al., 2014 ; Chen et al., 2016 ) and sometimes even better than p < 0.001 (e.g., Koelsch et al., 2010 ; Fancourt et al., 2016 ). Depression score improvement (DSI) had an average of 43.41% ( SD = 6). However, there was no clear trend leading toward Jazz as a more effective intervention option, when compared to other music genres. This was assumed because the two studies that showed the best 21 reduction in depression [Chan et al., 2010 (DSI = 48.78%); Koelsch et al., 2010 (DSI = 4 6.58%)] used both classical music in addition to Jazz as an intervention. Experimental groups received two types of intervention (i.e., classical music and Jazz) which eventually blurred outcome scores or prevented more accurate results. Since it was not possible to differentiate to what extent either classical music or Jazz was responsible for the positive trend in reducing symptoms of depression, further research in this field is needed.

Additional music genres – results

Numerous other music styles were used in the experiments, ranging from Indian ragas 22 played on a flute (Gupta and Gupta, 2005 ; Deshmukh et al., 2009 ), nature sound compositions (Ashida, 2000 ; Chang et al., 2008 ), meditative (Chan et al., 2010 ), or slow rhythm music (Chan et al., 2012 ), to lullabies (Chang et al., 2008 ), pop or rock (Kim et al., 2006 ; Erkkilä et al., 2011 ), Irish folk, Salsa, and Reggae (Koelsch et al., 2010 ), only to name a few. As far as we were concerned all those genres mentioned above would present interesting approaches for future research. Due to a relatively small number and simultaneously wide-ranging variety, more thorough investigations are needed, though. These should be examined independently. As far as the above-mentioned music genres, other than classical, percussion, or Jazz were concerned, no indication for a preferable combination was observed.

Experimental vs. control groups – results

Non-significant results for experimental groups ( p > 0.05).

In two (Deshmukh et al., 2009 ; Silverman, 2011 ) out of 28 studies within our selection of research papers, no significant reduction in depression scores was reported, after participants participated in music interventions. Within those two cases all relevant statistical observations differed without any obvious similarities indicating reasons for non-significant results. Although the results did not meet statistical significance for symptom improvement, both authors explicitly pointed out that positive changes in the severity of depression became obvious for the respective experimental groups. We declared one article (Guétin et al., 2009b ) as significant, although it was marked as non-significant in our complete table. This was due to the overall results of this specific research paper, with significant [HADS-D] test scores for weeks 5, 10, and 15. Only week 20 did not follow this positive trend of improvement. It is also important to mention that after music treatment every one of the additional tests [HADS-A for Anxiety; Face(-Scale) to measure mood] showed significant improvements for the experimental group.

Alternative treatment for corresponding control groups

Control groups, who received an alternative (i.e., non-music) intervention, were found in nine research articles (e.g., Guétin et al., 2009a ; Castillo-Pérez et al., 2010 ) 23 . We investigated whether there were particularly noticeable differences in outcome scores, when relevant control groups, who received an alternative treatment, were compared to those who received no additional intervention at all (or only the usual treatment) 24 . As far as these nine articles were concerned, a significant reduction ( p < 0.05) in depression scores was found in every experimental but only one control setting (Hendricks et al., 1999 ). In this case, an entirely different result became apparent, when control participants received a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy [CBT] and a significant reduction ( p < 0.05) in depression scores was measured compared to the respective baseline score, although music still lead to better results. Another scholar (Chan et al., 2012 ) 25 , instructed participants in the control group to take a resting period, while simultaneously the experimental attendees joined their music intervention session. This alternative approach did not reduce the [GDS-15] depression score, but even increased it. Interestingly, the same author previously published (Chan et al., 2009 ) a significant ( p = 0.007) increase (i.e., worsening of depression) for the relevant control setting. To be complete, a resting period was also conducted in another case (Hsu and Lai, 2004 ), but results showed also no significant reduction in depression scores. Other attempts to provide an alternative intervention for the control group have been monomorphic tones (Koelsch et al., 2010 ) that corresponded to the experimental music samples (in pitch-, BPM-, and duration), verbal treatment sessions (Silverman, 2011 ), antidepressant drugs (Verrusio et al., 2014 ) 26 , reading sessions (Guétin et al., 2009a ) or a “conductive-behavioral” psychotherapy (Castillo-Pérez et al., 2010 ).

Significant results for control groups ( p < 0.05):

Significant reduction of depression ( p < 0.05) in corresponding control (“non-music treatment”) groups was reported twice (Hendricks et al., 1999 ; Albornoz, 2011 ) within our selection of scholarly articles. In one instance (Albornoz, 2011 ) the relevant participants received only standard care, but in the other case (Hendricks et al., 1999 ) an already above mentioned alternative treatment (i.e., “Cognitive-Behavioral Activities”) was reported.

Spatial and temporal implementation of treatment

Individual vs. group intervention – results.

As postulated by previous literature (Wheeler et al., 2003 ; Maratos et al., 2008 ), we differentiated mainly two scenarios based on the number of participants who attended music intervention sessions and referred to them as “group” or “individual.” Group sessions can awaken participants' social interactions and individual sessions often provides motivation (Wheeler et al., 2003 ). Here, a “group” scenario was specified, if two or more persons ( n ≥ 2) were treated simultaneously, whereas “individual” determined experimental settings where only one single person received music interventions individually ( n = 1). Among our article selection we could find a well-balanced distribution of 15 trials with participants who received music interventions in a group, while 13 researchers used an individual setting. First, the impact of individual compared to group treatment was evaluated. Here an almost equivalent outcome (for the significance-level of results) across all 13 individual, compared to 15 group settings was found, without any advantage to one over the other. Non-significant improvements were seen once for a group (Silverman, 2011 ) and once 27 for an individual (Deshmukh et al., 2009 ) intervention.

Single-session duration – results

The question whether groups showed different (i.e., more or less) improvements, if the duration of one single session was altered, we decided to use the intervention length as a key metric (Figure (Figure3). 3 ). Except for two instances (Hendricks et al., 1999 ; Wang et al., 2011 ), 26 research papers reported the duration one single treatment had. Among those 20 min (Guétin et al., 2009a ) was the shortest, and 120 min (Albornoz, 2011 ; Han et al., 2011 ) the longest duration for one session. The average for all 26 articles was 55 min, 70 min for 13 28 group settings, and 40 min as far as the 13 individual intervention setups were concerned.

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Session- and research duration–vs.–[DSI] results in dependence of treatment setting.

Entire research (=) intervention program duration – results

Continuing our review process, some interesting diversity was found for the scheduled (i.e., total) treatment duration (Figure (Figure3). 3 ). It ranged from 1 day in two cases (Koelsch et al., 2010 ; Silverman, 2011 ) up to 20 (Guétin et al., 2009b ), or even 24 weeks (Verrusio et al., 2014 ). Out of 26 trials an average duration of 7 weeks was found. In two cases, the data was missing (Wang et al., 2011 ; Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ). The scheduled (i.e., total) treatment duration was determined by a variety of factors. Our investigation, whether there was any relationship between the entire duration of experimental projects and relevant outcome scores, delivered the following results. For an individual (Ind) therapy setting, we isolated eight 29 research papers with above average 30 results in depression score improvement (DSI Ind > 36.50%). We then calculated for the entire project an average duration of almost 7 weeks. For the remaining five 31 articles that also used an individual approach, but had below average depression score improvements, an average duration of 6 weeks was found. A different picture became apparent when we selected those four 32 articles that presented better than average (DSI Gr > 49.09%) results in depression score improvement, after participants received music intervention in a group (Gr). Percussion music (mainly drumming) was used by three researchers (Ashida, 2000 ; Lu et al., 2013 ; Chen et al., 2016 ). In comparison, the fourth author (Hendricks et al., 1999 ) used a selection of relaxing music for treatment. For this setup, a combined duration of six ( SD = 4) weeks was calculated for the entire project length. On the other hand, a mean close to 10 ( SD = 7) weeks was found for the remaining 7 33 group intervention projects that were less successful (i.e., below average), as far as depression score reduction was concerned. Based on these results, we concluded that the length for the entire music intervention procedure might be a crucial element for successful results, and seems to be associated with the intervention type. These findings were not enough to draw further conclusions for every project though, but as far as our selection was concerned, a slightly longer intervention duration of 7 weeks led to better results if participants were treated individually. In comparison, for a group setting our calculations revealed a different picture, when we calculated the average entire duration for all relevant research projects. Here it was 6 weeks that produced the most beneficial results within groups. Drums were used for three out of the four projects that presented above average results. Once (Ashida, 2000 ) a small African drum was used for “drumming activity” at the start of every session. Each time a different participant was asked to perform with this instrument, although nobody in the experimental group was neither a professional drummer nor a musician. African drums were also used by another researcher (Chen et al., 2016 ). In addition, equipment also included one stereo, one electronic piano, two guitars, one set of hand glockenspiel, and other percussion instruments such as cymbals, tambourines, and xylophones. Finally, percussion instruments used in the third study (Lu et al., 2013 ) included hand bells, snare drums, a castanet, a tambourine, some claves, a triangle and wood blocks.

Total number of sessions – results

Continuing the analysis, we evaluated the total number of music intervention sessions. Apparently, this metric was dependent on the duration as well as frequency (“session frequency”) each intervention had. With one exception (Wang et al., 2011 ), where relevant data was missing, the number of sessions varied considerably. Only a single treatment session was used by three authors (Chan et al., 2010 ; Koelsch et al., 2010 ; Silverman, 2011 ), whereas 56 sessions (Castillo-Pérez et al., 2010 ) marked the opposite end of the scale. For 27 articles with available data, a combined average of 15 sessions was found. As far as the total number of sessions in an individual type of setting was concerned, above average results had a combined number of 13 ( SD = 5) sessions, whereas the remaining six research works had 18 ( SD = 8) interventions. The best results in a group setting showed an average of 17 sessions ( SD = 15) and they were found in 7 scholarly publications. In comparison, we calculated 14 sessions in total for the remaining 7 articles.

Session frequency (i.e., sessions per week) – results

As described previously (Wheeler et al., 2003 ), the number of sessions can produce different results. Researchers, within our selection of 28 articles, used various approaches for their experiment, as far as the “session frequency” (i.e., number of sessions within a defined duration) was concerned. Pre-defined intervals ranged from once a week up to one time a day. Once (Choi et al., 2008 ), the article did mention the total number of sessions ( n = 15) with a “frequency” of one to two times a week and a total intervention duration of 12 weeks. To be able to present an appropriate comparison of statistical data, a mean of 1.25 sessions per week was calculated. Besides two cases (Wang et al., 2011 ; Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ) where no information was provided, the combined average session frequency for the remaining 26 articles was 2.89 ( SD = 2.50) interventions per week. Usually sessions were held once a week.

Session- and research duration – vs. – [DSI] results in dependence of treatment setting

We further investigated if there was an association between therapy setting (individual or group), the length of a single session, and trial duration with regard to symptom improvement. Groups (Figure (Figure3) 3 ) showed better (i.e., above average) improvements in depression, if each session had an average duration of 60 min, and the mean length of treatment was 4–8 weeks.

In comparison, the two variables, session length and trial duration, had different effects for individual treatment approaches (Figure (Figure3). 3 ). Above average results were found for sessions lasting 30 min combined with a treatment duration between 4 and 8 weeks.

