Music as Medicine—Neuroplasticity in Depression and the Effect of Music

Author: Evelyn Fistler

Editor: Camaria Polk

Introduction

Music is an important part of human life, where cultures and communities indulge in creating sound that expresses their characteristics as human beings. Intricate lyrics with melodies that soothe the soul are what we seek when life becomes stressful. People may listen to songs on the radio while some play instruments or sing. What many don’t notice is that music has the ability to affect our cognition, impacting us emotionally while strengthening neural networks.

Mental disorders, such as depression, may severely impact an individual that their cognition becomes impaired, where deficits in memory and decision-making become prevalent as symptoms occur. Many people seek relatable songs to listen to as a form of coping through anxiety and stress, but how impactful could music be when dealing with depression?

This article will provide insight on neuroplasticity in depression and how music impacts our cognitive capabilities.

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Neuroplasticity in Depression

What is Neuroplasticity?

Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to adapt and change due to external and internal stimuli of learning and experience, such as reorganizing structure, functions, and connections (Puderbaugh & Emmady, 2023). 

But how does depression cause this?

Long-term depression causes structural and chemical changes in the brain which leads to decreased synaptic activity and weakened synaptic connections, with the hippocampus and amygdala being some of the most impacted, known to be regions that are responsible for cognitive skills such as learning and memory (Sekhon & Marwaha, 2023). Individuals may also suffer from cognitive deficits in attention, concentration, emotion processing and social learning (Rădulescu, et al, 2021).

Major depression is known to severely affect certain areas of the brain. Notable demonstrations such as dendritic atrophy, referring to the shrinkage of neural branches that send and receive neural signals, and decrease in the number of glial cells, which maintain homeostasis and form myelin, a protective cover for neurons that also assist in communication sending. is prevalent in the prefrontal cortex. A decrease of synaptic activity in the hippocampal area is common due to withdrawal of dendrites and synapses, resulting in poor connection to and from the hippocampus (Rădulescu, et al, 2021).

Music and its Effects on Neuroplasticity 

Music engages the brain and affects neuroplasticity, promoting new neural connections while also enhancing cognitive function (Chatterjee, et al, 2021). One’s physical and emotional wellbeing may be altered when listening to music due to its ability to alleviate anxiety all while enhancing neural connections and reshaping networks. Starting as sound waves, music then transforms into an electric signal, progressing through the auditory nerve to the brainstem, where sound can be perceived. Musicians, individuals who practice musical instruments and create music, are susceptible to major structural changes in the brain, such as the corpus callosum, where there is correlation to the area becoming larger through years of practice starting at ages as young as seven, in comparison to non-musicians and musicians who began practicing later on in life. Furthermore, white and gray matter changes are also prevalent in musicians—specifically pianists. Potential causes of grey and white matter adaptations could affect the number of synapses, glia volume, myelination, and axon diameter within the brain, found in motor regions. Cortical auditory representation is stronger in musicians, specifically on those who began playing at young ages. Playing instruments requires cognitive capabilities, highlighted through the motor cortex and structures responsible for coordination and movement. Even individuals involved on a short-term basis were found to have improved verbal memory (Muriel, et al, 2024).

Animal studies utilizing mice suggests music being a beneficial variable when considering treatments for depression, where reduction in oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain, while neuronal death is also prevented. Because these factors are consistent in individuals with depression, studies such as these are useful in translational research and pre-clinical findings to humans (Fu, et al, 2023).

How does this impact symptoms of cognitive deficits in depression?

Cognitive deficits prevalent in depression show to be manageable through music intervention, though more concrete evidence should require further investigation, such as listening duration, genre of music, and age groups, but known studies and their suggestions show the importance of advancing this field of study.

A study suggests that music intervention reduced cognitive impairment and improved moods in participants. Furthermore, listening to music improved memory recognition and depressive symptoms. Neuropsychological symptoms are alleviated through active parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems through the inducement of arousal and positive emotional responses. Additionally, fight-or-flight induced through the sympathetic nervous system may recede and promote relaxation through music with movement, instrumental music, or watching music videos, but the genre of music should be investigated further in order to provide substantial information. Music with movement such as dancing in a 12-week intervention showed improvement in cognition and depressive symptoms as well (Jordan, et al, 2022).

Further investigation on music therapy exhibited reduction in depression symptoms when duration was three or more times weekly for about an hour in individuals of the average ages between 50-65 (Tang, et al, 2020).

While music through variations of utilization shows improvement in depression symptoms and overall mood, these studies help provide foundational information that can be used to advance known research on depression and cognition.

Conclusion

Neuroplasticity and cognitive changes resulting from mental disorders, specifically depression, are important matters to educate the public on due to the wide variety of treatments that may help depending on the individual. Pharmacotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapies, and somatic treatments are currently utilized for individuals suffering from major depressive disorder, but still, treatments vary per person and may affect each individual differently, which shows how useful other potential treatments may be for this disorder (Karrouri, et al, 2021). More awareness on music’s ability to enhance neural networks and reduce stress could lead to further research on music and its effect on other brain related disorders or diseases. While listening to music showed significant results in positive emotional responses, brain stimulation and arousal, it is important to consider furthering this research through analyzing the genre of music, duration of time spent listening, and individuals’ ages when participating in studies. This is valuable for further research and may advance how treatments are utilized for mental disorders such as depression.

By providing insight to this topic, the general public may be able to better understand cognition and how intricate the brain is, but there is still a need for further research on how daily activities such as listening to music can impact cognition.  Through further research on brain adaptations and changes through neuroplasticity, researchers can design interventions and valuable treatments for a wide range of neurological disorders, diseases, and overall mechanisms of cognition. Individual experiences and analyses of neuroplasticity and how sound and music affect the brain will provide useful information that could potentially shape the studies of cognitive sciences.

Bibliography

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Chatterjee, D., Hegde, S., & Thaut, M. (2021). Neural plasticity: The substratum of music-based interventions in neurorehabilitation. NeuroRehabilitation, 48(2), 155–166. https://doi.org/10.3233/NRE-208011

Fu, Q., Qiu, R., Chen, L., Chen, Y., Qi, W., & Cheng, Y. (2023). Music prevents stress-induced depression and anxiety-like behavior in mice. Translational psychiatry, 13(1), 317. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-023-02606-z

Karrouri, R., Hammani, Z., Benjelloun, R., & Otheman, Y. (2021). Major depressive disorder: Validated treatments and future challenges. World journal of clinical cases, 9(31), 9350–9367. https://doi.org/10.12998/wjcc.v9.i31.9350

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Puderbaugh, M., & Emmady, P. D. (2023, May 1). Neuroplasticity. StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557811/

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Tang, Q., Huang, Z., Zhou, H., & Ye, P. (2020). Effects of music therapy on depression: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. PloS one, 15(11), e0240862. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240862