--- title: Here Are Some Ways Music Can Have Positive Effects on The Body description: Researchers are using music as a tool to achieve non-musical goals and therapeutic effects. canonical: https://time.com/6305443/the-health-benefits-of-music/ author: Andrew Johnson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-08-17T15:18:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:25:55.690Z article:section: Health og:title: Here Are Some Ways Music Can Have Positive Effects on The Body og:description: Researchers are using music as a tool to achieve non-musical goals and therapeutic effects og:url: https://time.com/6305443/the-health-benefits-of-music/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ddd393da8488bc6/698a3fab011682ce6d98358e/GettyImages-1405889487.webp?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4782 og:image:height: 2690 og:image:alt: GettyImages-1405889487 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are Some Ways Music Can Have Positive Effects on The Body twitter:description: Researchers are using music as a tool to achieve non-musical goals and therapeutic effects twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ddd393da8488bc6/698a3fab011682ce6d98358e/GettyImages-1405889487.webp?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Health Benefits of Music > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=5d2403ba-3507-4b9c-ada3-5b154bf763d2&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Health Benefits of Music [Watch (HLS stream): The Health Benefits of Music](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8G3e2Bmu.m3u8) (4:05)  _Published 2023-08-16. Researchers are using music as a tool to achieve non-musical goals and therapeutic effects._  by [Andrew Johnson](https://time.com/author/andrew-johnson/)  ## Andrew Johnson Aug 17, 2023 3:18 PM UTC Researchers are using music as a tool to achieve non-musical goals and therapeutic effects.  by [Andrew Johnson](https://time.com/author/andrew-johnson/)  ## Andrew Johnson Aug 17, 2023 3:18 PM UTC ## Transcript [00:00] Do I use music as a tool to achieve non-musical a goals. [00:06] So I'm not really here to help my clients. [00:09] Learn how to sing better or play an instrument better, [00:11] or do anything like that. [00:12] At my job is to help you help people learn to walk. [00:15] Better learn to speak clearer using music as my tool to help [00:20] them. If you just look at the brain using functional MRI imaging [00:25] multiple networks are activated just as a result of listening [00:28] to a song and even more that works are activated. [00:32] When we're actually singing or playing a musical instrument. [00:38] There's a lot of good research on how music and help with walking [00:42] help us talking. [00:43] You know, if somebody had a stroke they may walk with a, [00:47] what's called a three point. [00:48] Gait what I would do then is that would provide a strong beat [00:52] which then they wouldn't rain to. [00:54] And then before long, they would be walking with a step to phone [00:58] Jane is a be going. [01:00] Kane, step chain, step the different parts of music is processed, in [01:04] different parts of the brain. [01:05] So there's you think about the different parts of the music. [01:08] There's Rhythm there's Melody, there's words there's memories [01:12] associated with all those and each one of those pieces are processed [01:15] in different part of the brain, brought together into a single [01:18] unit. We hear it as one, but what the brain does then is it [01:23] is able to anticipate for instance, with walking anticipate, [01:27] what's coming up next? [01:28] So your brain is predicting when that next beat will be which [01:31] tells the body where in the place, [01:33] the next foot down. [01:52] That could be you being in a bad mood and putting on music [01:55] that you enjoy and Spotify and just feeling a bit better after [01:59] a song or two that you enjoy, [02:00] you could use music to exercise more efficiently and to motivate [02:06] yourself, to do it regularly. [02:07] I'm preparing for my next 5K, and I'm trying to be more efficient [02:12] about my steps and are getting shorter stride, [02:14] as a result of the music that I hear. [02:17] And that's enabling me to be more efficient than preparing [02:21] for my 5K. [02:24] There's a technique called the iso principle, [02:27] basically. It's it's starting where you are and then slowly [02:31] and training to where you want to go. [02:33] So if you are really kept up, [02:36] and you want to go to sleep, [02:37] you would maybe create a playlist of eight or nine songs that [02:41] start fast. And then the next one's a little slower and the next [02:45] one's a little slower and a little slower and you will and trained [02:48] right with that to a more relaxed state in Stanley. [02:51] If you're waking up in the morning you're like half awake. [02:54] Even want to like pep up. [02:55] You can go the other way. [02:56] You can start with have a playlist of eight or nine or 10 songs that [02:59] start really slow, and then I can do it faster and faster, [03:03] and faster before, you know, you're dancing around. [03:05] You know, when you got your coffee, [03:10] You can use the music like learning a new instrument at any age [03:14] to challenge yourself and to build new Connections in the brain, [03:17] which can build what we call in my field cognitive Reserve [03:22] but also motor Reserve. [03:25] So that in the face of getting older one connections [03:29] do breakdown. That's normally what happens. [03:30] And it happens at a much faster rate in diseases like Parkinson's [03:35] disease, and Alzheimer's disease. [03:36] That so many of us were scared as we get older in the face [03:41] of those diseases or just simply getting older having that extra [03:45] boost of cognitive Reserve, literally stronger connections, [03:49] and additional connections, is the result of learning a challenging. [03:54] You still playing your music lesson, electric guitar. [03:56] For example, is something that can actually serve you in good [04:01] stead and potentially ward off the symptoms. 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