This is Part 4 of Dr. Arthur W. Harvey's 5-part article, "Raise Your EQ With Music". The References are in Part 5.
by Dr. Arthur W. Harvey, B.S., M.M., D.M.A.
Since emotions do have a biological and neurological basis, and music offers a significant vehicle for expressing, symbolizing, and educating emotions, then there ought to be some evidence of specific neurochemical changes as a result of musical experiences.
Recent research interest focuses on the health benefits of music, demonstrating that emotional experiences evoked by music produce empirical evidence of the need for music education as a means of developing emotional intelligence in individuals of all ages.
Following is evidence from a few of these recent studies:
Neurochemical Responses to Music Experiences:
Serotonin
A music therapist at Duke Hospital, Cheryl Benze, has found while working with more than 1,000 patients annually for the past 18 years that music therapy primarily helps patients by reducing stress and pain, crediting the listening to music with triggering the production of serotonin, which causes pleasure.
Melatonin
In an effort to quantify the link between music and wellness, Dr, Frederick Tims of Michigan State University reported in Alternative Therapies [19] in November 1999 a study showing that patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) who underwent four weeks of structured music therapy 30 to 40 minutes five times a week had increases in their level of melatonin, a neurohormone linked with sleep regulation and believed to influence the immune system.
The therapeutic music sessions involved 20 male patients at the Miami Veterans Administration Medical Center playing, drumming, or singing along with their favorite old songs and new songs. The patients showed a 216 percent mean increase in serum melatonin levels compared to readings taken just before the music therapy began. In addition, the levels had increased even more when researchers checked them again six weeks later.
While the focus of this study was to find the effect of music therapy upon melatonin levels, the study also noted changes in other brain chemicals such as prolactin, serotonin, norepinephrine and epinephrine. The conclusion of the study was that increased levels of melatonin following music therapy contributed to the patients* relaxed and calm mood.
Human Growth Hormone (hGH)
A breakthrough study with a group of 61 retirees in Florida in 1998 taking group keyboard lessons over a period of two 10-week semesters found that music making had a significant effect on increasing levels of human growth hormone (hGH).
Human growth hormone is implicated in such aging phenomena as osteoporosis, energy levels, wrinkling, sexual function, muscle mass, and aches and pains. Human growth hormone (hGH) is synthesized in the pituitary gland, and decreases with aging. In this study hGH levels increased dramatically in older students who were taking group keyboard lessons.
Concurrent with the chemical changes, there was reduction in anxiety as measured on the Mental Health Inventory Anxiety scores, a decrease in depression as measured on the Profile of Mood States Depression/Dejection scores, and a decrease in loneliness scores as measured on the UCLA Loneliness Scale.
Natural Killer Cells (NK)
A study released in the January 2001 edition of Alternative Therapies explored the potential for biological benefits of group drumming music therapy to reverse specific immune system effects of the classical stress response.
A team led by Dr. Barry Bittman at the Meadville, PA-based Mind-Body Wellness Center with Loma Linda University Medical Center researchers found that a single group drumming session conducted in a lighthearted manner fostered self-expression and developed camaraderie, while boosting the activity of Natural Killer (NK) cells that seek out and destroy cancer cells and virally-infected cells.
"The beauty of drumming as opposed to other activities is that you can take it anywhere, teach it in only a few minutes and offer it to groups of ill and well people alike," Bittman adds. "Composite drumming enables people to enjoy myriad psychological and physical benefits. While immersed in this form of music making, their tension is rapidly transformed into a joyful, moving and enlivening experience."
In modern cancer research, an important goal is to identify therapies that stimulate "cell-mediated" immune responses. This group drumming study appeared to stimulate just such a response; in the group drumming protocol tested by the Bittman team, test subjects showed significant increases in NK cell activity and other immune ceil activity.
The study also found that the participating drummers improved their ratios of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) to cortisol, a condition beneficial to immune system function, and found similar increases in NK cell activity stimulated by interleukin-2 and interferon-gamma, two examples of substances call "cytokines" that help drive the immune system. Additionally, there are several researchers that have documented the impact of music on the immune system by measuring Salivary Immunoglobulin A.
This article was written to provide an introduction to, or reminder of, the importance of music for human development, not just 1Q but also EQ. It is my hope that it might lead you to explore the vast literature on emotions and emotional intelligence, using the following bibliography as a prelude to an adventure in learning.
As new Music-Brain Connections are found and new advocacy campaigns are developed to promote the importance of music education in our schools, and since music is essentially a language of the emotions, understanding Emotional Intelligence will certainly have an impact on your teaching/learning agenda for the coming years.
Raise Your EQ with Music - Part 1
Raise Your EQ with Music - Part 2
Raise Your EQ with Music - Part 3
Raise Your EQ with Music - Part 5 - References
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