The Effects of Music on People's Emotions
Movie producers and recording artists use music to manipulate the emotions of audiences to feel everything from excitement to sadness during movies and performances. No one can deny that music has either positive or negative effects on the emotions of listeners. However, music therapy or the study of music's impact on emotions examines how music cause positive changes in listeners and patients for areas including early childhood development, healing and recovery, and overcoming negative emotions.
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Early Childhood Development
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Music plays an important role in early childhood emotional and intellectual development, according to information compiled by Brad Kennedy and Jennifer Durst. Their research confirms that even while in the womb, babies can tell the differences between certain types of music. Also called prenatal stimulation this technique has many positive effects including higher levels of intelligence and creativity, along with the ability to calm down when listening to music. Suggested usages for music in early childhood development include teaching children to analyze songs so they can learn how to express and identify their emotions, though processes, behaviors and situations as a way of developing cognitive and motor skills.
Healing and Recovery
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The American Music Therapy Organization states music therapy can allow "emotional intimacy with families and caregivers, relaxation for the entire family, and meaningful time spent together in a positive, creative way." Additional studies show that music therapy can cause changes in physiology by releasing brain chemicals including melatonin, norephinephrine, epinephrine, serotonin and prolactin, which help to reduce depression, regulate mood and make patients feel calm and more able to sleep. Doctors have used music therapy to help stroke, cerebral palsy and Parkinson's patients improve. Dr. Suzanne Hasner says head trauma and dementia patients retain music ability because "deep in our long-term memory is this rehearsed music. It is processed in the emotional part of the brain, the amygdala. Here's where you remember the music played at your wedding, the music of your first love, that first dance. Such things can still be remembered even in people with progressive diseases. It can be a window, a way to reach them."
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Negative Emotions and Fear Management
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Dr. Zbigniew Kucharski, from the Medical Academy of Warsaw, has studied the effects of music when used for fear management in dental patients. He discovered that children who listened to 30 minutes of music preceding and following dental procedures were less likely to experience negative feelings. Another study, "Quantification of the effects of listening to music as a noninvasive method of pain control," conducted in 1992 found that relaxing music helped to reduce anxiety and pain in patients undergoing certain medical procedures including painful gynecological procedures and pediatric surgical burn units.
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