Interesting study with decent sample size of 145 subjects that experienced controlled pain while focusing on music. The idea is that music helps reduce pain because it activates sensory pathways that compete with the pain pathways and the data seems to back this up. What was super interesting was that they got the participants to rank their anxiety about the pain before hand and had hypothesized that those with high anxiety with the pain would be least affected by the music. Turns out the opposite - apparently the more anxious you are about the pain - the more likely it is that the music will have a positive and soothing effect.
research from Japan on Mice - the only thing you need to know is this:
"They found that opera and classical music both increased the time before the transplanted organs failed, but single frequency monotones and new age music did not."
take that Yanni!
I like this article - not least because the dataset involved over a thousand twins! Bottom line - no amount of practicing is going to turn you into a pro unless you have a genetic predisposition. So - sorry to all the people out there who tell their kids "You can do anything you want if you just try hard enough." yes it's a nice sentiment but the real world doesn't work that way. It reminds me of student athletes who are promised they could play in the pros one day but whose parents gifted them a smaller frame than their competition. It doesn't matter how hard you work - if you're 8 inches shorter than the other guy - it's going to be tough!
Should be required reading for all teenagers (and anybody for that matter) who live with their earbuds in. We knew about high volumes damaging the hair cells (although I hadn't realized it was permanent) but this study would indicate that the damage is also replicated ins the auditory cortex - which will affect how you process speech and conversation. The big takeaway - be careful with your volume - I really do suspect that there's going to be a whole generation that is hard of hearing later on in life!
#musictoworkto #musictherapy #musicandpain
Written while listening to: Minecraft Playlist
Image Credit: Quinn Dombrowski - Flickr
This is brilliant - seems that if you listen to music while you're snowboarding you're less likely to have an accident. However, the data does come with the caveat that if you do have an accident while listening to music - it's more likely to be significant and end up with a trip to the ER instead of being handled by the snow patrol on the hill.
It reminds me of driving behavior in Germany back in the day - accidents were pretty infrequent, as most people obeyed the traffic laws, however - when there was an accident it was generally pretty horrendous due to the unlimited speeds allowed on the autobahn.
The takeaway for me is the whole idea that music can encourage and facilitate the development of a state of flow. That place where you're not really thinking about what you're doing - you're just in the zone and performing effortlessly. So for our snowboarders they make less mistakes and have less accidents. the down side could potentially be that they start testing the limits of their ability - resulting in the big accidents that send them off to the ER.
Ah well - no pain - no gain!!! ;-p
When you look at the list of benefits as identified by scientific studies it just makes you wonder why more people aren't shouting about this. Improved T cell counts, helping Alzheimer patients, reducing drop out rates and even reversing genetic responses to stress! I wonder if it's just cultural - the idea that a drum circle is typically populated by 60's throwbacks and the whole hippie thing that keeps people from actively attending or doing something with this information. I guess we're going to need even more studies before people are convinced.
Studies over the years have show the clear benefits that music can bring to runners - I particularly remember the one quoted that shows that music can reduce the perception of exertion by 10% and that synchronizing movements to the beat can increase performance by 15%. Who wouldn't want to get that benefit?
It's going to make runners at least more aware of the tempo of tracks and as the article says move people more into the techno and hip hop worlds!
Short primer on how composers use music to manipulate emotions in the movie world. Although we're all familiar with the sounds of Jaws and the shower scene from Psycho - its the infrasounds used in Paranormal Activity - those deep frequencies that we can't hear but feel - that really - that I think are really interesting!
It's funny - when we sat down 9 years ago and wrote the business plan for music2work2 we knew that one of the indicators of success would be the arrival of articles that talk about how music can help productivity. It always puts a smile on my face to read pieces like this. If you're struggling with someone who says music doesn't have an effect - get them to read this. but remember - it is all subjective - and even though these studies show a benefit - there are plenty of people for whom music is a terrible distraction - whether its instrumental or not!
#musictoworkto #musictowriteto #musictorunto
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