Diagnostic measures – results of selected questionnaires

We discovered some distinctive features as well as certain similarities in our selection of 28 articles. They might be a guidance for future research projects and as such are presented in more detail in the subsections below.

Beck depression inventory [BDI]

There are three versions of the BDI. The original [BDI] (Beck et al., 1961 ), followed by its first [BDI-I/-1A] (Beck et al., 1988 ) and second [BDI-II] revision (Beck et al., 1996 ). Beck used a novel approach to develop his inventory by writing down the verbal symptom description of his patients with depression and later sorted his notes according to intensity or severity.

Beck depression inventory [BDI] – results

The BDI 34 (Beck et al., 1961 , 1996 ) was the most widely used screening tool in our scholarly selection. It was used in eight trials, but we only selected 7 35 studies for evaluating pre-post BDI scores. Once (Harmat et al., 2008 ), results were only provided for the experimental group, although an experimental control setting was described by the author. Twice (Harmat et al., 2008 ; Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ) two experimental groups and one control group were reported. In one case (Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ) two different music genres were used (“Light Pop & Heavy Rock”), and in another incident (Harmat et al., 2008 ) the second experimental group listened to an audiobook (“Music & Audiobook”). BDI baseline scores, that indicated a minimal 36 to mild 37 depression, were found in two articles (Gupta and Gupta, 2005 ; Harmat et al., 2008 ). Both authors reported for their experimental group a significant improvement of (BDI) depression scores. We calculated an overall average reduction of 2.72 ( SD = 0.03). Moderate 38 signs of depression, with BDI baseline scores that ranged from 18.66 (Albornoz, 2011 ) to 24.72 (Chen et al., 2016 ), were found twice. Music intervention improved BDI scores significantly, with an overall average reduction of 10.65 ( SD = 3.63) for both articles mentioned above. For the respective control groups one author (Chen et al., 2016 ) reported non-significant pre-post changes, whereas the other researcher (Albornoz, 2011 ) described a significant 39 reduction in the standard treatment group as well. The remaining three scholarly papers (Hendricks et al., 1999 ; Choi et al., 2008 ; Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ) described participants with a severe 40 depression, as confirmed by the initial (baseline) BDI results. One article (Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ), of the three mentioned above, used one control and two experimental groups, who were treated with either “light” or “heavy” music. To be able to compare this work with the other studies one single baseline (31.75), post treatment (12.50), and pre-post difference score of 19.25 ( SD = 2.47) 41 was calculated (according to common statistical standards) for both experimental settings. Interestingly, the corresponding control sample showed a three-point increased BDI score ( p > 0.05) and no decrease at any time. Continuing with the remaining articles, even bigger initial baseline BDI scores of 39.00 ( SD = n/a) (Hendricks et al., 1999 ) and 49.30 ( SD = 3.10) (Choi et al., 2008 ) were found. In addition, both authors reported a significant pre-post BDI score reduction 42 for their experimental groups. Based on the published data it became evident that BDI scores improved significantly in each of the cases and this time an overall average reduction of 26.90 ( SD = 9.59) was calculated. Once (Hendricks et al., 1999 ) a significantly reduced BDI pre-post score was also reported for the control setting, where participants received a cognitive-behavioral activities program as an alternative (non-music) intervention.

We compared all research projects that used the BDI questionnaire (Table (Table2). 2 ). Higher baseline scores almost always led to comparatively bigger score reductions in those experimental groups, who received music intervention. Except for two articles (Hendricks et al., 1999 ; Albornoz, 2011 ), no significant improvements were found for control samples. For one of the above-mentioned exceptions (Hendricks et al., 1999 ) an alternative treatment (“ Cognitive-Behavioral” activities ) was provided, which might be a plausible explanation why those relatively young participants (all 14 or 15 years old) showed such reductions in BDI values. Nevertheless, it is also important to mention that the relevant experimental group improved to a greater extent (BDI PRE − BDI POST = 37.66) after treatment. As far as the other case (Albornoz, 2011 ) was concerned, no alternatives (i.e., other than basic or usual care) were offered, and thus no explanation had been established as to how the results could be explained.

Comparison of BDI results.

				.	.	-Level Exp-Gr.	.	-Level Con-Gr.
Albornoz,	Percussion	18.66	10.58	[–]08.08	43.30	< 0.005	[−]02.25	< 0.05
Chen et al.,	Percussion	24.72	11.51	[–]13.21	53.44	< 0.01	[−]03.58	> 0.05
Choi et al.,	Korean	49.30	25.50	[–]23.80	48.28	< 0.001	[−]02.90	> 0.05
Esfandiari and Mansouri,	Pop & Rock	31.75	12.50	[–]19.25	60.63	< 0.05	[+]03.00	> 0.05
Gupta and Gupta,	Indian Flute	08.94	06.24	[–]02.70	30.20	< 0.001	[−]00.27	> 0.05
Harmat et al.,	Classical	05.40	02.66	[–]02.74	50.74	< 0.05	n/a	> 0.05
Hendricks et al.,	Relaxing	39.00	01.34	[–]37.66	96.56	< 0.05	[−]15.30	< 0.05
Silverman,	Songwriting	–	18.79	[–]00.00	–	> 0.05	[−]01.49	> 0.05

Geriatric depression scale [GDS-15/-30]

The original Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS-30] (Yesavage et al., 1983 ) includes 30 questions (Hanser and Thompson, 1994 ; Chan et al., 2009 ; Guétin et al., 2009a ) and its shorter equivalent [GDS-15] (Yesavage and Sheikh, 1986 ) contains 15 items (Chan et al., 2010 , 2012 ; Verrusio et al., 2014 ).

Geriatric depression scale [GDS-15/-30] – results

A more precise analysis of results was also done for the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15/-30) scores. As already suggested by its name, all 223 participants were elderly. Because both GDS versions are based on the same questionnaire, we combined scores of the long (i.e., GDS-30) with the short (i.e., GDS-15) test version and found a total of 223 participants in six articles (e.g., Chan et al., 2009 ; Verrusio et al., 2014 ). A possible bias could be prevented because tests were evenly distributed in number, and with respect to higher GDS-30 as well as lower GDS-15 scores, calculations were adapted accordingly. Taking a closer look at the GDS-15/-30 results (Table (Table3), 3 ), some similarities could be found for the most successful (all p ≤ 0.01) four research articles (Chan et al., 2009 , 2010 ; Guétin et al., 2009a ; Verrusio et al., 2014 ). All of them used and mainly focused on classical compositions as far as their music title selection was concerned. The average reduction in depression as measured by the GDS-15/-30 depression scores was 43% (−42.62%; SD = 6.24%). In comparison, every one of the remaining four research projects (Hanser and Thompson, 1994 ; Ashida, 2000 ; Han et al., 2011 ; Chan et al., 2012 ) also presented significant results, albeit not as good as the above-mentioned (all p ≤ 0.05). Interestingly, as far as music genres were concerned, the focus of these less successful projects was rhythmic drumming in two cases (Ashida, 2000 ; Han et al., 2011 ). For the remaining two (Hanser and Thompson, 1994 ; Chan et al., 2012 ) primarily relaxing, slow paced titles 43 were selected as intervention.

Comparison of GDS-15/-30 Results ( * )GDS-15, ( ** )GDS-30.

				.	.	-Level Exp-Gr.	.	-Level Con-Gr.
Chan et al.,	Relaxing	04.10	02.10	[–]02.00	48.78	< 0.001	[+]00.20	> 0.05
Chan et al.,	Relaxing	04.17	01.38	[–]02.79	66.91	< 0.05	[–]00.08	> 0.05
Verrusio et al.,	Jazz/Classic	08.50	05.50	[–]03.00	35.29	< 0.01	[–]00.40	> 0.05
Chan et al.,	Jazz/Classic	13.10	07.90	[–]05.20	39.69	< 0.005	[+]02.40	= 0.007
Guétin et al.,	Jazz/Classic	16.70	08.90	[–]07.80	46.71	< 0.01	[–]00.60	> 0.05
Hanser and Thompson,	Harp & PMR	17.45	10.00	[–]07.45	42.69	< 0.05	[+]00.90	> 0.05

Other diagnostic measures for depression 44 – results 45

Several times, additional questionnaires were used to measure changes in the severity of depression.

Researchers performed those surveys (Table (Table4) 4 ) in addition to their “main” depression questionnaire. Please refer to our Supplementary Material for a more comprehensive test description.

Additional tests, conducted by researchers within our article selection for investigating changes in depression.


Calgary Depression (rating) Scale for Schizophrenia	CDSS	Addington et al.,	Lu et al.,
Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale	CES-D	Radloff,	Schwantes and Mckinney,
Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia	CSDD	Alexopoulos et al.,	Ashida,
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale	EPDS	Cox et al.,	Chang et al.,
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - Depression-Subscale	HAD(S)-D	Zigmond and Snaith,	Guétin et al., ; Castillo-Pérez et al., ; Fancourt et al.,
Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression	HAM-D (=) HRSD	Hamilton,	Albornoz,
Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale	MADRS	Montgomery and Asberg,	Deshmukh et al., ; Erkkilä et al.,
Perception (“Profile”) of Mood States (short 35-item version)-Depression Sub-Scale	POMS(-SF)	Curran et al.,	Koelsch et al.,
Revised Memory and Behavioral Problems Checklist-Depression	RMBPC	Johnson et al.,	Han et al.,
Self-Rating Depression Scale	SDS	Zung,	Hsu and Lai, ; Kim et al., ; Castillo-Pérez et al., ; Wang et al.,

Diagnostic measures for pathologies other than depression – results

In many instances, additional questionnaires were used (Table (Table5 5 ) 49 to measure symptoms other than depression (e.g., Anxiety is known to be one of the most common depression comorbidities, Sartorius et al., 1996 ; Bradt et al., 2013 ; Tiller, 2013 ). Eight 46 researchers concentrated their investigation entirely on depression, and thus only performed questionnaires related to this pathology. In comparison, most of the remaining studies measured additional pathologies, with some of them known to be often associated comorbidities with depressive symptoms. However, because these topics were not the focus of this review, we won't discuss them here in detail. A much more detailed representation is available in the Supplementary Table. Please refer to the original studies for a more comprehensive test description.

Additional tests, conducted by researchers within our selection for investigating changes in other pathologies.


Anxiety	Apparent Emotion Scale-Anxiety	AES	Lawton et al.,	Han et al.,
Anxiety	Four Factor Anxiety Inventory	FFAI	Gupta and Gupta,	Gupta and Gupta,
Anxiety	Hamilton's Anxiety Rating Scale	HAM-A (=) HAS	Hamilton,	Guétin et al., ; Verrusio et al.,
Anxiety	Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety-Subscale	HAD(S)-A	Zigmond and Snaith,	Guétin et al., ; Erkkilä et al., ; Fancourt et al.,
Anxiety	State-Trait Anxiety Inventory	STAI	Spielberger et al.,	Gupta and Gupta, ; Chang et al., ; Choi et al., ; Chen et al.,
Confidence and Self-esteem	Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory	RSI (=) SEI	Rosenberg,	Hanser and Thompson, ; Chen et al.,
Psychopathology	Symptom Checklist-90	SCL-90	Derogatis,	Wang et al.,
Sleep	Epworth Sleepiness Scale	ESS	Johns,	Harmat et al.,
Sleep	Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index	PSQI	Buysse et al.,	Harmat et al., ; Deshmukh et al., ; Chan et al.,
Likert-Scale	Self-Assessment Manikins	SAMs	Bradley and Lang,	Koelsch et al.,
Likert-Scale	Seven-point Likert scale	—	Silverman,	Silverman,
Likert-Scale	Toronto Alexithymia Scale	TAS-26	Kupfer et al.,	Koelsch et al.,
Symptom	Brief Symptom Inventory-General Severity Index	BSI-GSI	Derogatis and Spencer, ; Derogatis and Melisaratos,	Hanser and Thompson,
Symptom	Brief Symptom Inventory-18	BSI-18	Derogatis,	Schwantes and Mckinney,
Symptom	Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale	PANSS	Kay et al.,	Lu et al.,
Comorbidity	Comorbidity Index	CInd	Charlson et al.,	Verrusio et al.,
Illness	Cumulative Illness Rating Scale	CIRS	Linn et al.,	Verrusio et al.,

Discussion, conclusion and further thoughts

Depression often reduces participation in social activities. It also has an impact on reliability or stamina at daily work and may even result in a greater susceptibility to diseases. Music can be considered an emerging treatment option for mood disorders that has not yet been explored to its full potential. To the best of our knowledge, there were only very few meta-analyses, or systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials available that generated the amount of statistical data, which we presented here.

