Music induces neuroplasticity in the brain

Researchers have increased their focus on how music impacts neuroplasticity in recent years. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to adapt and rewire itself, including the processes of neurogenesis and neural connectivity. 

Person with ischemic stroke listening to music. Created in BioRender

The process in which music reaches the brain happens between connecting several brain areas. Sound waves are interpreted as an electric signal in the brain, moving from the auditory nerve and brainstem to activating cortical areas of the brain.2

Music has exhibited positive changes on the brain’s ability to repair itself after injury. Traumatic brain injury (TBI), or concussion, is one example of a brain injury in which music is able to impact the trajectory of recovery.

Music therapy has been increasingly studied as a non-pharmacological intervention.2 In stroke patients, listening to music has previously been demonstrated to improve cognitive symptoms, including attention and verbal memory. One theory experts have proposed is that many different areas of the brain are involved in music listening, affecting neural connectivity and therefore plasticity.1  

Markers of stress, beta endorphin and cortisol levels, have shown to decrease dramatically after music therapy. Music also helps to promote neurogenesis, the process of the creation of new neurons in the brain. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), has been studied as a marker of neural plasticity, and the role of music in BDNF is still being explored.

1. Martínez‐Molina, N., Siponkoski, S. T., & Särkämö, T. (2022). Cognitive efficacy and neural mechanisms of music‐based neurological rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1515(1), 20-32.

2. Zaatar, M. T., Alhakim, K., Enayeh, M., & Tamer, R. (2024). The transformative power of music: Insights into neuroplasticity, health, and disease. Brain, behavior, & immunity-health, 35, 100716.