Play it again, Sam

Besides entertainment, music is one of the most accessible and powerful ways to regulate our mental state. Its potential continues to be underestimated. We know that music can stir emotions, sooth our nerves, make us cry, … while research in recent years at the University of Bergen in Norway also suggests it can change the content of our thoughts.

Participants in a 2019 study listened to sad- or heroic-sounding music while their minds were allowed to wander. The striking results showed that the uplifting music triggered constructive, energising thoughts, while the sad music evoked calmer or more demotivating ones. This is now also believed to have consequences for mental health.

Our minds frequently go a-wandering, with one Harvard University study revealing that nearly half the time we are awake we are daydreaming. And we are generally less happy when we are doing so. This is because during these periods the brain’s default network (DMN) takes over. This mode supports memory/reflection and imagination, but also frequently drifts into repetitive, intrusive and negative thought loops such as the 4 a.m. worries or the regrets on the train on the way home.

Brain-imaging studies showed that negative daydreams, particularly during sad music, engage the brains pain system and the DMN. It turns out that upsetting thoughts are not just metaphorically painful, they also activate the same networks as for physical discomfort. But the DMN has a natural counterpart in the form of the executive network that enhances focus and goal-directed behaviour.

The two systems are anticorrelated, meaning when one is active the other is less so. Music can shift us into the more positive adaptive mode. If we tap along to music, hum internally or breathe in rhythm we disrupt negative thought loops, redirect attention and cognitively “reset” our minds. And this does more than simply improve our mood. A 2023 study at the same university revealed that those who were actively engaging in music such as by tapping along experienced significantly less pain when a brief burst of pressure was applied to their fingernails than those who were merely listening to it. A combination of motor synchronisation and musical immersion even raised pain-reducing effects to a clinically significant degree.

The findings suggest that engaging in music is a type of pleasurable mediation, and that evolution may have shaped our brains to seek music out for this very reason, while also boosting social bonding and resilience.

So next time your thoughts spiral or you feel stress raising its ugly head, instead of reaching for your phone’s news app, play some of your favourite music. You may feel all the happier for it.