Music heals the body as well as the soul.

[Bunny]

Today there is an article in the NY Times about a surgeon/musician, Dr. Claudius Conrad who has done research into how music affects the body.   

Dr. Conrad [...] recently published a provocative paper suggesting that music may exert healing and sedative effects partly through a paradoxical stimulation of a growth hormone generally associated with stress rather than healing.

This jump in growth hormone, said Dr. John Morley, an endocrinologist at St. Louis University Medical Center who was not involved with the study, "is not what you'd expect, and it's not precisely clear what it means."

But he said it raised "some wonderful new possibilities about the physiology of healing," and added: "And of course it has a nice sort of metaphorical ring. We used to talk about the neuroendocrine system being a sort of neuronal orchestra conductor directing the immune system. Here we have music stimulating this conductor to get the healing process started."

Here's a link to the article in the Times.  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/20prof.html?ref=science

[jochanaan]

Very interesting!  If true, it would confirm something I've speculated about for years.  But why limit it to Mozart?  I for one find that I respond even better to music that's more outwardly complex and cathartic than Mozart's: Bach, whose complexities are obvious to all; Beethoven; Bruckner; Mahler; Stravinsky; Varèse; and other composers who push the edge of musical possibility.  Once during a bad personal time when I had heard very little music except at home, where things were so bad it did little good, a work colleague loaned me her boombox and headphones with a Wagner tape inside; even the relatively brief orchestral excerpts opened my heart up again in a healing catharsis.

A related research project might compare the overall physical and psychological health of musicians and non-musicians.  Has anyone done anything like that?

[marvinbrown]

Once during a bad personal time when I had heard very little music except at home, where things were so bad it did little good, a work colleague loaned me her boombox and headphones with a Wagner tape inside; even the relatively brief orchestral excerpts opened my heart up again in a healing catharsis.

Attention all GMG members: Now this is the sort of post that we need more of on the GMG discussion threads! 

  Well done jochanaan  0:), well done! 

 
  marvin

[Bunny]

Very interesting!  If true, it would confirm something I've speculated about for years.  But why limit it to Mozart?  I for one find that I respond even better to music that's more outwardly complex and cathartic than Mozart's: Bach, whose complexities are obvious to all; Beethoven; Bruckner; Mahler; Stravinsky; Varèse; and other composers who push the edge of musical possibility.  Once during a bad personal time when I had heard very little music except at home, where things were so bad it did little good, a work colleague loaned me her boombox and headphones with a Wagner tape inside; even the relatively brief orchestral excerpts opened my heart up again in a healing catharsis.

A related research project might compare the overall physical and psychological health of musicians and non-musicians.  Has anyone done anything like that?

I think the point was that something in Mozart's melodic structure affects the brain in a particular way.  That doesn't mean that Mozart is the only composer with that effect, he's just the only one with a scientifically documented effect.  Someone will have to research all of the other composers in the same controlled way to see if they also have an analgesic effect or curative effect.  Until then, Mozart has the seal of approval for my headaches, and muscle aches, and toothaches, and earaches, et al.  I guess I'll be loading up my ipod with Mozart before I go to the dentist.

[greg]

the Mozart effect, Baby Mozart CDs, blah blah blah.......

ugggggghhhhhhh
is this all people hear about classical music?
Actually, I saw something at the bookstore years ago and had to show my dad- it was titled something like "There's more to classical music than Mozart"- and i think it might've been that same day i bought Prokofiev's recording of his own music and let him listen to some of that.

I'd never throw on Mozart for a headache, with the exception of a few works. Most likely it'd make it worse with mind-numbing boringness.

[btpaul674]

the Mozart effect, Baby Mozart CDs, blah blah blah.......

ugggggghhhhhhh
is this all people hear about classical music?
Actually, I saw something at the bookstore years ago and had to show my dad- it was titled something like "There's more to classical music than Mozart"- and i think it might've been that same day i bought Prokofiev's recording of his own music and let him listen to some of that.

I'd never throw on Mozart for a headache, with the exception of a few works. Most likely it'd make it worse with mind-numbing boringness.

Thank you, Greg, for that.

Sincerely,
-A student of the cognitive studies of music.

[greg]

Thank you, Greg, for that.

Which part?

[btpaul674]

Alright alright....

From a listener's point of view, I can't stand Mozart. His banality extends far beyond anything I can tolerate. I'd soon take (but nevertheless feel the same way about) Haydn.

I can assure you (and I'm sure most of you agree) Mozart DOES NOT have any special healing powers in his music. Cimarosa, Bach, Scarlatti, would all have the same effect. I'd say half of the 'magic' about this is the performance itself.

Hell, we don't even listen to Mozart like he heard it! Nonetheless Beethoven! Consult Mark Lindley.

Dr. Conrad noted that Mozart used distinctive phrases that are fairly short, often only four or even two measures long, and then repeated these phrases to build larger sections. Yet he changed these figures often in ways the listener may not notice — a change in left-hand arpeggios or chord structures, for instance, that slips by unremarked while the ear attends the right hand's melody, which itself may be slightly embellished.

These intricate variations are absorbed as part of a melodic accessibility so well organized that even a sonata for two pianos never feels crowded in the ear, even when it grows dense on the page. The melody lulls and delights while the underlying complexity stimulates.

Dr. Conrad obviously doesn't really examine a lot of music does he.


There is so much garbage also with the experimental design that it is SICKENING.

Occasionally, his operating room colleagues do give him grief. Then, he said with a grin, "I remind them that there is only one person in the room with a doctorate in music philosophy, so if you don't like the music, the expertise is on my side."

I hate you.

[btpaul674]

Which part?

The gist of your opinions on Mozart and his cult-like Effect following.

[greg]

The gist of your opinions on Mozart and his cult-like Effect following.

ah, okay 

[eyeresist]

I listen to music + am very unhealthy, therefore music is bad for me.

[btpaul674]

Correlation does not imply causation.

[Bunny]

the Mozart effect, Baby Mozart CDs, blah blah blah.......

ugggggghhhhhhh
is this all people hear about classical music?
Actually, I saw something at the bookstore years ago and had to show my dad- it was titled something like "There's more to classical music than Mozart"- and i think it might've been that same day i bought Prokofiev's recording of his own music and let him listen to some of that.

I'd never throw on Mozart for a headache, with the exception of a few works. Most likely it'd make it worse with mind-numbing boringness.

Did you read the article?  It's not about the now debunked "Mozart effect" which posited that listening to Mozart could make children more intelligent or perform better on tests.  The article is about how music generally affects the brain and body, specifically how listening to some types of music can ameliorate post-operative surgical pain.  The research was done with Mozart's music, but there is no reason to believe that it might not apply to other types of music.

Btw, I don't know of any music that I would listen to with a headache.  However, if my knee was sore and swollen as a result of surgery, I'd certainly be listening to something.

[greg]

Did you read the article?  It's not about the now debunked "Mozart effect" which posited that listening to Mozart could make children more intelligent or perform better on tests.  The article is about how music generally affects the brain and body, specifically how listening to some types of music can ameliorate post-operative surgical pain.  The research was done with Mozart's music, but there is no reason to believe that it might not apply to other types of music.

Btw, I don't know of any music that I would listen to with a headache.  However, if my knee was sore and swollen as a result of surgery, I'd certainly be listening to something.

Hmmmmm because it's more relaxing, maybe?
i don't think i read much of the article

[jochanaan]

I listen to music + am very unhealthy, therefore music is bad for me.

But would you be more or less healthy without music?