Key Takeaways
- Music reduces stress by lowering cortisol levels, and relieves pain for acute and chronic conditions.
- Memory is powerfully affected by music, sparking more neurological connections in the brain.
- Music helps people recover from health conditions more quickly and build stronger friendships, which lessens their risk of depression and serious disease.
We are proud to be the title sponsor for this year’s Rochester International Jazz Festival, and to celebrate the ways music, wellness, and community can come together. We hope you’ll join us for nine days of great music, meaningful connections, wellness activities, and more.
At its core, music has the power to heal people’s bodies and minds. You can see it in the joy of a group of friends at a concert, or the sparkle in someone’s eye as they recall a decades-old memory linked to a certain melody.
Science demonstrates the healing power of music physically and mentally. We asked Phil Marshall, a music therapist with Rochester Regional Health, about some of the ways music helps to bring wholeness to our bodies and minds.
1. Music reduces stress
When we listen to music that we associate with relaxation, it helps to lessen whatever stress we may be experiencing in the current moment. Research shows when people listen to relaxing music, their cortisol levels drop.
“When patients are experiencing stress or pain, it can manifest in them dwelling on it subconsciously. But when I sit with them and play music, I feel like it can take them from a place of stress to something better” Marshall said.
2. Music relieves pain
The effects of music on pain are surprising and well-studied. Studies suggest that using music as a supplemental approach for pain relief can relieve not just acute pain, but also chronic and procedural pain.
Other studies suggest cancer patients who received some form of music therapy alongside other medical treatments felt their pain levels reduced more than patients without music therapy.
“Patients are often able to self-report a transition from feeling lousy to feeling much better,” Marshall said.
3. Music improves memory
When a person listens to music, different areas of their brain are activated, including the hippocampus (memory) and prefrontal cortex (emotions), which can create strong memories that last an actual lifetime.
In fact, research shows older people see increased brain connectivity when they listen to some of their favorite songs.
“Sometimes I’ll just play one song and sit with a patient, and that song will get them talking about music and their family and where they grew up,” Marshall said. “All it takes is one song to get them to that point.”
4. Music helps people recover faster
Whether you’re recovering from an illness or a surgery, reducing your stress levels can help you recover more quickly. The American College of Surgeons points out that music helps to lower your heart rate and cortisol levels, and reduce anxiety – all of which contribute to less stress.
If you can cut down on stress by listening to good music, put those headphones on or head to a concert!
5. Music builds community
Maintaining a strong group of friends and family in your life benefits your health in a lot of ways. People with healthy friendships and close friends are less likely to suffer from depression or die from heart disease or other chronic illnesses. Going to a concert or music festival with those friends and family members is a great way to build up those relationships and create lasting memories.
Music helps to create moments that bring us together, experiences that bring us joy, and connections that keep us well. That’s why the Rochester International Jazz Festival in partnership with Rochester Regional Health is such an important part of our vision to be a 21st-century model for health and healing. That vision extends beyond medical care to support wellness in all its forms.
By supporting the arts and community events, we are strengthening our connection with our neighbors and helping to ensure that, like our world-class healthcare, world-class music is available to everyone.