Certain individual-specific attributes of music are recognizable, when the medium of music is decomposed (Durkin, 2014 ) 47 into its components. Numerous researchers reported the beneficial effects of music, such as strengthening awareness and sensitiveness for positive emotions (Croom, 2012 ), or improvement of psychiatric symptoms (Nizamie and Tikka, 2014 ). Group drumming, for example, helped soldiers to deal with their traumatic experiences, while they were in the process of recovery (Bensimon et al., 2008 ). However, we have concentrated our focus of interest on patients diagnosed with clinical depression, one of the most serious and frequent mental disorders worldwide.

In this review we examined whether, and to what extent, music intervention could significantly affect the emotional state of people living with depression. Our primary objective was to accurately identify, select, and analyze up-to-date research literature, which utilized music as intervention to treat participants with depressive symptoms. After a multi-stage review process, a total of 1.810 participants in 28 scholarly papers met our inclusion criteria and were finally selected for further investigations about the effectiveness music had to treat their depression. Both, quantitative as well as qualitative empirical approaches were performed to interpret the data obtained from those original research papers. To consider the different methods researchers used, we presented a detailed illustration of approaches and evaluated them during our investigation process.

Interventions included, for example, various instrumental or vocal versions of classical compositions, Jazz, world music, and meditative songs to name just a few genres. Classical music (Classical or Baroque period) for treatment was used in nine articles. Notable composers were W.A. Mozart, L. v. Beethoven and J. S. Bach. Jazz was used five times for intervention. Vernon Duke (Title: “April in Paris”), M. Greger (Title: “Up to Date”), or Louis Armstrong (Title: “St. Louis Blues”) are some of the featured artists. The third major genre researchers used for their experimental groups was percussion and drumming-based music.

Significant criteria were complete trial duration, amount of intervention sessions, age distribution within participants, and individual or group setting. We compared passive listening to recorded music (e.g., CD), with active experiencing of live music (e.g., singing, improvising with instruments). Furthermore, the analysis of similar studies has enhanced and complemented our work. Previous studies indicated positive effects of music on emotions and anxiety, what we tried to confirm in more detail. The length of an entire music treatment procedure was suspected to be an important element for reducing symptoms of depression. A longer treatment duration of 7 weeks for an individual, compared to nearly 6 weeks in a group setting led to better (i.e., above average) outcomes. Although a difference was discovered, 1 week was not enough to draw further conclusions for each and every project. As far as intervals between sessions were concerned, we found no differences between those research articles that were among the best, compared to the remaining experimental designs. Consequently no trend was becoming apparent, favoring one over the others. We further investigated if there was any association between an individual or a group setting, if the length of a single session and trial duration were compared with regard to symptom improvement. Groups showed better improvements in depression, if each session had an average duration of 60 min, and a treatment between 4 and 8 weeks long. In comparison, the two variables, session length and trial duration, had different effects for individual treatment approaches. Above average results were found for sessions lasting 30 min combined with a treatment duration between 4 and 8 weeks. Furthermore, results were compared according to age groups (“young,” “medium,” and “elderly”). Overall, elderly people benefitted in particular from this kind of non-invasive treatment. During, but mainly after completion of music-driven interventions, positive effects became apparent. Those included primarily social aspects of life (e.g., an increased motivation to participate in life again), as well as concerned participants' psychological status (e.g., a strengthened self-confidence, an improved resilience to withstand stress).

We described similarities, the integration of different music intervention approaches had on participants in experimental vs. control groups, who received an alternative, or no additional treatment at all. Additional questionnaires confirmed further improvements regarding confidence, self-esteem and motivation. Trends in the improvement of frequently occurring comorbidities (e.g., anxiety, sleeping disorders, confidence and self-esteem) 48 , associated with depression, were also discussed briefly, and showed promising outcomes after intervention as well. Particularly anxiety (Sartorius et al., 1996 ; Tiller, 2013 ) is known to be a common burden, many patients with mood disorders are additionally affected with. Interpreted as manifestation of fear, anxiety is a basic feeling in situations that are regarded as threatening. Triggers can be expected threats such as physical integrity, self-esteem or self-image. Unfortunately, researchers merely distinguished between “anxiety disorder” (i.e., mildly exceeded anxiety) and the physiological reaction. Also, the question should be raised if the response to music differs if patients are suffering from both, depression and anxiety. Sleep quality in combination with symptoms of depression (Mayers and Baldwin, 2006 ) raised the question, whether sleep disturbances lead to depression or, vice versa, depression was responsible for a reduced quantity of sleep instead. Most studies used questionnaires that were based on self-assessment. However, it is unclear whether this approach is sufficiently valid and reliable enough to diagnose changes regarding to symptom improvement. Future approaches should not solely rely on questionnaires, but rather add measurements of physiological body reactions (e.g., skin conductance, heart and respiratory rate, or AEP's via an EEG) for more objectivity.

The way auditory stimuli were presented, also raised some additional questions. We found that for individual intervention most of the times headphones were used. For a group setting speakers were the number one choice instead. For elderly participants, a different sensitivity for music perception was a concern, when music was presented directly through headphones. Headphones add at least some isolation from background noises (i.e., able to reduce noise disturbances and surround-soundings). Another concern was that most of the time a certified hearing test was not used. Although, a tendency toward a reduction in the ability to hear higher frequencies is quite common with an increased age, there might still be substantial differences between participants.

Two authors (Deshmukh et al., 2009 ; Silverman, 2011 ) reported that participants within their respective music intervention group, did not present a significant reduction of depression. Those two had almost nothing in common 49 and were not investigated further.

Control groups, who received an alternative (“non-music”) intervention, were found in nine research articles. Significant reduction of depression in corresponding control (“non-music intervention”) groups was reported by two authors (Hendricks et al., 1999 ; Albornoz, 2011 ). In one instance (Albornoz, 2011 ) the relevant participants received only standard care, but in the other case (Hendricks et al., 1999 ) an alternative treatment (Cognitive-Behavioral activities) was reported. Medical conceptions are in a constant state of change. To achieve improvements in areas of disease prevention and treatment, psychology is increasingly associated with clinical medicine and general practitioners. Under the guidance of an experienced music therapist, the patient receives a multimodal and very structured treatment approach. That is the reason why we can find specialists for music therapy in fields other than psychosomatics or psychiatry today. Examples are internal medicine departments and almost all rehabilitation centers. The acoustic and musical environment literally opens a portal to our unconscious mind. Music therapy often comes into play when other forms of treatment are not effective enough or fail completely.

Music connects us to the time when we only had preverbal communication skills (Hwang and Hughes, 2000 ; Graham, 2004 ; i.e., communication before a fully functioning language is developed; e.g., infants or children with autism spectrum disorder), without being dependent on language. Although board-certified music therapy is undeniable the most regulated, developed and professional variant, this should not hinder health professionals and researchers from other areas in the execution of their own projects using music-based interventions. The only thing they should be very precise about, is the way they define their work. Within our selection of articles the expression music therapy was used sometimes, although a more detailed description or specific information was neither published nor available upon our request. In those cases, the term “music therapy” should not be used, but instead music medicine or some of the alternatives mentioned in this manuscript (e.g., therapy with music, music for treatment). This way many obstacles as well as misunderstandings can be prevented in the first place, but high-quality research is still produced. Also, it is very important that researchers contemplate and report the details of the music intervention that they use. For example, they should report whether the music is researcher-selected or participant-selected, the specific tracks they used, the delivery method (speakers, headphones), and any other relevant details.

Encouraged by the promising potential of music as an intervention (Kemper and Danhauer, 2005 ), we pursued our ambitious goal to contribute knowledge that provides help for the affected individuals, both the patients themselves as well as their nearest relatives. Furthermore, we wanted to provide detailed information about each randomized controlled study, and therefore made all our data available, so others may benefit for their potential upcoming research project. The overall outcome of our analysis, with all significant effects considered, produced highly convincing results that music is a potential treatment option, to improve depression symptoms and quality of life across many age groups. We hope that our results provide some support for future concepts.

Author contributions

DL (Substantial contributor who meets all four authorship criteria): (1) Project idea, article concept and design, as well as planning the timeline, substantially involved in the data, material, and article acquisition, (2) mainly responsible for drafting, writing, and revising the review article, (3) responsible for selecting and final approving of the scholarly publication, (4) agreed and is accountable for all aspects connected to the work. TH (Substantial contributor who meets all four authorship criteria): (1) Substantial help with the concept and design, substantially contributed to the article and material acquisition, (2) substantially contributed to the project by drafting and revising the review article, (3) responsible for final approval of the scholarly publication, (4) agreed and is accountable for all aspects connected to the work.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

1 Participants in the two music groups (standard or patterning music) showed an increased belief in their personal power as well as a reduction in pain, depression and disability, compared to the relevant control group. The two experimental groups listened to 1 h of music each day for 7 days in a row.

2 Official definition of the American Music Therapy Association [AMTA] http://www.musictherapy.org/about/quotes/

3 Clinical speciality areas; Diagnostic, Treatment, and Therapeutic procedures, approaches, tools; Disorders; Age groups; Scientific; Country-specific; Musical Aspects; Recording hardware and equipment; Literature Genre; Publication type or medium; Year of publication; Number of authors.

4 Boolean Operators for searching databases: Concept explained by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] .

5 Our preference was an experimental-control setting, but unfortunately three authors (Ashida, 2000 ; Guétin et al., 2009b ; Schwantes and Mckinney, 2010 ) did not use a control sample.

6 AMSTAR (Shea et al., 2007 )–Further Info & AMSTAR online calculator: https://amstar.ca/Amstar_Checklist.php ; National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools (NCCMT): http://www.nccmt.ca/resources/search/97 Questions included in the AMSTAR-Checklist (Shea et al., 2007 ) are: (I) Was an “a priori” design provided? (II) Was there duplicate study selection and data extraction? (III) Was a comprehensive literature search performed? (IV) Was the status of publication (i.e. gray literature) used as an inclusion criterion? (V) Was a list of studies (included and excluded) provided? (VI) Were the characteristics of the included studies provided? (VII) Was the scientific quality of the included studies assessed and documented? (VIII) Was the scientific quality of the included studies used appropriately in formulating conclusions? (IX) Were the methods used to combine the findings of studies appropriate? (X) Was the likelihood of publication bias assessed? (XI) Was any conflict of interest included?

