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Connecting Music and Neuroscience
Musicians have long recognized the profound impact of music on the human brain.
Now, with the newest neuroscience research...
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The Studies
Allen, S. E. (2013). Memory stabilization and enhancement following music practice. Psychology of Music, 41(6), 794–803. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735612463947
Cook, T., Roy, A. R. K., & Welker, K. M. (2019). Music as an emotion regulation strategy: An examination of genres of music and their roles in emotion regulation. Psychology of Music, 47(1), 144–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735617734627
Cooper, P. K. (2020). It’s all in your head: A meta-analysis on the effects of music training on cognitive measures in schoolchildren. International Journal of Music Education, 38(3), 321–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761419881495
Črnčec, R., Wilson, S. J., & Prior, M. (2006). The Cognitive and Academic Benefits of Music to Children: Facts and fiction. Educational Psychology (Dorchester-on-Thames), 26(4), 579–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410500342542
Díaz-Pérez, A., Vicente-Nicolás, G., & Valero-García, A. V. (2021). Music, body movement, and dance intervention program for children with developmental coordination disorder. Psychology of Music, 49(5), 1215–1225. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735620936353
Dingle, G. A., Hodges, J., & Kunde, A. (2016). Tuned In Emotion Regulation Program Using Music Listening: Effectiveness for Adolescents in Educational Settings. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 859–859. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00859
Garrido, S., du Toit, M., & Meade, T. (2022). Music Listening and Emotion Regulation: Young People’s Perspectives on Strategies, Outcomes, and Intervening Factors. Psychomusicology, 32(1–2), 7–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000285
Hides, L., Dingle, G., Quinn, C., Stoyanov, S. R., Zelenko, O., Tjondronegoro, D., Johnson, D., Cockshaw, W., & Kavanagh, D. J. (2019). Efficacy and Outcomes of a Music-Based Emotion Regulation Mobile App in Distressed Young People: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7(1), e11482–e11482. https://doi.org/10.2196/11482
Hou, J., Song, B., Chen, A. C. N., Sun, C., Zhou, J., Zhu, H., & Beauchaine, T. P. (2017). Review on Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation and Music: Implications for Emotion Dysregulation. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 501–501. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00501
Huber, A., Oppikofer, S., Meister, L., Langensteiner, F., Meier, N., & Seifert, A. (2021). Music & Memory: The Impact of Individualized Music Listening on Depression, Agitation, and Positive Emotions in Persons with Dementia. Activities, Adaptation, & Aging, 45(1), 70–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/01924788.2020.1722348
Jentschke, S., Koelsch, S., & Friederici, A. D. (2005). Investigating the relationship of music and language in children: influences of musical training and language impairment. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1060(1), 231–242. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1360.016
Jiménez-Palomares, M., Garrido-Ardila, E. M., Chávez-Bravo, E., Torres-Piles, S. T., González-Sánchez, B., Rodríguez-Mansilla, M. J., De Toro-García, Á., & Rodríguez-Mansilla, J. (2024). Benefits of Music Therapy in the Cognitive Impairments of Alzheimer’s-Type Dementia: A Systematic Review. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 13(7), 2042-. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13072042
Karreman, A., Laceulle, O. M., Hanser, W. E., & Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M. (2017). Effects of emotion regulation strategies on music-elicited emotions: An experimental study explaining individual differences. Personality and Individual Differences, 114, 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.03.059
Kunert, R., Willems, R. M., Casasanto, D., Patel, A. D., & Hagoort, P. (2015). Music and Language Syntax Interact in Broca’s Area: An fMRI Study. PloS One, 10(11), e0141069–e0141069. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141069
Langus, A., Boll‐Avetisyan, N., Ommen, S., & Nazzi, T. (2023). Music and language in the crib: Early cross‐domain effects of experience on categorical perception of prominence in spoken language. Developmental Science, 26(5), e13383-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13383
Loureiro, C., van der Meulen, K., & del Barrio, C. (2024). Why I listen to music: Emotion regulation and identity construction through music in mid-adolescence. Empiria (Madrid), 60, 145–168. https://doi.org/10.5944/empiria.60.2024.39285
Mangiacotti, A., Cipriani, G., Ward, E., Franco, F., & Biasutti, M. (2023). Development and validation of the Music Cognitive Test: A music-based cognitive screening test. Psychology of Music, 51(2), 373–394. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356221100851
Mehr, S. A., Schachner, A., Katz, R. C., & Spelke, E. S. (2013). Two randomized trials provide no consistent evidence for nonmusical cognitive benefits of brief preschool music enrichment. PloS One, 8(12), e82007–e82007. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0082007
Moreno, S., Lee, Y., Bidelman, G., Moussard, A., & Alain, C. (2013). Cognitive benefits of music and arttraining in healthy older adults: Behavioural and ERP studies. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. Supplement, 132a–132a.
Román-Caballero, R., Vadillo, M. A., Trainor, L. J., & Lupiáñez, J. (2022). Please don’t stop the music: A meta-analysis of the cognitive and academic benefits of instrumental musical training in childhood and adolescence. Educational Research Review, 35, 100436-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2022.100436
Saarikallio, S. (2016). Music as emotion regulation. Musicae Scientiae, 20(1), 10–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/1029864916629856
Sala, G., & Gobet, F. (2020). Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis. Memory & Cognition, 48(8), 1429–1441. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-020-01060-2
Schneider, C. E., Hunter, E. G., & Bardach, S. H. (2019). Potential Cognitive Benefits From Playing Music Among Cognitively Intact Older Adults: A Scoping Review. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 38(12), 1763–1783. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464817751198
Thoma, M. V., Ryf, S., Mohiyeddini, C., Ehlert, U., & Nater, U. M. (2012). Emotion regulation through listening to music in everyday situations. Cognition and Emotion, 26(3), 550–560. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2011.595390
Ting, B., Su, C.-H., Chen, D. T.-L., Hsu, W.-T., Tsai, C.-L., Lin, P.-Y., & Jingling, L. (2024). The Sound of Memory: Investigating Music Therapy’s Cognitive Benefits in Patients with Dementia-A Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 14(5), 497-. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm14050497
Tuominen, P. P. A., Raitanen, J., & Rinne, M. (2020). The Test–Retest Repeatability of a Rhythm Coordination Test Procedure in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children: A Pilot Study. Music & Science, 3, 205920432096228-. https://doi.org/10.1177/2059204320962281
Van den Tol, A. J. M., & Edwards, J. (2015). Listening to sad music in adverse situations: How music selection strategies relate to self-regulatory goals, listening effects, and mood enhancement. Psychology of Music, 43(4), 473–494. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735613517410
Wang, W.-C. (2016). The effect of adaptive music playing system on emotion regulation. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 140(4), 3380–3380. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4970813
Zemestani, M., Azadbakht, M., & Storch, E. A. (2023). Preliminary evaluation of music-based emotion-regulation skills to augment CBT for adolescents with ADHD. Musicae Scientiae, 27(3), 757–779. https://doi.org/10.1177/10298649221146050

