Music as Medicine - The Kind of Music That Soothes My Soul

The song that is the anthem to my life is a song called 'Old Time Rock n Roll,' sung by the artist Bob Seger. I think it may go without saying, but I do love the 50s and 60s music that I grew up with. When I put my favorite oldies CDs in my player and listen, workout, or walk, I find myself drifting back to a much simpler life. A time when you could and did walk from one place to another and not be afraid to talk to people along the way. A time when the dance floor was an area by the jukebox in the back of the local restaurant. And when, if you got tired of dancing, you walked next door and roller-skated hand in hand to 'your song.' A time when we could play outside with our friends til dark and still be safe. Those happy memories really do soothe my soul.

Truth is, you do not have to be a 50s, 60s fan to appreciate good music. (Gasp, did I just say that?) In reality, the music that is near and dear to your heart can be very medicinal. For example, Oliver Sacks, famed neurologist and author of 'Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain,' decided to study the role that music plays on the brain. He was amazed at how much he learned. "I'm actually amazed at how much of the brain is recruited for musical experience." As he visits with AARP magazine, Sacks goes on to further explain, "In music therapy for Parkinson's disease, where my interest got kindled, the rhythm of the music is crucially important. People with Parkinson's misjudge time grossly and have difficulty coordinating speech with their movements, so they tend to stutter or stumble, or just come to a stop. While the music lasts, it gives them precisely what they lack, which is tempo and rhythm and organized time...Even for those with advanced Alzheimer's who have lost language, music can grab them and calm them or stimulate them. It's enormously powerful."

Sacks also discovered that blindness in individuals may result in a greater appreciation for music for them, much the same as those who are deaf compensate their loss of hearing for an increased ability to "analyze very complex experiences in the peripheral visual field, which sighted people can't do."