BY WENDY LEONARD, MPH
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
On the heels of President Barack Obama receiving huge applause for his singing (in great voice, I might add) a few lines from Al Green’s classic “Let’s Stay Together” at a campaign event held this past Thursday at the Apollo Theatre in New York, I thought this would be the perfect foray into discussing some of the compelling (and very cool) scientific evidence concerning the powers of music.
For example, apparently music really does trigger an attitude adjustment: According to a 2008 study titled, “Effects of music listening on adult patients' pre-procedural state anxiety in hospital,” listening to music has a “consistently positive and statistically significant effect” on reducing anxiety. In other words – and as beautifully stated by the playwright and poet William Congreve, back in 1697, “Music [really does] hath charms to soothe the savage breast.”
Arguably more impressive, a 2011 Cochrane Review study (which are massive studies of studies), titled, “Music interventions for improving psychological and physical outcomes in cancer patients” suggests that “music interventions may have beneficial effects on anxiety, pain, mood, and QoL [Quality of Life] in people with cancer.” And generally speaking, listening to music has been found “to reduce heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure.”
