Listening to music isn’t just for entertainment. It can help cognitive functions, brain development and even play a role in physical recovery. How does music help us heal?

Your brain on music

What was going on in the brains of musical geniuses like Miles Davis or Thelonius Monk when they performed? Dr. Charles Limb has long been fascinated by the inner workings of creative minds. His research offers insights into music and the way we communicate and express ourselves. Limb is a surgeon, neuroscientist and a musician. He’s the Chief of the Division of Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at University of California, San Francisco.

Limb put jazz musicians in an fMRI scan, and compared brain activity between when they played memorized versus improvised music.

One of the surprising findings, according to Limb: “The dominant change that we saw had to do with something called the prefrontal cortex. And this is the part of the brain in the front that really controls consciousness and self-awareness and effortful planning. It’s very active throughout our days as we live as functional human beings. But in professional jazz piano players’ improvisation, this part of the brain is relatively shutting itself off. That, I think, was one of the key surprising findings for me…It’s not that the brain is more during creativity. In some ways, it’s less. It’s getting out of its way.”

Music and the developing brain

Music can play an important role in brain development in children, even before they are born. Jessica Phillips-Silver, founder of Growing Brains, works with students to promote optimal brain health using rhythm.

“Music, generally, and rhythm, in particular, is inherently a multi-sensory and embodied process…For most of us, it’s really irresistible. And so there’s this holistic, integrative process that happens that our entire being. Our brains and bodies are fully, wholly activated,” Phillips-Silver said.

Phillips-Silver has developed developed curriculum based on music and brain science and also created a musical performed at the Kennedy Center called ‘Finding Rhythm: A Journey Through the Musical Brains,” featuring the official music of Washington, D.C. – go-go music. 

“It’s important that we understand that the role of music and music arts in our brain development and in our lives throughout our lifespan is not simply to preserve the arts perse…[but it’s also] the brain’s need for development, learning, and healing, and recovering.”

Modern dance meets social justice

Founded in 1997, Colombia’s School of the Body has taught more than 10,000 children and young people from some of the country’s most vulnerable areas. The nonprofit is using dance and movement to create inclusive spaces and to transform lives.