7 In our Supplementary Table (“Complete Display of Statistical Data”), DSI was referred to as “Change [%].”

8 A much More Detailed Representation of Demographics is Available in the Supplementary Table ( Appendix-B ).

9 9DSI: Depression Score Improvement stands for the mean difference between the pre-test and post-test results (i.e., score changes) in percent. Please refer to the supplementary materials for additional information.

10 Music interventions: Individual setting (Chang et al., 2008 ); Group setting (Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ).

11 One [MT] music-therapy article (Silverman, 2011 ) was not used for comparison and calculations because the relevant data was unavailable.

12 Djembe is based on the expression “anke djé, anke bé” which roughly translates as “everyone should come together in peace and harmony.”

13 12-bar Blues: Traditional Blues pattern that is 12 measures long. This chord progression is also used for many other music genres and quite popular in pop-music.

14 Ambiguity of the term “classical” music: In our review, this term refers to “Western Art Music” and thus includes, but is not limited to the “Classical” music period. Most of the time we used this term for music from the Baroque (1600–1750), Classical (1750–1820), and Romantic (1804–1910) period.

15 Within percussion groups various types of drums presented the instrument of choice most of the time.

16 Eight out of nine articles because in on case (Castillo-Pérez et al., 2010 ) scores were missing. The remaining were: Hsu and Lai, 2004 ; Chang et al., 2008 ; Harmat et al., 2008 ; Chan et al., 2009 , 2010 ; Guétin et al., 2009a ; Koelsch et al., 2010 ; Verrusio et al., 2014 .

17 Average: Arithmetic mean of all score-changes in [%] for a defined selection (e.g., classical music). Example: We calculated the score-change in [%] for each of the eight experimental groups that received classical music as intervention. In this case the arithmetic mean (DSI Clas ) was 39.98% (i.e., average). Then every individual score can be compared to this average. If it was above, we called it “above average”.

18 Percussion music (drumming): Ashida, 2000 ; Choi et al., 2008 ; Schwantes and Mckinney, 2010 ; Albornoz, 2011 ; Erkkilä et al., 2011 ; Han et al., 2011 ; Lu et al., 2013 ; Chen et al., 2016 ; Fancourt et al., 2016 .

19 Jazz: Chan et al., 2009 , 2010 ; Guétin et al., 2009a ; Koelsch et al., 2010 ; Verrusio et al., 2014 .

20 In most cases there was no further categorization between different musical sub-genres of Jazz.

21 Greatest: Best in terms of depression score improvement (DSI) (i.e., pre-post score reduction in percent) with Jazz as intervention.

22 Raga: Classification system for music that originated during the eleventh century in Asia (mainly India).

23 Setting was always: Experimental group received music as intervention, and the corresponding control group received an (non-music) alternative.

24 For example, if elderly people lived in a retirement home, a standard daily routine or common everyday activities were seen as usual or regular treatment. If, on the other hand, a resting period (e.g., Chan et al., 2012 ) was carried out simultaneously, this was interpreted as an (“non-music”) alternative.

25 In all three of his articles within our selection (Chan et al., 2009 , 2010 , 2012 ) participants were instructed to rest.

26 Pharmacotherapy treatment included SSRI (Paroxetine 20mg/die), NaSSA (Mirtazapine 30 mg/die), and Benzodiazepine (Alprazolam).

27 As already described above, the other individual setting (Guétin Soua, et al., 2009) with pre-post results of p > 0.05 was still counted as significant.

28 Information regarding the duration for one group session was unavailable in two articles (Hendricks et al., 1999 ; Wang et al., 2011 ).

29 Hanser and Thompson, 1994 ; Hsu and Lai, 2004 ; Harmat et al., 2008 ; Chan et al., 2009 , 2010 , 2012 ; Guétin et al., 2009a ; Erkkilä et al., 2011 .

30 Average DSI for all 13 articles that used an individual ( * Ind) treatment as intervention was 36.50%.

31 Gupta and Gupta, 2005 ; Kim et al., 2006 ; Chang et al., 2008 ; Deshmukh et al., 2009 ; Guétin et al., 2009b .

32 Once (Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ) the relevant score was unavailable.

33 Once (Wang et al., 2011 ) the relevant score was unavailable.

34 BDI: Original BDI from1961; (1st) Revision (=) BDI-I or BDI-1A from 1978; (2nd) Revision (=) BDI-II from 1996.

35 BDI-scores were measured only once (Silverman, 2011 ), either at the end (experimental group), or at the beginning (control group) and thus was excluded for this calculation.

36 Minimal depression: BDI-I (= BDI-1A) score (=) 00–09; BDI-II score (=) 00–13.

37 Mild depression: BDI-I (= BDI-1A) score (=) 10–18; BDI-II score (=) 14–19.

38 Moderate depression: BDI-I (= BDI-1A) score (=) 19–29; BDI-II score (=) 20–28.

39 Albornoz ( 2011 ) found in both groups a significant reduction for BDI scores albeit to a significantly greater extent in the experimental (−8.08; p < 0.01) than in the control (−2.25; p < 0.05) setting.

40 Severe depression: BDI-I (=BDI-1A) score (=) 30–63; BDI-II score (=) 29–63.

41 Pre-post difference: experimental (1) “light” music (=) 17.50; experimental (2) “heavy” music (=) 21.00 (both p < 0.05 within groups) (Esfandiari and Mansouri, 2014 ).

42 Average pre-post BDI reduction of −30.73 ( SD = 9.80) combined (Hendricks et al., 1999 ; Choi et al., 2008 ).

43 One author (Chan et al., 2012 ) limited his selection to slow music (60–80 beats per minute). The other researcher (Hanser and Thompson, 1994 ) also used some “energetic” or “empowering” titles, but mainly concentrated on relaxing compositions.

44 for a reference “intervention review” about music therapy for depression see: maratos et al. ( 2008 ).

45 Every available test-result (Pre-/Post-Scores for experimental/control) can be found in our Supplementary Table 12.

46 Hendricks et al., 1999 ; Ashida, 2000 ; Hsu and Lai, 2004 ; Kim et al., 2006 ; Chan et al., 2009 , 2012 ; Castillo-Pérez et al., 2010 ; Albornoz, 2011 .

47 We used the metaphor “decomposed” based on the inspiring book by Andrew Durkin (“Decomposition: A Music Manifesto”), who refers to it “as a way…to demythologize music without demeaning it” (Review by Madison Heying).

48 A complete list, with all results we could extract, can be found in the Supplementary Table.

49 Music Therapy; Duration 90min./session; Session Frequency 7x/week; Raagas Music (Deshmukh et al., 2009 ).

Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01109/full#supplementary-material

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Harnessing the healing power of music.

The Zoom meetup begins with Jason Armstrong Baker playing a melody on a metal drum to welcome his class.

Five people log in to the weekly, one-hour session, hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Music and Medicine , during which Baker teaches rhythm skills through call-and-response clapping and by listening to music with the group.

Why all the clapping? The participants have Parkinson’s disease, and according to a 2015 study of 20 patients conducted by the center’s director and co-founder Alexander Pantelyat , drumming can help improve overall quality of life and mobility.

Over the course of the hour, the group will clap different rhythms as taught by the 47-year-old Baker in a call-and-response fashion, and then move on to clap over two songs chosen by participants.

“Just listening to music activates more brain regions simultaneously than any other human activity,” says Pantelyat, a neurologist. “So therein lies both the challenge and promise studying music’s effects on the brain: There is likely something for everyone when it comes to using music as medicine, but how do you separate the effects on specific brain networks if they are being activated simultaneously?”

The center, founded in 2015, operates with a dual mission: to bring music into health care through rigorous scientific investigations of how music and medicine interact, and to develop research and clinical care to treat and prevent injuries that affect professional musicians. Its other co-founder is Serap Bastepe-Gray , a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute who holds a joint appointment in the Department of Neurology . Peabody partners with the center on some of its classes and research.

There is hope for musical interventions in disorders such as Parkinson’s because there are many areas of the brain that react to music:

· In the temporal lobe, areas for speech processing overlap with areas that process music.

· Songs associated with strong memories can activate the nucleus accumbens, the so-called pleasure center of the brain.

· Relaxing music can lower the production of cortisol, which lowers stress and in turn lowers elevated heart rates and blood pressure.

· Music also affects:

the default mode network, active during daydreaming and mind-wandering, responsible for autobiographical information
the hippocampus, which plays a prominent role in forming new memories
the prefrontal cortex, cingulate gyrus and inferior parietal lobe — responsible for attention and working memory, focusing on and keeping track of music and time
various parts of the brain responsible for motor skills

In musicians, the white matter connections between the two hemispheres of the brain are thicker, likely due to musical training that requires repeated activation of both halves of the brain. This pathway is responsible for linking the activities of the motor cortex (responsible for voluntary movement such as walking) and the somatosensory cortex (responsible for processing information about touch, temperature and pain) across the two sides of the brain.

The Healing Power of Music: The Johns Hopkins Center for Music and Medicine

Pantelyat has been playing violin since the age of 7, and pursued medicine instead of becoming a professional musician. He treats patients with various movement disorders and also directs the Johns Hopkins Atypical Parkinsonism Center.

“We need to learn a lot more about how music can help rehabilitate the networks being damaged in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” he says. “That’s where my interest lies.”

Thanks to a newly published study on the impact of six weeks of group guitar lessons on people with Parkinson’s, and upcoming research papers on the effects of drumming and singing, more is now known about musical interventions for this debilitating disorder.

Published in June 2022 in the journal Parkinson’s Disease , the Guitar PD study found that “playing musical instruments may have positive effects on motor, emotional and cognitive deficits” in people with Parkinson’s. The small pilot study, which consisted of twice-weekly guitar lessons for six weeks, also found significant improvements in mood and anxiety, and showed that some improvements lasted six to 12 weeks after lessons ended. The research was conducted as a feasibility study, which assesses the practicality of a treatment plan. The feasibility was promising, with 24 out of 26 participants finishing the study.

The paper concludes that larger studies are warranted to further explore guitar instruction as an intervention.

“We know that active music-making within a group setting provides a music-enriched environment that encourages simultaneous physical, social and emotional engagement, lending a therapeutic advantage by stimulating multiple complementary processes in the brain,” Bastepe-Gray, the study’s lead author, says. “Guitar PD is the first study we know that utilizes nontraditional fingerstyle guitar instruction as a music-based intervention in PD.”

As a direct result of that study, Peabody, whose faculty ran the guitar groups and partnered with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine on the study, now subsidizes group and individual guitar lessons, known as the PD Strummers Circle and Performance Ensemble, for people with Parkinson’s disease.

“The guitar, which is portable, affordable and one of the most popular instruments in the U.S., has potential as a motivational therapeutic tool both in the clinical and community settings,” adds Bastepe-Gray.

The soon-to-be-published studies include the ParkinSonics — a 30-week trial that examined the effects of singing in a weekly chorus on the voice, mood, memory and quality of life for people with Parkinson’s. One major finding is that participants saw significant improvements in their minimal voice volumes as a result of singing in a chorus.

“This is a big deal for patients with Parkinson’s disease,” Pantelyat explains. “As the disease advances, communication can be impaired by the voice getting lower and becoming more monotonous.”

