Can Music Technologies Help The Mental Health Pandemic?

We tend to think that we know how our brain works. We believe that art and creativity (thus, music, too) belong to the right hemisphere of it and math, logic, linear thinking and facts to the left. Interestingly, as Daniel J. Levitin explains in his book, “This Is Your Brain on Music”, music is processed throughout the brain. Maybe that is why music has been elemental throughout human history: it can connect people with each other.  So when the first lockdown began worldwide, we all started to look for things to do at home, to eliminate the feeling of disconnectedness. One choice, watching movies, was obvious – and so the streaming wars have begun. Ever since, Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+ and the rest have been ruling the space, giving an unprecedented boost to at-home watching. But another area has also achieved tremendous growth: music downloads.  While the mental health remnants of COVID-19 turned into a second pandemic, many people started using music for two specific reasons: either for sleep and relaxation or for more and better focus. As it turns out (no surprises), music can help in both. Music, the #1 is happiness Music that helps reduce stress or boost productivity started to give a beat to traditional music through streaming apps, Spotify, YouTube, and others. In a study, Americans have ranked listening to music #1 as most important to improving happiness. Indeed, music added to people’s overall glee globally. No wonder: music “impacts ...
Source: The Medical Futurist - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Covid-19 Lifestyle medicine E-Patients Future of Medicine music mental health mental wellbeing music therapy covid19 lockdown quarantine Daniel J. Levitin Kiminobu Sugaya Ayako Yonetani Dr Janos Kollar Will Henshall Focus@W Source Type: blogs