Cami Veldhuizen- Segment 3 Explanatory Essay
Storified by camelle22 ·
Fri, Nov 13 2015 08:58:57
Introduction
Music is more than just a form of entertainment. Unfortunately, most will never reap the hidden medical benefits music has to offer. It is thought that underneath the notes lies a powerful ability to treat both physical and mental illness. Although some might argue that this healing power is just a placebo effect, others feel that music is the only medicine needed. The idea of music being used as a tool in emotional therapy has been around for decades. However, the notion that music can also be used to aid in physical illness is new and uncharted territory. I will be examining the use of music as a healing aid, seeking to discover its degree of effectiveness. This issue interests me due to many different opinions presented by different doctors and scientists. The wide spectrum of beliefs makes me wonder just what capabilities music has on human beings. I am also curious if different types of music create different effects on the body. I, along with all other modern day researchers, do not have a satisfactory understanding of this controversial subject. No single person is completely sure of all the capabilities music holds. The importance behind further exploring this topic is the endless medical possibilities that could come with it. The unknown potential to cure illnesses with the power of music could hugely impact the medical world, once properly understood. Through research I will be exploring the many benefits music has the healing of physical and mental illness.
Source #1: Stress, The Immune System, and Music
To start off my research, I searched for articles in the library system that would give insight into the broad topic of music in the medical field. I came across a website for the American Psychology Association. APA is the largest scientific organization in the United States representing psychology. On the website, I found an article entitled “Music as Medicine” written by a Chicago writer named Amy Novotney in 2013. The purpose of Novotney's article is to inform the readers of ways music has been beneficial in aiding the human immune system and coping with stress. The audience for the article is anyone who is interested in learning more about the relationship between music and health. In the article, Novotney starts off by discussing stress levels in relation to music such as how listening to music, in most patients, reduces pre-surgery stress more than prescription medicine. When the author talks about stress, an emotional strain, and the immune system, a physical strain, it better demonstrates the diversity of music’s healing power on the body. Logos is prominently featured throughout the article through the use of facts and figures. The author also demonstrates situated ethos because of her educated background, and APAs reputation. After reading this article, I have a better understanding of the basis of music used as a medical tool. It was beneficial to learn a little about the actual physiological response the body has when listening to music. Novotney also opened my eyes to the real world examples of how music can affect hospital patient’s immune system, stress, and over all well being. In these real world examples I gained the knowledge of how music is actually put to use in a medical setting. This article also taught me that music therapy has been around for ages, but the idea of using music as a tool in physical healing is a relatively new theory. This is a key point to keep in mind during the rest of my research. Unfortunately, this article did not explain the different types of music these patients listened to. From here I wanted to find out more about if the music had to be a certain song or tune to have effective healing powers. I continued my research with this in mind.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/11/music.aspx
Source #2: Types of Music vs Type of Injury
As I furthered my research, I found a news segment from WCVB 5 Chronicle. Chronicle is an ABC based channel. The clip I watched was released in 2009 and was originally broadcasted to the San Francisco area. The video that caught my attention was called “Medicine in Music, Dr. Claudius Conrad MD, PhD, Music Therapy Research”. As the title suggests, the segment follows Dr. Conrad, a surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Conrad has situated ethos due to his doctorate title. Conrad is a strong advocate of using music to aid in healing brain injuries. Dr. Conrad uses specific genres of music for each patient based on the way they were injured. He even listens to music in the O.R. for an extra boost during surgery. Conrad also discovered that listening to music alters key hormones and speeds recovery. He recognizes that alone the music will not be enough to fully heal, however, as a supportive measure music is very powerful. This news clip helped me understand that music can only aid in healing, and cannot do the job on it’s own. It also gave more reasoning behind what specifically happens in a patient’s body that causes such beneficial responses, such as hormone levels. I feel the main ideaI took away from this clip was the introduction of the idea that different types of music can have different effects on the body. This clip was very valuable and explanatory in answering my questions about the way different types of music’s affect the body differently. I learned that faster, more upbeat music can motivate the patient to get better and kicks start their immune system. This source connects to my last source in a sense that they both discuss the physiological responses of the body when music is present. After watching this segment I want to find out more about the specific ways music can help the body. I am curious as to whether or not just being around music is enough to help heal, or if there has to be a strategic plan in place to initiate the healing. This clip also intrigued me on the other physical injuries that music can help, besides just ones to the brain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZJ__4CDIKQ
Source #3: How Effective is Music Therapy?
