8 Ways to Turn On the Power of Music
Put music in your life, and share it with friends and family. Music may improve well-being, including quality of life.
Dance, sing or move to music for exercise, stress relief, social connections and brain stimulation.
Listen to familiar music that comforts you and evokes positive memories and associations.
Try listening to new music. too. Unfamiliar melodies may stimulate your brain.
Listen to music to encourage yourself to exercise. Music can provide a mental boost and help motivate you to move your body.
Get your hearing checked. Correcting hearing loss is important for maintaining brain health, preserving cognillve function and enjoying music.
Make music yourself by singing or playing an instrument.
Make music with other people. Try joining or forming a community choir, a band or an orchestra.
Source: AARP-founded Global Council on Brain Health
Along with improving mood, music promotes movement--another key component lo brain health. Emerging research shows that one of the best ways to protect the health of your brain as you age is to embrace healthy Hfestyle habits, including regular physical activity. And music can be an enjoyable way to get in that exercise, the GCBH notes. Music can even make exercise seem easier and help speed up recovery after a hard workout, the report's authors explain. Experts are harnessing the power of music to help adults recover from brain injuries and diseases and to ease the symptoms they cause. One example can be seen in stroke rehabilitation. Many adults who suffer a stroke lose their ability to speak. Oftentimes, however, they can still sing, and music therapists can help stroke survivors regain their speech through singing Similarly, many adults with Parkinson's disease struggle to walk, but music and dance can strengthen movement and improve gait. "The unique thing about music and dance is Its rhythmic nature provides an external source for meter or pulse," which can help the brain restore impaired movement, the UCSF's Johnson says. For older adults with dementia, caregivers and therapists use music to trigger memories. A song from someone's childhood, for example, can help the patient recall people and places from that time in her life. Music can also be used to treat dementia agitation, "which may take the form of aggressiveness, wandering, restlessness and other undesirable behaviors," the GCBH report states. The best news from the report is that it takes very little time, money and effort to reap the brain benefits that music provides. Recommendations from the report include singing and dancing more, listening to new and familiar tunes. and engaging in music with others. Of course, playing an instrument is good for the brain, too, as ii requires the use of many cognitive skills, such as attention and memory. "But not everybody can do that," Wake Forest's Burdette observes. Rather, he says, it's about making a little room in your life for music, more broadly. Even just listening to music has its benefits, AARP's Lock says. "We inherently understand that music is powerful. But the fact that we don't have more proof of ii is surprising," Lock says.