How to reach student wellbeing with music
Student life is not always easy to manage, especially because of stress-related problems. It’s time to remember the benefits of music! In fact, studies suggest that there are beneficial effects on health to have activities in our life. However there are many other activities that lead to relaxation. So what is the particularity of music?
Listening to music reduces anxiety and stress
An experiment was conducted by Japanese researchers on laboratory mice to prove the physiological effects of music. These mice had high blood pressure, and they were made to listen to Mozart's Symphony No.7 in D major, K.45. They have proven that it activates the production of dopamine and reduces blood pressure. During moments of stress, listening to music has a positive physiological effect, it’s a direct reaction of the body (Sutoo, D. & Akiyama, K. 2004). Especially during exams, the reduction of stress allows the increase of productivity.
Listening to music breeds dopamine release. Let's look at the scientific aspect: dopamine manages the motivation and reward systems, it’s within the limbic system that we find the euphoric actions. (Moraes, Rabelo, Pinto, Pires, Wanner, Szawka and Soares, 2018). Listen to music so effects similar to drugs or chocolate, but without the negative consequences on your physique. It also increases the level of cortisone (stress hormone) and increases the amount of serotonin, which reduces the rate of anxiety, especially during exams.
Music develops cognitive skills like memory and attention
People practicing music have more gray matter in the frontal cortex, whereas this hosts important working memory processes (Sluming, Brooks, Hhoward, Downes and Roberts, 2007).
It's never too late to start learning an instrument in your spare time, but you don’t necessarily need an instrument: you can sing, even if it's wrong! This will help you reduce your stress! (Vajpayee, 2018)
It can influence your mood and increase productivity
Of course as long as you don’t listen to Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings that reminds us of the end of the movie Elephant Man, listening to music with dopamine release can put us in a good mood (Newstex, 2015). It sounds obvious, but it's not a reflex that we can have whenever we are nervous. Listening to ambient, or swinging music can help you increase your productivity. Choose your music according to your activity: soft to relax if you are agitated or disturbed, catchy to give you motivation.
Improve your sleep
With soft music, research has shown that it eases sleep and it decreases the number of awakenings during the night. Sleeping time is reduced as sleep time increases. As a result, when the quality of sleep increases, it makes us more efficient and productive. On the other hand, poor sleep can lead to problems such as depressed mood. (Clements-Cortes, 2015).
Allows you to be more creative
Music can stimulate thoughts, images, feelings, it can evoke memories and associations. When you're running out of ideas in a time when you have to create an original project, take the time to lie down, and let yourself travel.
To conclude
The positive effects of music therapy can not be ignored. When you wake up, take the time to sit down, listen to relaxing music for 10 minutes and don’t think about anything. This can be a positive way to start a good day.
This year's events are organized by UCD School of Music. Feel free to take a break in your studies and spend a friendly and warm moment! Click here to find all the events.
Here is a small preview of the choir of the UCD Choral Scholars.