As I continued to research, I looked for more video clips, considering my last one gave me such great information. I came across another news clip, this time one from PBS News Hour. PBS is the Public Broadcasting Service for the United States and is the most outstanding provider of TV programs to public stations. This clip is called “Healing Power of Music” and was originally aired in February of 2012. This segment’s purpose was to inform viewers of the controversy surrounding musical therapy’s effectiveness. The segment contained a collection of views on music being used as therapy. On one hand the musician, Heidi Clare, discussed how just being around the music and enjoying its movement can be theory enough. On the other hand, however, Eric Waldon, a professor of music therapy, says only through intense use of music working on non-musical goals can music be effective enough to help in healing. Also, the clip gets into a more scientific and detailed explanation of what happens in the damaged brain when engaged in music. This PBS clip demonstrates situated ethos due to the credible and trusted name of PBS. This clip also establishes pathos when showing young children in a hospital setting, which creates a sense of emotion, and sadness is viewers. PBS showed both sides of the argument on how effective music therapy could really be. This taught me that this issue is far more controversial then I thought. This PBS segment also explained how music can creates new pathways around damaged parts of the brain. After learning this, I finally have a clear picture to how the music begins to heal ones brain. This source was also valuable in showing the way music theory works on an individual. In the clip it showed a 16-year-old boy with muscular dystrophy engaging in music and rap. The rapping made him happy because he finally has control over something when he does not usually. Seeing this made me realize that music therapy can even be just taking the patients mind off the pain and long run issues in their life. I feel this source was not missing anything. It did, however, make me wonder what contrasting affects music might have on different ages when it comes to therapy. I am also curious as to if playing a musical instrument will have a greater or equal effect on the brain's healing ability versus just listening to it. From here, I would like to look further into these questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ketz-mJ-x-Q
Source #4: Music Lessons and The Brain
The next source I discovered was an online article from National Geographic. National Geographic is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational institutions in the world. The article I read was entitled “Your Aging Brain Will Be in Better Shape If You've Taken Music Lessons” and was written in January of 2014. The author, Diane Cole, is a journalist who has written articles for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, and The Washington Post. The original purpose for this article is to influence the readers to see the benefits musical instruments really have on a person.In the article, Cole focuses on how taking music lessons can actually grow gray matter and plasticity in ones brain. She discusses how the earlier in life a person frequently plays an instrument or sing, the greater abilities their brain has to retain information. Cole also suggests that music can improve ones ability to discern sounds, even when the ears begin to age and deteriorate. This article demonstrates ethos in National Geographics credibility and logos with the use of facts and figures. This article also demonstrates pathos because it makes the reader feel inspired to learn a new instrument or enroll in voice lessons. This article was beneficial in my research to show the continuous affects music has on the brain. It helped me to understand that not only will music heal temporarily, but can also aid in long term solutions. I also learned that cognitive advancement from music can happpen at any age, although younger is better to begin. This answered my questions about age and music healings ability. Cole's article also gave me a deeper understanding on the specific benefits, such as hearing, music can hold. This source relates to my first source because both talked about physical and mental aspects of the body being bettered through music. One limitation of this article was the way Cole categorized singing and musical instruments into one. She did not touch on wheather or not one had more effect on the body. After this article, I would like to further explore specific illnesses that music can help with.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140103-music-lessons-brain-aging-cognitive-neuroscience/