The Healing Beat: How Music Resonates with the Immune System
As someone devoted and passionate about science and its ability to change the world and humbly expand our minds. I’m fascinated by the countless innovations and breakthroughs that have emerged in recent years. From cutting-edge technologies to groundbreaking discoveries about mechanisms of disease, the progress we have made as a society is genuinely remarkable. However, amidst all the excitement encircling the latest scientific evolutions, it is easy to dismiss the healing power of something ‘mundane’ that has lived with us for centuries: music. The universal language of music surpasses barriers and unites people in ways nothing could.
Nevertheless, beyond its power to inject us with joy & entertainment, the impact of music on our brains and body is incomprehensible. Studies have demonstrated that music can trigger different brain areas responsible for processing emotions, memories, and movement and activating the release of dopamine, a chemical lined with pleasure and reward. However, the critical part im getting to is beyond the emotional and neurological benefits; music has also been discovered to influence our immune system profoundly.
Autoimmune diseases can be highly debilitating when the immune system wrongly attacks the body’s tissues (viewing the body as foreign). Literature research has discovered that listening to music can assist in modulating the immune response and decreasing inflammation, partly by stimulating the production of natural killer cells, mainly through the neuroendocrine pathways. Neuroendocrine pathways are channels in our body that use hormones to send messages from the brain to different body parts. These pathways regulate our stress response, appetite, and reproductive functions.
So while we continue to marvel at the latest scientific innovations and advancements, let’s reflect on Albert Einsteins’ powerful message. “I know that the most joy in my life has come from my violin.”
ref:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.619189/full
