Music and the Brain - unlocking focus, performance, rest, and deep sleep

Used by ancient cultures like the Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese, and Native Americans, music is a universal human phenomenon, likely going back tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years.

Yet, many of us might stick to our favorite genres, artists, or songs, habitually listening during our commute or while at the gym.

Today, I want to show you just how useful music can be across the many facets of life.

Think of each benefit below as a part of your day.

Benefit 1 - Morning Deep Work: Music boosts cognitive performance in people with ADHD

• Music can help people with ADHD focus by providing a consistent and structured background noise that reduces distractions and enhances concentration.
• Music can increase performance in cognitive tasks by improving processing speed, memory, and attention 4, 7.
• Music can also improve mood, reduce stress, improve verbal skills, and reading comprehension 1, 2, 3.

Some great options here might be white noise, nature sounds, classical music, rhythmic electronic music, binaural beats, even movie scores. I find that music with no lyrics is best for focus and deep work.

However, the effect of music on cognitive performance may depend on the personality of the listener, the difficulty of the task, and the complexity of the music.

Some people may benefit more from music than others, depending on their need for external stimulation 7.

Benefit 2 - Mid-Day Rest: Music as a form of self care

• Music can be used as a tool for self-care, relaxation, and healing.
• Music therapy is a form of treatment that uses music to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals.
• Music therapy can help people with various health conditions such as chronic pain, cancer, stroke, brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and depression 4, 5, 6.

For me, the same music that helps me focus also helps me relax. I’ll find myself pulling in music with lyrics here and less predictable music like jazz.

Benefit 3 - Working Out: Music as a tool to enhance physical performance

• Music can also enhance physical performance by improving motivation, arousal, mood, and endurance 6, 8.
• Music can reduce perceived exertion, increase physiological efficiency, and facilitate movement synchronization 8.
• Music can also help people recover from physical exertion by lowering heart rate and blood pressure 6.

Time to bring the energy. I love heavy metal and hip hop for my training sessions. Lots of high energy and faster pace (>100 beats per minute) are incredibly effective.

When you’re done working out and begin your cool down, switch to calming music and practice calming breathwork for 5 minutes to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and jumpstart the recovery process.

Benefit 4 - Great Sleep: Music as a tool for sleep health

• Listening to calming music can help put you to sleep by reducing stress hormones like cortisol and increase levels of serotonin and oxytocin
• We know music can lower breathing rate, heart rate and blood pressure - all while quieting the nervous system - things that also help move us into a sleepy state and promote faster, deeper, and longer sleep.

Of course, we’re all different so the effect of music will vary from person to person. Some people can fall asleep to upbeat music, while others can find immense levels of focus with calming, slow tunes.

At the end of the day, most people find some benefit to mixing music into their daily routines. From helping you wake up, to finding more productive deep work sessions, to helping you drift off into a more efficient sleep, music is deeply connected to the human experience.

Some cool science coming on sleep, too.

Check this out: Sound Health | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

See ya next week.

Sources:

1. verywellmind.com
2. healthline.com
3. getinflow.io
4. verywellmind.com
5. healthline.com
6. psychologytoday.com
7. scientificamerican.com
8. psychologytoday.com