Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Dec 4;13(1):374.
doi: 10.1038/s41398-023-02671-4.

Biological principles for music and mental health

Daniel L Bowling  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Biological principles for music and mental health

Daniel L Bowling. Transl Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Efforts to integrate music into healthcare systems and wellness practices are accelerating but the biological foundations supporting these initiatives remain underappreciated. As a result, music-based interventions are often sidelined in medicine. Here, I bring together advances in music research from neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry to bridge music's specific foundations in human biology with its specific therapeutic applications. The framework I propose organizes the neurophysiological effects of music around four core elements of human musicality: tonality, rhythm, reward, and sociality. For each, I review key concepts, biological bases, and evidence of clinical benefits. Within this framework, I outline a strategy to increase music's impact on health based on standardizing treatments and their alignment with individual differences in responsivity to these musical elements. I propose that an integrated biological understanding of human musicality-describing each element's functional origins, development, phylogeny, and neural bases-is critical to advancing rational applications of music in mental health and wellness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author owns stock in Spiritune, a company for which he serves as a scientific advisor. Spiritune was not involved in funding this work.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Tonality.
A The same phrase spoken and sung by the same person to highlight how tones in music are related to tones in speech (based on Diana Deustch’s speech-to-song illusion). Variation in sound pressure over time (black) is overlaid with variation in the fundamental frequency of vocal fold vibration (the physical correlate of voice pitch; red). B On the left, the frequency relationships defined by the Japanese ritsu scale are presented along a vertical axis. Each relationship is calculated with respect to the lowest tone in the set (labeled “1.000”). On the right, the melody of the American gospel song “Amazing Grace” is shown using the same relationships. Conventional note letter names are listed at the right. C Timbral similarity of vocal and instrumental tones with parallel affective qualities. Top row: sound pressure waveforms with temporal envelopes shown in red. Bottom row: corresponding Fourier transforms with spectral envelopes shown in blue. These examples were selected to show similarity in temporal and spectral features of vocal and instrumental tones with parallel affective qualities.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Rhythm.
A A histogram of tempos from a sample of over 74,000 pieces of music. “DJ lists” refers to lists of song tempos used by disk jockeys to match pulse rates between tracks; “Radio” refers to songs found by randomly tuning into radio stations circa 2002; “Hits” refers to popular music from 1960–1990; and “styles” refers to a selection of music from divergent styles (e.g., renaissance polyphony and modern jazz). B One cycle from each of three rhythms with different meters, increasing in complexity from top to bottom. Circle size and shading indicate level of accenting (large/dark = strong), red stars and horizontal black brackets mark subgroups, and ellipsis denote repetition. Tin, Na, and Dhin are specific tabla drum strokes; tone, slap, bass, and touch are specific djembe drum stokes. The suku rhythm is based on section 5.3 of Polak (2010), with a timing ratio of 11:17:22 for the short-medium-long pulse patterns. C Hypothesized information flow through the network of brain areas implicated in rhythm perception. Additionally relevant brain areas include the hypothalamus, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex (see Fig. 3). The rhythm network is mostly bilateral despite being visualized in the left hemisphere here. Numbers refer to Brodmann areas. Insets show implicated structures in situ. Panel A is adapted from Moelants (2002) with permission from the author.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Musical reward and hypothesized relation to social connection.
A A model of the extended musical reward network including the tripartite core (red outline) and associated cortical areas and subcortical structures (gray outline). Arrows indicate significant positive temporal correlation in blood-oxygenation-level-dependent activity between the indicated areas during pleasurable music listening. Numbers refer to Brodmann areas (B) A close-up of the tripartite core showing dopaminergic (blue), opioideric (green), and oxytocinergic (red) circuitry hypothesized to underpin music’s capacity to stimulate social connection. In rodent models (on which this panel is based) the derivation of reward from positive social interaction requires the oxytocinergic projections from the PVN to the NAc and VTA. C Interactions within the PVN between oxytocin and CRF. Oxytocin decreases the excitability of CRF neurons in mouse hypothalamic slices, and may further inhibit CRF release by modulating CRFR1-positive neurons. Note that music may also have effects on CRF that are independent of oxytocin. ARC arcuate nucleus, CRFR1 CRF receptor type 1, NAc nucleus accumbens, POMC proopiomelanocortin, PVN paraventricular nucleus, VTA ventral tegmental area.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Koelsch S. Music-evoked emotions: principles, brain correlates, and implications for therapy. Ann N. Y Acad Sci. 2015;1337:193–201. doi: 10.1111/nyas.12684. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lonsdale AJ, North AC. Why do we listen to music? A uses and gratifications analysis. Br J Psychol. 2011;102:108–34. doi: 10.1348/000712610X506831. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kemper KJ, Danhauer SC. Music as therapy. South Med J. 2005;98:282–8. doi: 10.1097/01.SMJ.0000154773.11986.39. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zatorre RJ. Musical pleasure and reward: mechanisms and dysfunction. Ann N. Y Acad Sci. 2015;1337:202–11. doi: 10.1111/nyas.12677. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Greenberg DM, Decety J, Gordon I. The social neuroscience of music: understanding the social brain through human song. Am Psychol. 2021;76:1172–85. doi: 10.1037/amp0000819. - DOI - PubMed