From Anxiety to Alzheimer’s, Music Makes a Difference

Summary: Music therapy is proving to be a powerful adjunct treatment for a range of conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, chronic pain, movement disorders, and mental health issues. Research highlights how…

Music Choice Can Harm Productivity

Summary: A new study shows that background music in workplaces can harm employee mood, energy, and job performance when it doesn’t match individual needs. This “music misfit” effect leads to…

Perfect Pitch Can Be Learned: Study Challenges Long-Held Beliefs

Summary: Absolute pitch, once thought to be an innate ability or only attainable through early childhood training, may be learnable in adulthood. Researchers trained 12 adult musicians in an eight-week…

Music Can Change the Emotional Tone of Your Memories

Summary: New research reveals that music can do more than trigger memories—it can alter their emotional tone. When participants recalled neutral stories while listening to emotionally charged music, they later…

Listening to Music After Surgery Lowers Pain and Anxiety

Summary: A new study suggests that listening to music after surgery can significantly reduce pain, anxiety, and even heart rate, aiding recovery. An analysis of 35 studies found that patients…

Is it bad to listen to music all the time? Here’s how tunes can help or harm

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected]. I like to listen to…

Pitch Perfect: Singing Earworms Reveals Surprising Trait

Summary: Researchers discovered that nearly 45% of people sing earworms in perfect pitch, suggesting a hidden “perfect pitch” ability in the general population. Even without formal musical training, participants accurately…

Classical Music Synchronizes Brain Waves, Improving Depression

Summary: Western classical music can significantly affect brain activity, particularly in people with treatment-resistant depression. By measuring brainwaves and neural imaging, scientists discovered that music synchronizes neural oscillations between brain…

How Music Synchronizes Heart Rates and Collective Emotions

Summary: Listening to music synchronizes heart rates within individuals more reliably than between different people. This synchronization depends on physiological responses rather than mood or music preferences. The findings help…

Unlocking Flow: The Neuroscience of Creative Bliss

Summary: A new study involving Philadelphia-area jazz guitarists, has explored the brain processes that enable creative flow. The research reveals that achieving flow requires a solid foundation of expertise, after…