Researchers find how music helps heal depression
Researchers of music therapy from Glasgow Caledonian University have found that the healing powers of music not only have mood enhancement powers, but can also be suggested as treatment for depression.
Elaborating on how this works, audio engineering specialist Dr. Don Knox, project leader says “The impact of a piece of music on a person goes so much further than thinking that a fast tempo can lift a mood and a slow one can bring it down.”
As even the tone, structure and lyrics can have a big impact, Dr Knox is afraid that it still remains subjective depending on a person’s previous memories relating to a particular music.
Analyzing the type of feeling that the music communicates and the intensity or activity level of the music through a mathematical model, Dr Knox looks at parameters such as rhythm patterns, melodic range, musical intervals, length of phrases, musical pitch and so on.
Quoting an example he says that “Music falling into a positive category might have a regular rhythm. If tempo and loudness increase, for instance, this would place the piece in a more ‘exuberant’ or ‘excited’ region of the graph.”In order to understand and even change the way we interact with music, researchers are now trying to evolve a wide-ranging model that explains music’s ability to communicate different emotions.