The power of musicThe power of music
All In The Mind
Music strongly affects our emotions and our memory. Hear how music used in rehabilitation can have a powerful therapeutic effect on those with brain injury.
28:50•13 Oct 2013
The Power of Music: How Songs Help Minds Heal and Lives Rebuild
Episode Overview
- Music is closely linked to emotion, memory and human identity from infancy through adulthood.
- Rhythm and melodic techniques such as rhythmic auditory stimulation and melodic intonation therapy can support walking and speech after stroke or brain injury.
- Singing familiar songs can help some non-verbal patients begin to produce words and expand their vocabulary.
- Songwriting about past, present and future experiences can assist patients in processing trauma and reshaping their sense of self.
- Engaging actively with music, not just listening, may enhance cognitive capacities and social connection across the lifespan.
“That power of music to tap into some area of the brain that has connections with memory, has connections with emotion, has so many connections.”
Experience the emotional and inspiring tales of recovery as All In The Mind looks at how music can shape the brain and help people rebuild their lives after serious injury. You’ll hear how familiar songs and simple rhythms can reach parts of the mind that spoken words sometimes can’t.
Professor Jane Davidson talks about why music is tied so closely to emotion and identity, from lullabies between parent and infant through to the way favourite tunes can lift your mood or let you safely "wallow" for a while. She notes that music can enhance cognitive capacities and deepen our sense of belonging, and she cheekily suggests we’d all be better off if we sang with friends a lot more than just at football matches and birthdays.
Music therapist Jeanette Tamplin brings those ideas into hospital rehab at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre in Melbourne. She explains neurologic music therapy, where rhythm, drumming and singing are used to support walking, speech and memory after stroke or brain injury. "That power of music to tap into some area of the brain that has connections with memory, has connections with emotion, has so many connections," she says.
Mark, who survived a severe subarachnoid haemorrhage, goes from being non-verbal to singing whole songs, with his first word emerging on the "door" in Knocking On Heaven’s Door. His partner Louisa describes how music therapy brings pleasure into a rehab routine that’s usually tough and anxiety–laden, and how his vocabulary grows alongside his song lyrics. Annie Seabie, recovering from spinal injury and brain trauma, works with Jeanette on songwriting about her past, present and future.
She reflects that she didn’t like the person she was before the accident and feels closer to her family now, while songwriting helps her concentration, memory and sense of hope as she plans on walking again. If you’ve ever felt a song change your mood or jog a memory, this episode might have you wondering how music could support your own healing journey too.
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