Music and the brain: New research explores neurological and psychological impacts

New research and literature are exploring the profound connection between music and human psychology. In his book, ‘Music Between Your Ears: How Musical Engagement Powers the Human Brain,’ neurologist Samuel Markind examines how rhythm and melody influence brain development, communication, and social bonding. Markind highlights that newborns often respond to musical elements before speech, suggesting that musical engagement is fundamental to how humans think, feel, and connect.

Complementing this neurological perspective, a study published in ‘Psychology of Music’ analyzed 35 years of Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) chart-topping songs using an AI tool called MuseAI. The research investigated how song lyrics facilitate emotion regulation by addressing basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The analysis of 360 unique songs found that themes of human connection, or relatedness, were the most frequent element in popular lyrics, appearing in 73% of the studied tracks.