You might not realize that music engages not only your auditory system but many other parts of your brain as well, including areas responsible for movement, language, attention, memory, and emotion.
Music can pierce the heart directly; it needs no mediation
-Oliver Sacks
Heartfelt harmonies?
Music can also alter your brain chemistry, and these changes may produce cardiovascular benefits, as evidenced by a number of different studies. For example, studies have found that listening to music may
- enable people to exercise longer during cardiac stress testing done on a treadmill or stationary bike
- improve blood vessel function by relaxing arteries
- help heart rate and blood pressure levels return to baseline more quickly after physical exertion
- ease anxiety in heart attack survivors
- help people recovering from heart surgery to feel less pain and anxiety (and possibly sleep better).
Notable effects
Like other pleasurable sensations, listening to or creating music triggers the release of dopamine, a brain chemical that makes people feel engaged and motivated. As Harris points out, “An exercise class without music is unimaginable.”
Sound processing begins in the brainstem, which also controls the rate of your heartbeat and respiration. This connection could explain why relaxing music may lower heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure — and also seems to ease pain, stress, and anxiety.
