Living Well He knew the song on the radio... But then he had an "out-of-body experience"...
That's how Ron Spitzer described what happened to him when a Beatles song came on and he suddenly couldn't remember the tune.
Spitzer had suffered a stroke in 2009, one that impacted the right side of his brain – the side that some scientists say processes music patterns.
And in a cruel twist, he happened to be a musician.
The stroke had left him wheelchair-bound and partially paralyzed in his left leg and arm. So he couldn't play his bass guitar and drums. It silenced his voice to just a whisper. So he could no longer belt out his favorite tunes.
But today, the 68-year-old former musician can walk and even yell. And he owes it all to joining a choir...
Each week, Spitzer has choir practice with other stroke patients. Together, they aren't just making music... They're also making more brain proteins and new connections between brain cells.
Listening to, making, or playing music, in general, enhances the function of more than 10 different regions of the brain. Some examples include the...
- Hippocampus, which is the main area of our brains responsible for making new memories and remembering things
- Hypothalamus, which controls important bodily processes like releasing chemicals involved in sleep, appetite, metabolism, and more
- Frontal lobe, which helps us make decisions and plan ahead
- Temporal lobe, which interprets sounds we hear
- Broca's area, which enables us to speak
- Occipital lobe, which interprets sights
- Cerebellum, which stores muscle memories and helps us move
- Amygdala, which processes emotions
Singing, in particular, has proved to have some incredible brain benefits.
Published in the May issue of eNeuro, a small study showed that belting out one's favorite tunes repaired the speech-production area of the brains in stroke victims with aphasia.
(Aphasia is a condition where you have trouble talking and writing, as well as understanding speech and language. About 40% of stroke victims have aphasia. Among them, up to 50% still suffer from aphasia symptoms a year later.)
The researchers followed aphasia patients for months, where one group had four months of singing therapy and the other group did not. MRI scans were taken at the beginning and end of the study. They showed that the singing group increased gray-matter volume in the left side of their brains, compared with the control group.
(Gray matter is associated with memory, emotions, and our ability to control movement. When developing your vocabulary or learning a new language, you engage the visual, auditory, comprehending, and speaking areas of your brain.)
Namely, this was the language area of the brain. And the singers saw improved naming, or word retrieval, test scores.
What's more, researchers saw changes in brain connections in the language area, too, or improved neuroplasticity...
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to reorganize its synaptic (neural) connections. For instance, you may experience a stroke and lose the ability to use your left arm and leg. But with neuroplasticity, you can relearn how to use these appendages by forming new neural connections and communication pathways...
Studies show that neuroplasticity is closely tied to our quality of life and the amount of life we spend free from illness and injury – otherwise known as our healthspans.
While that study from May saw benefits in the gray matter, you might wonder about the other kind, white matter (which helps different areas of your brain communicate with each other). And what if you don't have aphasia?
A study published last month looked at 95 healthy adults, split up into three age groups: young (ages between 20 and 39), middle-aged (ages 40 to 59), and older (ages 60 and up).
Researchers took notes about each person's history of singing in a choir, like how long and how often they sang. The team found choir singing was significantly associated with connections in white matter. What's more, older adults saw the greatest improvements in white-matter connectivity.
I love listening to music... like jazz, when I'm writing. Fast-paced hip-hop or rock injects extra energy and motivation into my vigorous workouts. And pop music uplifts my mood when I'm stressed.
And I also love singing along when I'm driving or showering – it instantly cheers me up. Singing releases endorphins and oxytocin in your brain, another "feel good" hormone. I will refrain, though, from full-on belting out the words to a Taylor Swift song to spare my colleagues and employees as they work in the quiet office. But sometimes you might catch me humming along...
Studies have shown humming releases extra nitric oxide from your sinuses. This molecule dilates your blood vessels and airways which helps circulate oxygen-rich blood to your organs. So even if you're on the shy side and prefer to quietly hum, you can still harness the wonderful health perks of making music.
If you're after more great advice on how to improve your health (and grow your wealth while you're at it), check out my flagship newsletter, Retirement Millionaire. Get all the details right here.
What We're Reading...
- Something different: Who (or what) killed the "Russian spy whale"?
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
October 3, 2024