Like the PD Strummers, the ParkinSonics kept going after the study, and have been meeting weekly on Zoom throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another feasibility study, a group drumming study for people with Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases and their care partners, is being prepared for publication.

Studies such as these capture how the center hopes to develop and employ evidence-based interventions involving rhythm and music for a range of conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, epilepsy and autism, as well as for Parkinson’s.

“Our research suggests that the playing of musical instruments may have positive effects on movement, emotional processing and even cognitive defects in patients with Parkinson’s disease,” Pantelyat says.

His center is chipping away at the science that supports this. For example, in Parkinson’s, the processing of rhythm is disturbed, as are the connections between frontal lobe networks and the basal ganglia (deep centers of the brain) responsible for the coordination of walking and other movements. Tremors that many people experience worsen when they aren’t using their hands or when they’re experiencing high levels of stress, so music’s reduction of cortisol levels may play a role in decreasing them. Much like in patients who experienced strokes and undergo rehabilitation, weakened brain pathways may be strengthened, new pathways may form to go around faulty pathways, or both, when musical interventions are used.

Serap Bastepe-Gray playing a classical guitar inside the George Peabody Library

National Research

Johns Hopkins is far from alone in researching the therapeutic effects of music.

The Sound Health Network , a partnership of the National Endowment of the Arts with the University of California San Francisco, which was awarded $20 million over five years in 2019 by the National Institutes of Health, also supports research and promotes public awareness of the impact of music on health and wellness. Its website lists projects at dozens of universities that range from studying the challenges of appreciating music after cochlear implantation to researching whether music-based strategies can reduce caregiver stress levels in at-risk families in Appalachia.

International touring company the Mark Morris Dance Group started Dance for PD classes over 20 years ago. The research-backed classes are available in 300 communities in 25 countries.

Pantelyat hopes to help support a Dance for PD class in Baltimore that has been inactive during the pandemic. He also hopes the ParkinSonics can soon return to in-person classes. The center is supporting an in-person drumming class that Baker will lead at the Govans Presbyterian Church in Baltimore starting this fall.

Pantelyat says the NIH funding reflects the vision for the next five years in music and medicine, and that large, well-designed clinical trials across multiple centers are needed to definitively find whether particular music and rhythm-based interventions have effects and what the effects are. He hopes that eventually directing someone to a weekly choir or drumming class could have the same effect as a medication he would prescribe.

“This is what the field clearly needs — a better understanding of the mechanisms of how rhythm and music impact the brain and body in general,” he says. “We need to understand more profoundly the effects of music and rhythm in order to optimize our treatments. There are still a lot of unanswered questions.”

Listen to Alexander Pantelyat talk about his work on the podcast A Woman’s Journey: Insights That Matter .

The Healing Power of Music Therapy

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Things I’ve Learned as a Music Therapist

Personla perspective: in a hospital setting, music is profound, powerful, and healing.

Posted August 14, 2024 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch

Music therapy in a hospital setting can be very powerful, profound, and healing.
Music, for those who are suffering, can bring some humanity into their healing process.
When there is nothing left, we still have music.

One of the great things about my job as a music therapist working in a hospital is that I learn something on an almost daily basis. And I learn all of these things from the people I share music with, people who are working through unbelievable challenges, both physically and mentally. Here are some of the things that I’ve learned that have truly affected me:

Music Creates Connection

So many times, I walk into a hospital room and the visitors are sitting in various spots, or in corners, and seemingly distracted. Sometimes, distracted in their own thoughts and reflections, sometimes on their phones. And I know that a lot of that has to do with coping with the situation. But, almost like hitting a switch, when music is introduced, they come together. They connect. They connect with the patient. They connect with each other. And they connect with the music.

She’s in her 90s and recently moved to hospice care. Her eyes were closed, and she was mainly non-responsive, but seemed comfortable. Her family was there: her adult daughter, her grandson and a friend. Everyone seemed to be in their own little world, as if waiting for… I said, "hello" and offered some music, for comfort. “Sure,” her daughter said. I took out my guitar and played a little. Then I transitioned into an easy version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." And then… all three moved to the bed. And then… they took her hands... and they all joined in singing. And in beautiful harmony! The patient suddenly opened her eyes and looked lovingly into her grandson’s gaze as he sang to her. An incredible smile overtook her face… and his too, through his tears. It was such a profound and beautiful moment that I don’t think they will ever forget. (And neither will I.) All because of…music .

Music Is the Universal Language

In the hospital, there are many languages. And sometimes that can be a barrier in the healing process. But I am lucky. I have music. Yes, music is the universal language. Especially when you are alone, sick, afraid, and unsure.

“He speaks no English so we can’t really talk with him. And he’s had no visitors,” the nurse told me when she asked me to visit with him. He’d already been isolated in the hospital for some time receiving cancer treatment. I walked into his dark room, and it was so quiet I could hear the IV drip. He looked at me and I showed him the guitar and gestured to a chair as if to ask, “May I sit?” He tentatively shook his head “yes." He was in bed with the covers pulled up and looked weak. I just started playing something soothing, offering some music for comfort. He was looking straight up but seemed to be listening. After a few moments, though, I noticed his feet slowly moving. I kept the rhythm solid. And then, some movement in his head. I followed him with the music, adding a little more structure. Gradually, his eyes opened fully and slowly his body seemed to… activate. He transformed—and the music followed. More rhythm. More movement. And soon, it felt as though we were… grooving? He looked at me with a big smile. And the movement in his body seemed to give him some energy. I eventually worked my way to ‘One Love’ without even thinking about it and starting singing. He pointed at me, laughed, and said “Ahhh…” Of course he knew Bob Marley! He took it in. He felt the music. He could not stop smiling. No words were spoken for the time I was there. There was no need. We had music . Then as I was about to walk out—three words… “Come back again.”

Music Brings Hope Where Hope Seems Hard to Find

Music can help in many ways, including reducing anxiety and pain, helping with coping with treatment, or as a prompt for emotional outlet. But the best thing that music can provide when someone is hurting is hope.

“What's that song about?” I asked the group, at an in-patient behavioral health facility where I was running a music therapy session, after listening to "Don’t Stop" (Fleetwood Mac). There was silence. Many looking down with flat, tired faces. No eye contact between anyone. But then, a quiet voice from a young woman sitting to the side, “Maybe that things will be different tomorrow? Maybe better? Maybe it won’t be the same as it was before?” Then, with tears in her eyes she looked up and said, “The song is about hope.” I played the song again and one of the older women, who was sitting on the other side, got up, walked over, and took her hand… and they started dancing. Soon the flat, tired faces showed some smiles. Soon… more got up to dance. One of the nurses joined in. Suddenly there was laughter , connection, and some sense of joy in a mostly joyless place. And… a feeling of hope filled the room. Music for reflection. Music for empowerment. Music to create hope for a better tomorrow.

When There Is Nothing Left, We Still Have Music

The most profound work for me in the hospital is with patients at the end of life; providing music and comfort for them, and their families, as they are about to "transition." There is sadness and reflection, but there is also a sense of resolve, contentedness, and even joy in its own way. One of the most powerful moments for me happened a few years ago when someone said to me, after I provided music for their mother during her final moments, “You realize, that is the last music she will ever hear.” I will never forget the feeling that came over me when he said it. But also powerful are the connections that are created between the person leaving and the person saying goodbye.

When I walked into the quiet room, his adult daughter was sitting next to the bed holding his hand. She didn't hear me enter, so I gently said, "Hello." She looked up and gave a slight smile through pensive eyes. He was mainly non-responsive at this point, but seemingly comfortable—and very near the end. I offered some music, for comfort (thinking for both of them.) She again gave a slight smile and returned her gaze back to him. I started slowly on the guitar with a little 'soundscape' and eventually merged into a 'lullaby' version of ‘Can't Help Falling in Love’. As I started to sing, she snapped her head around and looked right at me with wide eyes, startling me enough to stop. A few tears glistened on her face. After a pause she said, "That song... He used to sing me to sleep to that song when I was a little girl." I caught my breath… and then I said, "Should I continue?" A nod "yes." She was still holding my eye contact but seemed a little unsure. So I asked, "Would you like to sing along?" Her voice was sweet, soft, and comforting. After a verse, I backed out vocally and became her accompanist as she looked at him and sang as she held his hand. It was now her turn to sing him to sleep.

The healing power of music.

(*The stories presented in this post are based on accounts or experiences and are not actual accounts or experiences.)

Raymond Leone MMT, MT-BC, is a board-certified music therapist based in Northern Virginia and writes extensively on music therapy and music and wellness.

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Essay on Music Therapy

Music therapy is a diagnostic and therapeutic discipline that uses music to help individuals with ailments instead of medications. Music therapy has had profound origins, dating back to the ancient Greeks, notably Aristotle and Plato, who believed music could give happiness to a person’s body and mind. In an era when even treatment was not broadly used, few people believed in them. Music therapy had become a clinical career path in the 1940s, so many individuals are now cognizant of its therapeutic benefits. Music is known to be adequate to affect us emotionally and internally. It has been observed that music can alleviate several of our sad or stressful feelings. This paper provides more information on the roles and effects of music therapy on our brain and body in our daily lives to help us better understand this concept.

Music therapy’s most inherent benefit is its assistance in treating illnesses that impact a person’s body and essential competencies. Music therapy, for instance, can assist with neurological conditions and pain-causing treatment options, including chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Movement disorders impair mobility by causing severe weak spots and muscle spasms. Muscle twitching is muscle tightness that impairs the client’s movements. As a result, music therapy’s acute effects on this problem are mass and strength relief. Relaxing music is highly effective for relaxing the body, particularly the muscles. Since the central nervous system is a muscle in its own right, it is also positively influenced. (Clements-Cortés & Yu, 2021)

Another benefit of music therapy is its psychological effects. For example, specific ailments, such as autism and Alzheimer’s, which are extremely challenging to treat, can be recovered entirely using particular therapeutic music approaches. “When we take a gander at the amount of evidence that the arts contribute to our community, it’s simply unbelievable,” Michael Greene says in the quotation. Music therapists are threatening to break down the barriers of quietness and disease such as autism, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.” Autism is treated with music therapy (American Music Therapy Association, 2021). Music therapists are frequently used to assist autistic children. Children with autism may struggle to communicate, and their abilities seem more developed compared to their counterparts.

In comparison, some people may be irritated or uncomfortable by loud or certain types of music. The music may elicit an extreme response or recall memories that range from pleasurable to intense pain (Mofredj, Alaya, Tassaioust, Bahloul, & Mrabet, 2016). Music evokes and causes emotions, which in turn cause unconscious physiological responses, including alterations in heart rate, respiratory rate, body or skin temperature, and hormone exclusion. This can disrupt the brain’s proper functioning and raise the pulse and blood pressure.

To summarize, music therapy is highly beneficial because it aids in the treatment of both mental and physical ailments. It is unlucky and dangerous that prescription drugs for some diseases and conditions have yet to be discovered. As a result, it is a supernatural event that music can be used to treat them. Music therapy, which dates back to the ancient Greeks and particularly since the nineteenth century, will undoubtedly become more popular in the future and will be used in many hospitals because of its numerous benefits.

American Music Therapy Association.” History of Music Therapy | History of Music Therapy | American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), www.musictherapy.org/about/history/. Accessed 15 March 2021.

Clements-Cortés, A., & Yu, M. T. (2021). The Mental Health Benefits of Improvisational Music Therapy for Young Adults. The Canadian Music Educator , 62 (3), 30-33.

