Physical Health: New Research Findings, “Western Classical Music” Enhances Mood
Physical Health: Researchers aim to use music therapy for individuals with treatment-resistant depression.
Extensive studies show that classical music, whether Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart, positively impacts people’s moods. Chinese scientists, in research published on August 9 in Cell Press, demonstrated through measuring brain waves and neuroimaging techniques that Western classical music has a positive effect on the brain. The researchers aim to find effective ways to use music to activate the brains of individuals who do not respond to other treatments, such as those suffering from treatment-resistant depression.
Physical Health, Bumin Sun, the lead author, director, and professor at the Center for Functional Neurosurgery at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, states: “This research, by combining fields of neuroscience, psychiatry, and neurosurgery, lays the foundation for any type of study considering the interaction between music and emotions. Ultimately, we hope to translate these research findings into clinical trials and develop suitable and effective music therapy tools and applications.”
Physical Health, According to EurekAlert, this research focused on 13 patients with treatment-resistant depression who had electrodes implanted in their brains for deep brain stimulation. These implants were placed in a circuit connecting two frontal brain areas, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc). The researchers discovered that music has antidepressant effects by synchronizing neural oscillations between the auditory cortex, responsible for processing sensory information, and the reward circuit, responsible for processing emotional information.
Physical Health: “Western Classical Music” Enhances Mood
Physical Health, The patients in this study were divided into two groups: Those who did not particularly enjoy this type of music and those who liked it. It was found that those who enjoyed the music showed better antidepressant results, while the outcomes in the group that did not enjoy the music were weaker. By grouping the patients, the researchers could study the antidepressant mechanisms of music more precisely and propose personalized music therapy programs to improve treatment outcomes.
Physical Health, In this study, the researchers used several pieces of Western classical music. This type of music was chosen because most participants were unfamiliar with it, and the researchers wanted to avoid any interference from pre-existing mental associations. Sun says, “We concluded that music selections became personalized during the listening process; it wasn’t that individuals had an emotional connection with them beforehand.”
Physical Health, In the future, this research group will focus on several areas, including how the interaction of music and deep brain structures plays a role in depressive disorders. They will also explore other forms of sensory stimuli, such as visual images, to examine “the effectiveness of combined sensory stimulation in treating depression.”
Physical Health, Sun adds, “We plan to collaborate with clinicians, music therapists, computer scientists, and engineers to develop a range of digital health products based on music therapy, such as smartphone applications and wearable devices. These products will combine personal music preferences, real-time emotional control and feedback, and multisensory experiences from virtual reality to provide suitable and effective self-help tools for managing emotions and improving individuals’ daily lives.”
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