Scientific Method: How Music Can Be Used As Medicine
A violinist reads a score during a presentation of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogota for the press. MAURICIO DUENAS/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A violinist reads a score during a presentation of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogota for the press.
MAURICIO DUENAS/AFP via Getty ImagesMusic has the power to evoke a wide range of emotions. It can make us feel melancholy. Or it can fill us with hope.
Music is often tangled up with memories and experiences, too. There's probably a playlist you associate with every stage of life — from the music that helped you through high school, to the song that reminds you of a lost loved one.
Music doesn't just sound good. It can also help us be more empathetic. It's even being used to treat medical conditions like dementia, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease.
For this installment of the Scientific Method, we discuss how music affects the mind, why it can be a powerful tool for treatment, and the ways the songs we love bring us closer together.
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