Transcriber: Caterina Castellano Revelles Reviewer: Hoda Nada
I’d like to ask everyone here to take a moment to think about
how you are feeling right now. Do you feel happy? Do you feel relaxed?
Do you feel calm?
(Drill sound)
How about now? Still feel relaxed? All right.
Let's take a moment to recover from that sound.
(Relaxing music)
A little bit better.
I’m a musicologist and for the last 20 years I have been studying music taste
and the impact that sound has on the body and the brain.
And I've witnessed firsthand how music can save lives, literally.
Now our brain needs stimulation to function properly, to thrive.
And we get this from movement, touch, taste, and smell.
But above all, from sound.
In fact, sound makes up 80% of the stimulus processed by our brain.
Sound is, of course, all around us all the time.
Sound is a vibration of particles, and when our ears receive these vibrations
they convert them into electrical signals sent to the brain for processing.
Different types of sound are processed by different areas of our brain,
but all sounds pass through our limbic system.
and our limbic system is responsible for processing our emotion and our memory.
And this is where it gets really interesting.
Before our brain has figured out what it is that we’re hearing,
our limbic system has already determined how it makes us feel.
Every sound we process triggers an emotional response in our body.
Every sound we hear impacts the way we feel.
So it would make sense to say that some sounds have a negative impact on us
and others a positive impact, right?
Well, research has found that if we are exposed to negative sounds
for a long period of time, this is actually bad for our health.
It is stress inducing.
But there is no evidence to suggest that long term exposure to positive sounds
is in any way bad for us.
Now the best sound is music.
Music is unique because it’s the only sound and, in fact,
the only stimulus that researchers know of
that activates all the different areas of our brain at the same time.
It’s a total brain workout.
And one thing that music does for all of us is
it taps into our memory and emotion.
Now, growing up,
I remember both my parents exposed me
to a wide variety of musical genres and styles.
Music was a big part of my upbringing and I’m very grateful for that.
But it wasn’t until I got my first Sony Walkman—
does anyone remember those?
It wasn’t until I got my first Sony Walkman that I fell in love with music.
It became personal.
I got to choose what to listen to and I could get lost in the melodies,
the rhythms and the lyrics of the songs.
It wasn’t until later that I realized that listening to music
was a form of therapy for me.
It was like a safety net or a comfort blanket, if you will.
It allowed me to deal with complex emotions as a child.
It allowed me to deal with difficult moments in my childhood.
I truly believe that music saved my life and I've seen it do the same
for many others around me.
So because of that, of course, I decided I wanted to become a DJ when I was 14.
And it’s because I couldn’t think of a greater joy than to play music
for others and give them that same comfort and emotional outlet and joy that
I had felt for so many years.
Funnily enough, that all started
just a stone’s throw from where we are today,
in the nightclubs of Ibiza.
Of course, everyone around the world knows Ibiza for its nightlife,
but for me, Ibiza is home.
I grew up here.
And it’s here where I realized my dream of becoming a professional DJ
when I was just 16 years old.
In fact, my very first paid gig was just 200m from where we are today.
Now listening to music, as we know, is a total brain workout.
But just like physical activity, there’s various degrees of music listening.
And understanding these
can help us decide when and what type of music listening really works for us.
So, for example, when we listen to relaxing music,
this is the equivalent to a physical activity like light stretching
or a walk in the park.
Listening to relaxing music is stimulating,
but because the brain can easily anticipate what comes next in the song,
it requires less energy to process.
But researchers found when we listen to relaxing music,
it is a great form for us to de-stress and it also helps us focus.
Then there's listening to music that we love.
And I do mean here your guilty pleasures,
the ones that you too embarrassed to talk about with your friends.
This is the equivalent of doing a Pilates session or weightlifting.
When we listen to music that we love, it promotes feelings of joy and motivation.
But researchers also found that it increases our dopamine levels
and it increases blood flow in the brain.
Finally, there's listening to complex music.
Think of free jazz or certain types of classical or playing a musical instrument.
This is the equivalent of a high intensity workout like CrossFit.
When we listen to complex music or play musical instruments,
it requires practice and discipline, and at times it can be
very, very frustrating.
But with continued effort come great rewards in terms of
cognitive development and neuroplasticity.
So back to dopamine for a moment.
Dopamine is a neurochemical that acts as a messaging service between
the brain and the body.
Now, as we age, we naturally produce less dopamine.
But for somebody with Parkinson's, that can be up to 80% less.
And oftentimes somebody with Parkinson’s feels like
their brain and their body are out of sync.
Fortunately, researchers found that when they play music
with a steady, pronounced beat, like a tango,
they can activate the rhythm part of the brain
and help somebody with Parkinson’s get their brain and body
back into sync again through movement—through dance in this case.
So you can imagine for a moment that a good daily activity or habit
for somebody with Parkinson's would be to listen to their favorite music,
those guilty pleasures that also have a steady,
pronounced beat to help increase dopamine levels as well as help with coordination.
For those living with dementia,
researchers found that the area of the brain responsible
for long-term memory is the last to be impacted by this disease.
And when we stimulate this area by playing music from our past,
from our childhood, this acts as a trigger or prompt to then activate and stimulate
the other areas of the brain that are no longer functioning as well
because of this disease.
In that moment we can improve mood,
memory and even communication in somebody living with dementia.
Now, these are just two of many examples where researchers found our brains
natural connection to music can actually help with our brain health
and neurological disorders.
And this is where I get really excited about the use of technology.
So for the last ten years or so,
I've been using technology to enhance the value of music as a therapy.
This year, some of the technology my team and I have been working
on is going to be used in several clinical trials around the world.
And what we're measuring is how can we use our personalized music therapy
or intervention to improve brain health
and longevity when we include it in our daily routine?
The first of these studies in the UK will be focused specifically on
the impact this will have on people living with dementia and,
equally as important, their caregivers.
So, to quickly recap:
Our brain needs stimulation.
The majority of that stimulation comes from sound.
The best sound is music because it is a total brain workout
and it helps with our mood, memory, communication, movement and much more.
So I say: Let’s use our brains natural connection to music.
Let’s replace negative sounds around us
with positive music that makes us feel good.
Because you never know.
That right song
at the right time
could literally save your life.
Thank you.
(Applause)