According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), art, in particular, music, is interlinked with the right hemisphere of the brain. Neurological scans suggest that listening to music, paired with emotions and feelings, activates the right side of the brain. According to Blood et al, 1999, Even imagining music can activate the right hemisphere of the brain. Thus, music should be considered for cognitive brain therapy and boosting mental health.

This link between music and the mind has been existent for all time- in fact, early humans developed music and art as a way of communicating before developing a spoken language. The connection between music and emotion has always been clear, with underlaying technical explanations. One such example is the fact that major chords generally induce more positive emotions, while minor, diminished, and other chords can induce more melancholic feelings. Often, these emotions are carefully chosen and conveyed by the artist, and are very complex.

Rhythm, as the key basis to music, has been shown by research to aid in movement recovery for patients with Parkinson’s disease, brain injury, and stroke (Thaut, 2005). This includes Alzheimer’s disease, amongst other memory disorders, suggesting that consistency in practicing and performing music creates neuronal memory that are deeper and have higher chances of avoiding neurological disorders. Other evidence suggests that music has the potential to decrease the frequency of seizures and epilepsy in children, essentially ‘normalizing’ epilepsy with electroencephalographic abnormalities.

Music has also been explored for its therapeutic potentials, with preliminary data suggesting that people with depression and other neurological conditions may accept music more easily as therapy. Furthermore, music is much more cost-effective than other forms of therapy, as streaming platforms are widespread and more easily accessible. As our knowledge of the human brain and origins develops, music is an expanding field, full of possibilities and the unknown.