Mofredj, A., Alaya, S., Tassaioust, K., Bahloul, H., & Mrabet, A. (2016). Music therapy, a review of the potential therapeutic benefits for the critically ill. Journal of critical care , 35 , 195-199.

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Essay on Music and its Importance in English for Children and Students

Table of Contents

Music is one of the most beautiful creations of art. It has the power to heal our mind, body and soul by its soothing effect. Different people have different taste in music and it works as a therapy for them. Music aids in expressing ourselves. It can help in healing conditions like depression, Alzheimer and insomnia. It also helps us rejuvenate and connect with ourselves as well as those around us.

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Long and Short Essay on Music and its Importance in English

Here are essay on music and its importance of varying lengths to help you with the topic in your exam.

After going through these music and its importance essay you will know the benefits of music as a medium of connecting to self and others; music as a therapy for many physiological and psychological ailments; healing and calming power of music and its several other benefits.

You can go through all these essay to get the best one for you:

Short Essay on Music and its Importance (200 words) – Essay 1

Music has a divine power. It is a great source of entertainment. It binds people together. It brings back several fond memories from the past. It helps us connect with our inner self and also serves as an excellent medium of self expression. Music is loved by the mankind and is essential for its well being.

Music has been one of the main sources of entertainment since the ancient times. During the earlier times, when there were no televisions, internet connection, video games or any other way to keep oneself entertained, music helped people combat boredom. It also helped them connect better with each other. People sung folklores and danced to their tunes.

Musical instruments came into shape slowly and they took music to a different level. Today, music is a full-fledged industry which has become a source of income for many. Besides offering entertainment, music is also known for its therapeutic power. It calms the nervous system and heals many physical and mental ailments.

Doctors around the world have started including music therapy as a part of various medical treatments as it helps in a speedy recovery. As a part of this therapy, the patients listen to music. They also compose music, play different musical instruments, and write lyrics, dance and chant. Music is indeed a great way to boost the quality of life.

Essay on Music and its Importance (300 words) – Essay 2

Introduction.

Music is a great medium to connect better with oneself. It is also a fun way to connect with our friends and family and make new connections. Two people with similar taste in music connect instantly. Those who are fond of playing the same instrument or have flair in writing same kind of poetry also gel along really well.

Music Helps Establish a Connection with Self

Connecting with one’s inner self is an essential factor in leading a positive and wholesome life. The best way to go deep down and connect with oneself is through meditation. While many people try to meditate only few are able to do it successfully. Most people find it hard to sit in silence and dive deep inside. Their thoughts usually wander making it impossible to concentrate. Many people find this activity boring and tend to give up after few attempts. Music can make this process easier.

Music can calm the mind and help us focus better. There are many guided meditation audios and videos that can help you meditate with ease and develop a connection with your inner self.

Music Helps Establish a Connection with Those Around

Why do you think social gatherings have soft music being played in the background or a full blown DJ installed? Well, this is because music has the power to build a positive atmosphere and also connects people instantly. People often make new friends on the dance floor and also strengthen their bond with the existing ones.

Many songs make us feel nostalgic. This feeling of nostalgia binds us with our friends and family. Listening to such songs in their company is a great way to connect with them even if we meet them after a long time. Music helps in making several new memories too.

If you find it hard to meditate and establish a connection with your inner self or are trying hard to recreate that bond with your old friends then try music as a medium to further these aims.

Essay on Music and its Importance (400 words) – Essay 3

How music aids in self expression.

One of the problems people face today is lack of self expression. Most hesitate communicating their inner most feelings due to the fear that no one will understand. In fact, in this fast paced world, people are so busy that no one even bothers to listen to what the other person has to say. Holding on to thoughts and bottling up feelings is the worst a person can do to himself. Self expression is necessary and one of the best ways to do so is by way of music.

Why is Self Expression Important?

We are all dealing with something or the other. While we may be capable of handling our issues on our own; however, sharing our feelings and coping mechanism with others can help in lowering our stress to a large extent. It serves as a vent.

It also fetches support from those around us. Research shows that people who have someone to hear them out are happier compared to those who don’t. Those who keep their feelings to themselves often end up lonely and many even develop conditions such as anxiety and depression.

Music Can Help with Self Expression

Now, even if you have people around to hear you, you may not be able to share your thoughts and feelings with ease. Self expression is important but not easy. However, it can be made easy with the help of music. Music has proved to be of great help when it comes to self expression.

The power of music is such that just by playing a musical instrument such as drums or flute or guitar, you can convey how you are feeling or what you going through. You can express even the most intense feelings with the help of music. Another way in which you can express your self is by writing lyrics. This is a great way to communicate your feelings. You can write the lyrics of an existing song or a mix of different songs or even spin new lyrics. The idea always is to express yourself.

You don’t have to be a great musician or writer to do all this. Don’t worry about the outcome. Just follow the process and it will help in true expression of self. This is a way to liberate oneself and see things from a different perspective. Whether someone hears out your composition or not, you will feel liberated once you express it and vent it out by way of music.

The importance of self expression needs to be understood by everyone. Expressing self can be difficult for many but it is essential. Music definitely serves as a good medium for self expression.

Essay on Music and its Importance (500 words) – Essay 4

The healing power of music.

Music is not just a source of entertainment but has an amazing power to heal. Music therapy has been declared as a therapy that can work wonders on people suffering from different kinds of mental as well as physical ailments. Many institutes run special music therapy sessions to help people get rid of conditions such as depression, anxiety, cardiovascular problem and insomnia. Music also forms a part of many other medical treatments.

Types of Music Therapy

Music therapy is broadly divided into two categories. These are as follows:

Active Music Therapy

In active music therapy, the participants (those receiving the therapy) create music using different musical instruments. They also write lyrics and sing songs. This includes working on new compositions or remixing the earlier ones. The idea is to shift the patient’s focus from his physical or mental condition to something positive. Creating music can be therapeutic. Since these are group activities, they help participants connect with each other and make new friends. This also helps in the healing process.

Receptive Music Therapy

During this type of music therapy session, the therapist plays musical instruments and sings songs. The participants sit quietly and listen to him. Many times soft healing music is played on a recorder and the participants enjoy it. This is often followed by a discussion between the participants and the therapist.

Both types of music therapy offer a calming effect on the patients. They work on different levels and help in healing various medical conditions. Most music therapists offer a mix of both these therapies to heal their patients. Many music therapy sessions also include dancing, clapping and chanting loudly. Clapping and Chanting fill the atmosphere with positive energy and render a soothing effect.

Impact of Music Therapy

The effects of music therapy have been astonishing. Research shows that patients who received music therapy as a part of their overall medical treatment recovered faster compared to those who only received other medication. It has largely been accepted that music can heal both physical and emotional pain.

More and more hospitals, clinics and rehabilitation centres have thus started incorporating music therapy as a part of many treatments. They also recommend people to inculcate the practice in their routine life even after they recover. This is because it boosts health and offers better quality of life. A music therapist or coach can help in this direction.

How Does Music Therapy Work?

These days, most of the physical as well as mental ailments stem from stress. Stress mostly occurs when a person fears about the upcoming events in his life or is unable to cope up with the bad experiences of the past. In today’s times, very few people are able to enjoy the moment they are living in. They continually fret about the future or regret their past.

Music helps in shifting the focus to the present moment. So, it helps in combating stress that arises from the fears that lie ahead and the guilt or resentment from the past events. The decrease in the stress level plays a vital part in the healing process. This is a great way to improve both mental and physical health.

Music therapy works for people of all age groups. It is an effective way to relax, combat stress and fight various illnesses. It is recommended for everyone whether he/she is suffering from some ailment or not.

Long Essay on Music and its Importance (600 words) – Essay 5

Music calms our mind and relaxes our body. It is one of the best forms of art. Composing music can be as great an experience as listening to it. Singing can be even more exhilarating. Both verbal and non-verbal forms of music offer a soothing effect to our senses. The benefits of music are uncountable. Here are some of its benefits for which we should be truly thankful.

Music Calms Our Mind

Music helps in getting rid of negative thoughts and emotions. During our day we are faced with several situations that raise our stress levels. Small things such as getting stuck in a traffic jam, clash of opinion with friends/siblings/parents or even a piece of news read in the newspaper can cause stress. Music helps us unwind. It makes us forget these unnecessary things that can otherwise keep our mind occupied the whole day and hamper work.

It is a good idea to turn on your favourite song or play a musical instrument of your choice whenever you are feeling low. This will distract you from the unnecessary thoughts in your mind and calm your senses. It can uplift the mood instantly.

Music Improves the Power to Concentrate

Studies reveal that music can boost your power to concentrate. As we sit to study or work, our thoughts often wander and we are unable to maintain focus. This way a work that can be accomplished in one hour may take two-three hours or even longer. Music has the power to keep us focused in the here and now. It does not let our mind wander and thus helps us concentrate on what we are doing rather than thinking about something completely different. It also increases our attention span.

Music Creates Better Self Image

Music has the power to connect us with our inner self. It takes us to the deep recesses of our mind and helps us understand who we really are and our purpose in life. It also helps us find out our hidden strengths. Thus, it serves as a great means to create a better self image. This further helps in boosting our confidence level.

Music Helps Combat Fears

Each one of us is dealing with some fear or the other. While some are worried about their future others keep stressing about their past events. People also suffer from different kinds of fears such as fear of walking on a busy road, fear of staying home alone, fear of travelling via aeroplane, fear/ nervousness of attending a social event.

While some of these fears are momentary others are inherent and difficult to overcome. Music can help combat fear and make you feel better during situations that make you anxious. Just keep your earphones with you. Plug them in and play your favourite music to distract your mind and calm down during such situations.

Music Renders Strength

Music renders strength by helping people connect better with themselves as well as those around. It aids in better self expression. One can express verbally as well as non-verbally by way of music.

Music also serves as a coping mechanism for things we cannot let go. Many such things keep our energy levels down and hinder our productivity. Music helps us cope up with such feelings and thus renders strength. It can bring about a positive change in our life and increase our sense of control. It supports healthy feelings and hence bars the possibility of various physical as well as mental health problems.

The best thing about music is that it can be listened to anytime and anywhere. You can hear it while driving or travelling by a public transport or when you are exercising in the gym or trying to relax at home. Just turn on your favourite track and enthuse yourself with positivity. Music works on different levels to promote a healthy life.

FAQs on Essay on Music

Why music is important.

Music is important because it can evoke emotions, relieve stress, and enhance creativity, making it an integral part of human culture.

What is music 5 lines?

Music is an art form that uses sound, rhythm, melody, and harmony to convey emotions, tell stories, and connect with people on a profound level.

Is music useful in life?

Yes, music is useful in life as it can improve mood, aid relaxation, and serve as a means of self-expression and communication.

What are the 3 main types of music?

The three main types of music are classical, pop, and folk, but there are countless other genres and styles to explore.

Why music is so powerful?

Music is powerful because it has the ability to trigger strong emotional responses, influence behavior, and serve as a universal language that transcends boundaries.

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Noon Conference Hits a High Note with Dr. Kate Lee’s Music Therapy Performance

When Senior Resident Kate E. Lee, MD, MS, picked up a flute for the first time in third grade, she never imagined that one day as a physician she would use it as a therapeutic tool to soothe critically-ill ICU patients waiting for heart transplants.

