How Music Affects Wellbeing: Mood, Sleep, and Cognition

Introduction

Music has the power to generate different kinds of emotions in human beings. Even in animals, people sometimes observe changes in mood when music is played. The type of emotion music evokes depends on the type of music. Feelings that can be generated by music include fear, sadness, and happiness (Goycoolea et al., 2013). Therefore, the mood-altering effect of music can be either positive (happiness) or negative (sadness). However, how music exactly affects emotion or mood is not straightforward. While some music generally evokes the same feelings in most people, individuals are often affected differently by the same piece (Rana et al., 2011).

For the purposes of this paper, music refers to any singing, playing of a musical instrument, pre-recorded music, or live music. Whether one chooses to play music, sing, or listen to music, there will always be mood-altering and several other effects. One of the most frequently cited reasons for this is that music engages individuals on both the conscious and subconscious levels. This paper explores the ways in which music affects wellbeing.

Improving Cognitive Performance

Studies have revealed that listening to background music — music that plays while a person is primarily focused on another activity — enhances cognitive performance. This is especially true among older individuals. One such study, conducted by Bottiroli et al. (2014), revealed that playing upbeat music enhanced cognitive processing speeds and that playing most types of music improved memory. Does this mean that students who play music while studying benefit greatly from the practice? Not necessarily. While some students believe that playing music while studying enhances memory, others find it a distraction that hinders their ability to engage with difficult concepts.

Research shows that playing music while studying is only beneficial when certain factors are aligned — factors such as the listener's musical training, how much the listener is enjoying the music, and the type of music being listened to. One 2013 study revealed that students who are musically trained generally perform well in examinations when they listen to neutral music, because this type is not very distracting and can easily be tuned out (Gold et al., 2013). Students who are not musically trained, by contrast, perform well when they listen to positive, upbeat music, since such music evokes a positive mood and emotions without interfering with memory formation. Therefore, while music does affect memory, how exactly it does so depends on the listener. If a listener finds a particular type of music distracting, they are better off not listening while studying or performing cognitively demanding tasks.

Another landmark study demonstrating that music improves cognitive performance is Ludke et al. (2014). That study revealed that people trying to master a foreign language had better success in improving their abilities when they sang new phrases and words rather than simply saying them aloud.

Reducing Stress and Managing Pain

Many people have long reported that music helps them manage or reduce stress. This has led to the development of music specifically designed for meditation or to soothe the mind and create a sense of calm. Research supports this claim. According to Thoma et al. (2013), music helps individuals recover more quickly after exposure to a stressor. To investigate this, Thoma and colleagues divided participants into three groups: one group was exposed to no music, a second listened to the sound of rippling water, and a third listened to relaxing music. All groups were subsequently exposed to a stressor and then assessed with a stress test. The researchers found that both groups that had listened to some form of sound recovered faster from the stressor than the group that had not been exposed to any music.

In addition to reducing stress, research has also shown that music can assist with pain management. In one study, Onieva-Zafra and colleagues (2013) discovered that patients with fibromyalgia who were exposed to music for only 60 minutes a day reported considerable pain reduction compared to those who did not listen to any music. This finding is supported by Hole et al. (2015), whose study found that patients exposed to music before, during, and after surgical operations reported less anxiety and pain than control group patients who listened to no music.

Conclusion

This paper investigated the effect of music on wellbeing and found that music generally has a positive effect. Listening to music can improve mood, increase motivation, address insomnia, reduce stress, and improve cognitive performance. The effect of music on wellbeing depends on both the music itself and the individual listener. Based on the evidence reviewed, it can be concluded that music is a valuable tool for improving both health and wellbeing.

References

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