The Magic of Music: Healing, Memory, and Connection

Music has been used for millennia to heal the body, mind, and spirit. Recent research offers insights into its therapeutic potential.

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Anne, who had dementia, was having a rough morning in the dining room at her retirement and care center. Nothing was right—or could be right—and she was in a terrible mood.

Rob Cheifetz, a music therapist working with Anne while doing an internship at the care center, began playing “You Are My Sunshine” on the piano at the request of another patient in the dining room.

At the line “You'll never know, dear,” Anne began pounding her table and shouting: “No, no, no, that is all wrong. You have to make it sweet! What’s wrong with you?”

Cheifetz replied: “Oh no, that won’t do. We have to sweeten up our song, then! Tell me, Anne, how do we make it sweet?”

Not averse to being the center of attention, Anne began directing Cheifetz on how to play the song. At first she was angry, but as he followed her lead and matched her pitch and tempo, she started to sing and even smiled for the first time in days. When Cheifetz asked what the song meant to her, Anne opened up about her past as a high school teacher, choir conductor, and school principal, sharing her story with the whole room.

“Folks in the room, including care partners she had verbally abused most of the morning, had the opportunity to be reminded of her personhood and separate Anne the person from the symptoms of her disease,” Cheifetz told The Epoch Times.

Music has long been a companion of humanity. There is evidence that it played a role in daily life as early as 40,000 years ago.

It’s a powerful force that can shape our thoughts and feelings, unlock memories, and strengthen social bonds. Science has explored music’s influence on us—from enhancing cognitive function to boosting our mood.

Emerging research reveals how the earliest encounters with music may shape our development. At the same time, scientists are uncovering unique aspects of how music affects our pain perception and improves our focus and concentration, deepening our understanding of its healing capabilities.

Music as Therapy

Music is a therapeutic tool that can be used in various ways. One way is through music therapy, a structured, evidence-based practice in which trained professionals use music to help people achieve specific therapeutic goals in a professional setting.

According to the American Music Therapy Association, music therapists work in numerous settings, including:

• Psychiatric hospitals
• Rehabilitative facilities
• Medical hospitals
• Outpatient clinics
• Day care treatment centers
• Agencies serving people with developmental disabilities
• Community mental health centers
• Drug and alcohol programs
• Senior centers
• Nursing homes
• Hospice programs
• Correctional facilities
• Halfway houses
• Schools
• Private practice

Music is used to promote wellness, manage stress, alleviate pain, help people express their feelings, enhance memory, improve communication, and promote physical rehabilitation.

Cheifetz is a board-certified music therapist at Maya’s Music, which offers music therapy to people with developmental disabilities, many of whom have difficulty communicating.

“Music has many of the same features as language,” he told The Epoch Times in an email. “Rhythm, tempo, dynamics, syllables, melodic gestures, emotive contours, and so much more.

“Music can be used as an alternative to relying on words for expressing oneself and understanding others. For example, when I sit down to make music with a client with autism who is nonverbal, I can express curiosity and ask for trust by musically mimicking the sounds and physical gestures that my client makes.

“As we build rapport we can build on that vocabulary by introducing new, related musical gestures. ... But music is communication. It’s a form of communication that incorporates movement, sound-making, language, emotion, identity, in-group/out-group, and so much more.”

Cheifetz elaborated on the meaning of “in-group” and “out-group,” terms that refer to music’s role in identifying with a group. For example, those who listen to classical music tend to identify with others who also listen to classical music, which can be exhibited externally by clothing choices, mannerisms, language, and so forth.

“Listening to a particular band or genre of music connects us to a community of folks that identify with that music,” Cheifetz said.

He said choosing music that we enjoy is also vital to the success of music therapy interventions. He noted that music is an excellent motivator. Music that we love can be used as a reward, a motivation to move and participate, and a tool to help us remember, as the brain strongly connects music with memories.

Music and Pain

Music has been used throughout the ages to facilitate the healing of the body, mind, and spirit. The ancient Greeks recognized music’s restorative abilities. Ancient Greek physicians used flutes, lyres, and other instruments for healing uses that ranged from aiding digestion and inducing sleep to treating mental disturbances.

In the modern era, multiple studies have demonstrated music’s ability to reduce pain, although how the brain produces this analgesic effect remains unclear.

A new study published in the journal PAIN may be one step closer to the answer.

According to the study, previous research had relied on intuition to determine what music was used rather than a scientific understanding of how the music affects our perception of pain.

Researchers examined the relationship between the speed at which a piece of music is played (its tempo) and its ability to relieve pain.

Previous research found that when people were asked to tap or sing a simple melody, each did so at a specific rate unique to them, known as the spontaneous production rate (SPR). Scientists believe that this rate comes from an internal biological clock called an endogenous oscillator, which generates our circadian rhythms.

According to the dynamical systems theory, SPR represents the most efficient pace for the body, or the pace that uses the smallest amount of energy possible while still producing accurate movements.

The study investigated whether using individuals’ SPR, or unique tempo, could increase music’s pain-relieving effects.

To determine SPR, the study authors asked participants to tap out a simple melody at a rate that was comfortable for them. They then rated how painful a stimulation using heat was for participants while in four different conditions:

• Listening to music altered to match their SPR
• Listening to music 15 percent faster than their SPR
• Listening to music 15 percent slower than their SPR
• Listening to no music (silence)

The results showed that the music that matched the participant’s SPR reduced pain the most dramatically, compared with the faster or slower tempos. The results demonstrated that matching the tempo of the music to an individual’s SPR is optimal for pain reduction, supporting the authors’ hypothesis.

Music and Our Mood

Music can evoke powerful emotions. It can lift our spirits and make us cry.