In her recent Senior Associate Resident (SAR) Noon Conference presentation, “Music for Healing,” Dr. Lee’s out-of-the-box topic resonated with all those in attendance—along with each bright note she coaxed from her flute.

“I play music but I don’t think music therapy research is something that comes up often in our rounds in the hospital,” said Dr. Lee, her nimble fingers dancing over the keys in a blur as she warmed up to perform. “The hospital can be a very difficult place, stark and sterile, but when you are able to bring a little piece of your outside life and share that with patients and staff, it makes for a very unique, whimsical bonding experience. I’ve had some of my best patient-doctor interactions from that.”

Dr. Lee brings her little piece of outside life to work most days in a little black case lined in midnight blue velvet. Over the spring and summer, she took it on long calls and night shifts in the cardiac ICUs at Duke and the Durham VA Medical Center.

When she played Gabriel Fauré’s “Sicilienne” for one heart transplant recipient, he told her the piece made him think of his long, agonizing wait for a new heart and the uncertainty involved. It has been experiences like this, Dr. Lee said, that have made her realize that music contributes to healing in an adjunctive way to her medical care, and fortifies bonds with patients. It even generates bonds with strangers.

After one performance at the VA, a veteran came up to Dr. Lee in tears to tell her how touched he was and recorded a snippet for his wife, who used to play flute until she was injured.

“Music can be psychologically and physiologically beneficial, possibly more beneficial than we realize or has been studied,” she said. “Bringing a piece of outside life into the hospital is a wonderful feeling. Patients enjoy that sense of simultaneous oddity and normalcy. Interdisciplinary staff appreciate it, too, and it generates fun and unique experiences to make a regular workday different.”

“Kate’s talk emphasized for all of us that our residents are incredibly multi-faceted individuals,” said Duke Internal Medicine Residency Program Director Dr. Aimee Zaas. “It is always incredible to learn about them as people and reinforces us taking time to get to know about our patients as well.” 

Music Therapy

Music therapy has been shown to have some benefits for patients experiencing anxiety and depression in a number of settings such as cardiology, pulmonary and critical care medicine, oncology, psychiatry and neurology, Lee pointed out, with the caveat that these studies generated low quality evidence due to the impossibility of blinding.

Additionally, a 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis of five studies including 209 patients with Parkinson disease showed improvement in various gait parameters with the intervention of rhythmic auditory stimulation, a type of music therapy. There are similar findings for gait parameters in multiple sclerosis.

Music has been a touchstone for much of Dr. Lee’s life. A native of South Korea, she immigrated at age six with her mother, a graduate student in education at the time. They were later joined by her father, an industrial scientist, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where Dr. Lee began flute lessons in third grade. Her teachers early on recognized her talents and strongly encouraged her to continue studying music throughout her formative years.

On the day Dr. Lee graduated from fifth-grade, her teacher was so impressed by the little girl that she announced she was putting some of her retirement funds into a scholarship for Dr. Lee. Her parents later signed her up for private lessons with a professional flutist who had a track record for preparing kids for All State Band and the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra (MCYO).

Blossoming

When Dr. Lee tested into an international baccalaureate magnet school, she blossomed as a MCYO member, and was exposed to opportunities that thrilled her. She played the flute solos during one performance at Carnegie Hall and began competing. One win landed her a solo at the Kennedy Center. From there, it was on to Harvard University then Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. Lee told her audience that she has learned a great deal as a flutist that is applicable to medicine, such as a love for the process and what endures from it, not just the results. She draws inspiration from observing the skills of other people, which prompts her to think about how she can improve her art and overcome weaknesses. It also taught her to appreciate her own uniqueness and embrace her strengths.

Chief Resident Dr. Omar Martinez-Uribe has worked with Dr. Lee since she was an intern. He has always been impressed by her dedication—not just to medicine but also to honing her flute skills.

“Her SAR talk was a great blend of her talents,” he said. “The room was not only very interested in the music and her performance but also in the data she presented and how it might impact our patients. Overall, it was a great opportunity to learn about how music can play a role in medicine and to experience several musical pieces performed live."

Dr. Lee is currently applying for a gastroenterology fellowship and hopes to continue playing for her patients throughout her career.

“Perhaps I'll play for patients pre-endoscopy if they wish as there’s some literature on pre-procedural anxiety and music interventions,” she said. “Perhaps I’ll study music therapy in GI. There are lots of options.”

Dr. Lee's Noon Conference Performance

Cathartic poetry .

Dr. Martinez-Uribe was particularly moved by a heartfelt poem also shared by Dr. Lee, who sometimes writes as a cathartic experience. It was a poem she wrote during residency as a meditation on her first death exam.

“I remember it very well,” she said. “It’s traumatizing and the first one is also awkward. The death exam has components that I outline in my poem. When I lifted the patient’s eyelid to look at the pupil, I didn’t realize it would be so large. It was pretty frightening.”

Read Dr. Lee’s poem “Death Exam”

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After a stroke, this musician found his singing voice again with help from a special choir

A choir for stroke survivors is helping one musician find his singing voice again. It meets weekly at Mount Sinai, and stroke survivor Ron Spitzer says the choir has been crucial to his recovery. (AP Video/Shelby Lum)

Ron Spitzer, stroke survivor, rests at home on Monday, July 15, 2024, in New York. In the 1980s and ’90s, h played bass and drums in rock bands, but a stroke in 2009 put Spitzer in a wheelchair, his voice a whisper. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Ron Spitzer, stroke survivor, looks at the window as he rests at home, on Monday, July 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Ron Spitzer, a stroke survivor, walks to his music therapy session on Monday, July 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Ron Spitzer, a stroke survivor, right, sings during a music therapy session together with music therapist, Christopher Pizzute, second left, and researcher fellow, Jessica Hariwijaya, left, at Mount Sinai Hospital, on Monday, July 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Ron Spitzer, a stroke survivor, right, listens to music therapist, Christopher Pizzute, left, during a music therapy session at Mount Sinai Hospital, on Monday, July 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Ron Spitzer, a stroke survivor, right, shops, on Monday, July 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Ron Spitzer, stroke survivor, walks back home on Monday, July 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Ron Spitzer, stroke survivor, arrives home on Monday, July 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Ron Spitzer, stroke survivor, walks into his kitchen holding a cup of coffee, on Monday, July 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Ron Spitzer, stroke survivor, rests at home on Monday, July 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

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In the 1980s and ’90s, Ron Spitzer played bass and drums in rock bands — Tot Rocket and the Twins, Western Eyes and Band of Susans. He sang and wrote songs, toured the country and recorded albums. When the bands broke up, he continued to make music with friends.

But a stroke in 2009 put Spitzer in a wheelchair, partially paralyzing his left arm and leg. He gave away his drum kit. His bass sat untouched. His voice was a whisper.

Now music is part of his healing. Spitzer sings each week in a choir for people recovering from stroke at the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

“I’ve found my voice, quite literally,” Spitzer said.

AP AUDIO: After a stroke, this musician found his singing voice again with help from a special choir

AP correspondent Ed Donahue reports on the power of singing to heal stroke victims.

Scientists are studying the potential benefits of music for people with dementia, traumatic brain injuries, Parkinson’s disease and stroke. Music lights up multiple regions of the brain, strengthening neural connections between areas that govern language, memories, emotions and movement.

And music seems to increase levels of a specific protein in the brain that’s important for making new connections between neurons, said Dr. Preeti Raghavan, a stroke rehabilitation expert at Johns Hopkins Medicine and volunteer for the American Stroke Association.

“It increases the possibility that the brain will rewire,” Raghavan said.

Choirs like the one at Mount Sinai offer the hope of healing through music while also providing camaraderie, a place where stroke survivors don’t have to explain their limitations.

“We’re all part of the same tribe,” Spitzer said.

Strokes often damage cells in the brain’s left-hemisphere language center, leaving survivors with difficulty retrieving words, a condition called aphasia . Yet the ability to sing fluently can remain, said Jessica Hariwijaya, a research fellow at Mount Sinai who is studying the stroke choir.

Singing can help stroke survivors improve their ability to speak. The National Aphasia Society maintains a list of music and arts programs , including choirs that meet online, for people with the condition.

Spitzer’s stroke damaged the right side of his brain, which some scientists identify as important for processing musical pitch patterns. He lost the ability to sing familiar music. Once, a Beatles song came on the radio and he tried to sing along but the tune was gone from his mind. He called it an “out-of-body experience.”

“It was like, ‘This isn’t me,’” he said

Rigorous research is in its early days, with the National Institutes of Health supporting studies on how music works in the brain and how it might be used to treat symptoms of various conditions.

That level of research will be important for music therapy to be more widely reimbursed by health insurers, Raghavan said.

The Mount Sinai study will gauge how participation in the choir affects speech and mood, as researchers compare 20 patients randomly assigned to choir therapy with 20 patients receiving standard care. The study also will measure the effects on the patients’ caregivers who participate in the choir.

Now 68, Spitzer has completed other rehabilitation programs that helped him regain physical skills. He walks with a cane, can yell like any New Yorker and has recovered his singing voice.

“I attribute a good amount of this recovery to the stroke choir,” he said. “For me, just getting back to being able to sing a tune was very invigorating.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Music therapy uses sounds, lyrics and emotions to help patients

Hands play a black and gold Yamaha piano.

Integrating the arts, particularly music, into holistic health care continues to gain momentum in Washington state. Music therapy, which became a state-licensed profession last year, aims to enhance emotional well-being and overall quality of life. The practice has found a foothold in Seattle, a hub for both medical care and music.

Music therapy involves the use of music interventions — through instruments, recordings and other audio — to address an individual’s emotional, social, physical and psychological needs, according to the American Music Therapy Association.

Carlene Brown , a professor of music and director of the music therapy program at Seattle Pacific University, started her journey as a musician. She's been involved with the practice for over 14 years, and developed the music therapy program at SPU.

"Music therapists have therapeutic goals, and it’s about adapting to the dynamics of music and clients, based on what their needs are," said Brown, who is particularly interested in music's relationship and impact on pain.

According to Brown, what makes this practice different is that music is the medium of communication. Where other therapies might rely on conversation, music therapy does not always require discourse, and can be conveyed through sounds, lyrics or emotions.

What's music therapy like?

“There is no structured process for the sessions, because it’s all about the client, and how music therapists go about that, is very ‘in the moment,’” Brown said.

Brown explained that music therapy involves multiple treatment strategies, ranging from active music making to songwriting, such as changing lyrics to cater to the client’s life story. Therapists also consider the client's personal experiences with music.

The form of music is adapted based on client's therapeutic goals, and whether music is used receptively or actively. Music therapists record information during sessions to determine progress towards the therapeutic goal.

“There are particularly no side effects of the practice itself, because it’s about understanding how music resonates with individuals,” said Betsy Hartman, a graduate of the SPU program and founder of PNW Music Therapy .

“Music therapy can benefit many populations, especially with neurological and motor disorders,” she said.

Hartman, who started PNW Music Therapy in 2014, works with hospitals and Swedish Cancer Institute to develop music therapy programs, along with working with cancer and multiple sclerosis patients.

In addition to these collaborations, her practice organizes support groups through music making, and develops music therapy programs for clinical facilities.

“It gives clients an opportunity to creatively express, and connect with their minds and motor skills,” Hartman said. ”We’ve worked with patients suffering from anxiety, depression, cancer and even Alzheimer’s.”

