Getting a Whole Brain Workout with Music

Andy Tubman, music therapist, joined Pat Salber () at HealthTech Conference 2014 in San Francisco to discuss how he wants everyone to get a whole brain workout by singing. We could go on forever describing dozens of studies on the brain areas that are activated when playing or listening to music. It basically affects the whole brain. Not only anatomically; music causes the release of dopamine, which in the limbic system (the reward system) generates the sensation of pleasure and in the prefrontal cortex creates expectations. It also increases the release of oxytocin, the “love hormone,” whose function is to facilitate social interactions. And it reduces the levels of cortisol, the anxiety hormone.

Andy hit on a simple yet elegant idea: marry the neurobiological effects of music with the scaling potential of technology, and voilá – you’ve got a psychotherapeutic tool on a limitless scale. He created an app, SingFit, that brings people together to make music. And you don’t even have to learn to play an instrument; all you have to do is sing. After all, science tells us that making noises, the archaic equivalent of singing, was the earliest form of music making. Anybody can sing, then why not get together and do it?

Read the full article on The Doctor Weighs In here:
http://www.thedoctorweighsin.com/musi…

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