Nancy DeLong is a classically trained musician and lifelong singer who has performed a wide range of genres, from opera to musical theater, throughout her career. She is also my mother.

DeLong said music is meant to connect with people and that when you perform, you want it to speak to the audience and pull them in—to reach them emotionally.

She recounted the story of two opera singers.

Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi were two of the most famous opera singers of the second half of the 20th century—sopranos known for their incredible talent. They were rivals, but each had a unique style.

DeLong said Tebaldi had a beautiful, smooth, liquid tone. In contrast, Callas’s voice was slightly more raw and less even, although full of emotion and power.

“Tebaldi was lovely, but when Callas sang, you couldn’t be indifferent,” DeLong said. “She reached out, grabbed you by the heart, and pulled—hard.”

Music’s effect on our mood is well-known, and research suggests that it can be beneficial for those with depression and anxiety. For instance, in a 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis that included data from 1,777 older adults with depression, music therapy reduced depression and anxiety, lowered blood pressure, and enhanced cognitive ability.

The review found a few interventions that yielded the best results for reducing depression in older adults:

• Passive music therapy (listening to music rather than playing or creating it)
• Single sessions of 60 minutes
• One-on-one sessions rather than group sessions
• A total of 20 hours of music therapy overall

Music can also help us express and process difficult emotions such as grief. Music can remind us of someone we have lost, and listening can help us connect with them, remember them, and feel grief that may be hard to express.

Music therapy is often used in pre-loss care, the supportive and compassionate care given to parents during their child’s end-of-life phase, particularly in cases of terminal illness.

In a poignant study, music therapists used heartbeat recordings to help parents of children with progressive neurodegenerative illnesses cope with their grief and loss.

A heartbeat recording synchronizes a child’s heartbeat with a favorite song.

Three months after parents received the recordings, interviews with them revealed that the heartbeat recordings helped them validate their child’s life, manage their emotions, and express their grief.

Music and the Mind

Music can also help us focus, increase productivity, and enhance accuracy while performing tasks.

In a study published in February in PLOS One, researchers examined how different types of music affect cognition and mood, particularly in a work setting. The researchers chose two different types of music—one that was promoted to enhance “workflow” and “deep focus” and one that was composed of popular hit songs. Researchers used background office sounds to compare and represent typical sounds heard in an office environment.

Participants listened to the music while doing a cognitively demanding task that required focused attention, called “the flanker task.”

The results showed that only those listening to the workflow music had significant improvements in mood and cognitive performance, and that this music enabled participants to respond more quickly without losing accuracy.

According to the researchers, the results have real-world implications and may provide the public with effective and affordable strategies to regulate performance and mood during taxing work tasks.

Music and Babies in the Womb

A large body of research has explored music’s effects on us before birth.

A recently published study by researchers in Mexico found that playing classical music to babies in utero improved heart measures and that, of the two pieces chosen, one piece of music had more significant effects than the other.

Thirty-six pregnant women participated in the study, and researchers attached external heart rate monitors to measure fetal heart rates in response to two pieces of classical music—both during and after each piece was played.

The pieces chosen were “The Swan” by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns and “Arpa de Oro“ by Mexican composer Abundio Martínez.

“Our study demonstrates that exposing fetuses to calm classical music appears to make their heartbeat patterns more ‘ordered’ or regular during and immediately after the musical stimulus,” study author Eric Alonso Abarca-Castro told The Epoch Times in an email.

“We also noticed a slight increase in fetal movement after the music ended. These findings suggest that such musical stimulation might promote the development of the fetal nervous system.”

Abarca-Castro said a steady and predictable fetal heartbeat is essential because it acts as a noninvasive indicator of proper autonomic function and healthy brain development.

“When the heart rate variability becomes more stable, it may indicate a well-functioning autonomic nervous system, which is essential for the fetus’s adaptation and overall development,” he said.

Heart rate variability refers to the subtle changes in the time between each heartbeat. A growing body of research shows that higher heart rate variability suggests a healthier heart, an increased ability to adapt to stress, and better health.

The autonomic nervous system is part of the peripheral nervous system and regulates involuntary bodily functions, such as breathing, digestion, blood pressure, and heartbeat. In utero, the autonomic nervous system begins to develop in about the third week of gestation and is not fully matured until the end of pregnancy, or between weeks 37 and 40.

The nervous system serves many vital functions in babies after birth.

“A well-developed autonomic nervous system can help newborns by improving their ability to regulate vital functions such as heart rate and breathing,” Abarca-Castro said. “This regulation is crucial for adapting to environmental stressors after birth and may contribute to better overall health.”

Going forward, the research team has plans to expand on its findings.

“In future work, we aim to conduct long-term follow-up studies to determine whether prenatal musical stimulation results in concrete neurodevelopmental benefits after birth,” Abarca-Castro said.

Listening to music during pregnancy has been shown to reduce anxiety in expectant mothers, which can positively affect fetal development. Studies also show that exposure to music, such as lullabies, during pregnancy can lower stress, positively affect the mother’s mental state, and strengthen the emotional connection between a mother and her unborn child.

Cheifetz shared his thoughts on why he believes that people connect so powerfully with music.

“Nearly our whole brain is active and engaged when processing music,” he said. “Music making is a highly rewarding activity to participate in [and] witness others participate in, and it makes other activities more rewarding while we have it on in the background.

“Music ties into our personal and group identity and is a profound aesthetic experience.”

DeLong said one of her favorite pieces is J.S. Bach’s Concerto No. 7 in G Minor, played by Glenn Gould.

“When I hear it, I am transported to a level of consciousness and happiness that brings me to tears unlike any other experience,” she said. “It makes me dance. It’s sheer joy.”