How to become a music therapist

Being a music therapist requires many skills. While the practice involves instruments, music therapists must also be certified to provide treatment and complete a credit-based music therapy program.

In order to measure growth, Brown said, students are also taught data collection. The focus is to understand and measure progress towards goals determined by patients or therapists. She added that students in Washington must be fluent in piano, guitar and vocals.

For a clinical practice, students must have a bachelor’s degree or higher in music therapy from one of 72 colleges and universities approved by AMTA, plus 1200 hours of clinical training.

Additionally, music therapists must hold the MT-BC credential, issued through the Certification Board for Music Therapists, which protects the public by ensuring competent practice and requiring continuing education. The educational program lasts four years, and students have the opportunity to take classes in psychology, music and health.

A milestone for music therapy in Washington

Although the history of music therapy dates back to a century, the practice has been present in Washington for over 14 years, with a steady amount of growth. Music therapists like Hartman and Brown not only practice, but also actively promote the benefits of music therapy, to further awareness and acceptance of the field.

Previously, music therapists were not eligible to obtain licenses to practice music therapy in the state of Washington. That changed in 2023, when the state legislature passed a bill regarding the licensure of music therapists. Gov. Jay Inslee officially signed the bill in April 2023, and as of Jan. 1 2025, all music therapists will be required to obtain licenses in order to practice in the state.

“It’s taken 18 years for music therapists to get that recognition, and for people to see how music therapy has power to help individuals and the degree of training that went into studying music,” Brown said. “It is a huge achievement for my colleagues, to be able to formally exercise that power and build a foundation of music in this city.”

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University of houston launches music therapy program.

With the hiring of Director Ed Roth, the University of Houston is set to launch a new four-year degree in music therapy. The program is made possible by an anonymous $1 million donation.

The University of Houston campus. Due to concerns surrounding COVID-19, several college campuses have canceled classes.

The University of Houston is launching a four-year degree in music therapy.

UH tapped Ed Roth, who previously taught music therapy at Western Michigan University, as the program's founding director.

"Music therapy is the use of music experiences — both passive and active, meaning listening to music or making music in some way — for the end benefit of some health or educational outcome," Roth said. "So in that sense, music is a means to an end, to a health end of some sort, rather than the end product itself."

The interdisciplinary program is a collaboration between UH's Fertitta Family College of Medicine, McGovern College of the Arts and the Texas Medical Center. Students will build a foundation in music while gaining clinical experience.

"There is an interdisciplinarity to it, but often it’s practiced interprofessionally, where music therapists will practice alongside physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, psychologists, psychiatrists and teachers, so on and so forth," Roth explained.

Music therapists are in high demand. According to research by the McGovern College, student demand for music therapy degrees has increased over the past decade — and there are nearly 10 times as many music therapy-related job postings than graduates.

"I didn’t really realize that it was that much, but it doesn’t surprise me, and certainly my own experience has been such that we can’t graduate enough people to meet the job demands," Roth said. "It’s been my experience, maybe over the last 10 years — maybe a little bit longer, 15 years — that the demand has been outpacing our ability to graduate enough people to meet those demands."

The degree is possible because of an anonymous $1 million donation. UH joins five other Texas universities that offer music therapy degrees.

There are four students already enrolled, according to Roth, representing a quarter of the program's capacity before it's even officially launched. Student recruitment for the fall semester of 2025 will begin in earnest this school year.

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F.D.A. Declines to Approve MDMA Therapy, Seeking More Study

The agency said there was insufficient data to allow the use of a treatment for PTSD that involves the drug known as Ecstasy.

A close-up view of two triangular white pills in the open palm of a hand.

By Andrew Jacobs

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday declined to approve MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, dealing a serious blow to the nascent field of psychedelic medicine and dashing the hopes of many Americans who are desperate for new treatments.

The F.D.A. said there was insufficient data to allow its use, and it asked the company seeking approval for the treatment, Lykos Therapeutics, to conduct an additional clinical trial to assess whether the drug, commonly known as Ecstasy or molly, would be safe and effective.

An additional clinical trial could add years, and millions of dollars, to the approval process.

If approved, MDMA would have become the first psychedelic compound to be regulated by federal health authorities. Supporters of psychedelic medicine were deeply disappointed, and some said they were stunned, having assumed the therapy’s promising data would overcome flaws in the company’s clinical trials, which had been designed in consultation with F.D.A. scientists.

“This is an earthquake for those in the field who thought F.D.A. approval would be a cinch,” said Michael Pollan, the best-selling author and co-founder of the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics . His book, “How to Change Your Mind,” helped catalyze public interest in the therapeutic potential of psychoactive compounds, demonized during the nation’s long war on drugs.

But the agency’s decision had not been entirely unexpected, after a group of independent experts convened by the F.D.A. to evaluate Lykos’s data met in June and did not recommend the treatment. On two central questions, the experts voted overwhelmingly that the company had not proven the treatment was effective, and that the drug therapy’s benefits did not outweigh the risks.

The agency generally follows the recommendations of its outside panels. Critics, however, have questioned the panel’s expertise, noting that only one of its 11 members had experience in psychedelic medicine.

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IMAGES

(PDF) AN INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC PSYCHOTHERAPY
Essay on Music
Analytical Music Therapy Essay Example
Music Therapy Example Narrative Essay Example
Music Education And Therapy Essay Example
Music Therapy: 16 Mental Health Benefits, Uses And Myths

COMMENTS

The Transformative Power of Music in Mental Well-Being
Music therapy has shown promise in providing a safe and supportive environment for healing trauma and building resilience while decreasing anxiety levels and improving the functioning of depressed individuals. 4 Music therapy is an evidence-based therapeutic intervention using music to accomplish health and education goals, such as improving ...
Music Therapy: Why Doctors Use it to Help Patients Cope
Music therapy is increasingly used to help patients cope with stress and promote healing. Andrew Rossetti, a licensed music therapist in New York, uses guitar music and visualization exercises to ...
How and Why Music Can Be Therapeutic
Music can also be used to bring a more p ositive state of mind, helping to keep depression and anxiety at bay. The uplifting sound of music and the positive or cathartic messages conveyed in lyrics can improve mental state as well. Having a more positive state of mind as a baseline can help prevent the stress response from wreaking havoc on the ...
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Using music to tune the heart Music therapy, or just listening to music, can be good for the heart. November 2009 Reviewed and updated March 25, 2015 Music can make you laugh or cry, rile you up or calm you down. Some say it's good for the soul. It just might be good for the heart, too. Make no mistake—daily doses of Mozart won't clean
Full article: Music therapy for stress reduction: a systematic review
The present study is a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of music therapy on both physiological stress-related arousal (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, hormone levels) and psychological stress-related experiences (e.g., state anxiety, restlessness or nervousness) in clinical health care settings.
Effects of music therapy on depression: A meta-analysis of randomized
Search strategy and selection criteria. PubMed (MEDLINE), Ovid-Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Clinical Evidence were searched to identify studies assessing the effectiveness of music therapy on depression from inception to May 2020. The combination of "depress*" and "music*" was used to search potential papers from these databases.
Effectiveness of music therapy: a summary of systematic reviews based
These examined effects of music therapy over the short-to medium-term (1-4 months), with treatment "dosage" varying from seven to 78 sessions. Music therapy added to standard care was superior to standard care for global state (medium-term, one RCT, n=72, RR 0.10, 95% CI 0.03-0.31; NNT 2, 95% CI 1.2-2.2).
Recognition of the power of music in medicine is growing
Music therapy has proven effective in helping patients recover from stroke and brain injury and in managing Alzheimer's and dementia. A 2008 study published in Brain: A Journal of Neurology found that music helped people recovering from a stroke with verbal memory and maintaining focus. It also lessened depression and confusion.
(PDF) Music therapy for stress reduction: a systematic ...
To summarize the growing body of empirical research on music therapy, a multilevel meta-analysis, containing 47 studies, 76 effect sizes and 2.747 participants, was performed to assess the ...
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A recent meta-analysis of 18 music therapy studies for schizophrenia (and similar disorders) demonstrated that music therapy plus standard care (compared to standard care alone) demonstrated ...
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The analysis also points to just how music influences health. The researchers found that listening to and playing music increase the body's production of the antibody immunoglobulin A and natural killer cells — the cells that attack invading viruses and boost the immune system's effectiveness. Music also reduces levels of the stress hormone ...
Music Therapy: Definition, Types, Techniques, and Efficacy
Music therapy is a relatively new discipline, while sound therapy is based on ancient Tibetan cultural practices.; Sound therapy uses tools to achieve specific sound frequencies, while music therapy focuses on addressing symptoms like stress and pain.; The training and certifications that exist for sound therapy are not as standardized as those for music therapists.
Music and spirituality: Explanations and implications for music therapy
Abstract. Previous literature in music therapy suggests a need for greater clarity and insight concerning correlations between music and spirituality for the modern clinician. The purpose of this article is to provide a clear explanation of these correlations and some possible implications for the practice of music therapy.
Reviewing the Effectiveness of Music Interventions in Treating
Music therapy [MT] Term used primarily for a setting, where sessions are provided by a board-certified music therapist. Music therapy [MT] (Maratos et al., 2008; Bradt et al., 2015) stands for the "…clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music ...
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music therapy and music interventions [ in their broadest sense. We have approached this by reviewing over 1000 papers, articles, presentations, theses and books. We have sought to include research which represents international music therapy practice.
Harnessing the Healing Power of Music
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Neuroscientific Insights for Improved Outcomes in Music-based
Music interventions were also found to be beneficial for communication outcomes following aphasia, with moderate effect sizes of up to .75 standard deviations improvement in the intervention group ( Magee et al., 2017 ). However, the studies reviewed were found to present a high risk of bias, undermining the quality of the evidence ( Magee et ...
The Healing Power of Music Therapy: [Essay Example], 604 words
Music therapy, a clinical and evidence-based practice, employs music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional. This essay explores the multifaceted benefits of music therapy, examining its impact on mental health, neurological rehabilitation, and chronic pain management.
Things I've Learned as a Music Therapist
Music therapy in a hospital setting can be very powerful, profound, and healing. Music, for those who are suffering, can bring some humanity into their healing process. When there is nothing left ...
Music Therapy Essay
Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program (Gram, 2005). Music therapy can reach out to anyone, age. 2135 Words. 9 Pages. Decent Essays.
Essay on Music Therapy
Relaxing music is highly effective for relaxing the body, particularly the muscles. Since the central nervous system is a muscle in its own right, it is also positively influenced. (Clements-Cortés & Yu, 2021) Another benefit of music therapy is its psychological effects. For example, specific ailments, such as autism and Alzheimer's, which ...
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After a stroke, this musician found his singing voice again with help
That level of research will be important for music therapy to be more widely reimbursed by health insurers, Raghavan said. The Mount Sinai study will gauge how participation in the choir affects speech and mood, as researchers compare 20 patients randomly assigned to choir therapy with 20 patients receiving standard care. The study also will ...
Music therapy uses sounds, lyrics and emotions to help patients
Hartman, who started PNW Music Therapy in 2014, works with hospitals and Swedish Cancer Institute to develop music therapy programs, along with working with cancer and multiple sclerosis patients. In addition to these collaborations, her practice organizes support groups through music making, and develops music therapy programs for clinical ...
University of Houston launches music therapy program
With the hiring of Director Ed Roth, the University of Houston is set to launch a new four-year degree in music therapy. The program is made possible by an anonymous $1 million donation.
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