Music Therapy

Posted on February 25, 2008 
Filed Under Chief Blogging Officer

Most of us know that music can help power us through a grueling run or workout session at the gym, evidenced by the growing number of ipods we see at the gym these days. But music may have more powerful benefits.

A recent study of stroke patients in Findland showed that post-stroke recovery patients who listened to music for a couple of hours each day improved their verbal memory and attention span and experienced less depression than patients who didn’t listen to music at all. Three months after a stroke, verbal memory was boosted by 60 percent in music listeners, by 18 percent in audio book listeners, and by 29 percent in non-listeners.

These findings bolster a growing body of research pointing to the benefits of music and music therapy for conditions including autism, schizophrenia and dementia.

Music may be particularly beneficial in people with brian damage since music has been shown to directly stimulate the damaged areas of the brain, as well as the more general mechanisms related to “brain plasticity,” the ability of the brain to repair and renew its neural networks after damage.

So crank up your volume and train on.

Fit Fuelers talk about their favorite workout tunes in this forum thread–a must read for anyone looking to rev up their training.

http://forum.fitfuel.com/index.php?showtopic=2084&hl=

Another tip to exercise your “musical benefit” — swap ipod with someone for a couple of days. Throw a kink in your tunes listening just like you do to your workout routine!

           

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