Radio Brains

Could music be the KEY to healthy brains?

 This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science… saying…

Be quiet! This is my jam! There’s nothing quite like good music to pick us up when we’re down. But could music help us recover from brain injuries? 

That’s just what Jesús Pastor and colleagues in Madrid tuned in to find out.

The team measured individual brain wave responses to music. They played classical, twelve-tone, and heavy metal to critically ill patients under sedation.

Heavy metal tended to ramp up brain responses, measured by EEG. Meanwhile, classical tended to quiet brain activity. They even showed different parts of the brain responded more to different genres. This suggests music may play an important role in altering brain activity. The researchers believe it might help critically ill patients jumpstart their recovery!  

Depending on what’s needed for rehabilitation, different music genres may even be prescribed! Tunes might be just what the doctor ordered. 

So turn up that speaker! Just need to TUNE up my brain!


Reference:

Jesús Pastor, Lorena Vega-Zelaya, Alfonso Canabal. Pilot Study: The Differential Response to Classical and Heavy Metal Music in Intensive Care Unit Patients under Sedo-Analgesia. J. Integr. Neurosci. 2023, 22(2), 30. https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2202030