A neuroscientific perspective on music therapy
Abstract
During the last years, a number of studies demonstrated that music listening (and even more so music production) activates a multitude of brain structures involved in cognitive, sensorimotor, and emotional processing. For example, music engages sensory processes, attention, memory-related processes, perception-action mediation ("mirror neuron system" activity), multisensory integration, activity changes in core areas of emotional processing, processing of musical syntax and musical meaning, and social cognition. It is likely that the engagement of these processes by music can have beneficial effects on the psychological and physiological health of individuals, although the mechanisms underlying such effects are currently not well understood. This article gives a brief overview of factors contributing to the effects of music-therapeutic work. Then, neuroscientific studies using music to investigate emotion, perception-action mediation ("mirror function"), and social cognition are reviewed, including illustrations of the relevance of these domains for music therapy.
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Sound can exert a significant action on the brain by activating a large number of cortical and subcortical areas, particularly the limbic and paralimbic areas devoted to emotional processing.
“Studies showed that sound can exert a significant action on the brain (200–204) by activating a large number of cortical and subcortical areas, and, particularly, the limbic and paralimbic areas devoted to emotional processing (205).”
From The Multidisciplinary Approach to Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. A Narrative Review of Non-Pharmacological Treatment (2018) · cites this paper as [203]
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- Authors
- Koelsch, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Sussex (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Koelsch, Stefan
- ORCID
- Koelsch, Stefan
- Venue
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-07
- Volume
- 1169
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 374-384
- ISSN
- 0077-8923 (ISSN-L)
- 1749-6632
- OpenAlex
- W2118088402
- Cited by
- 387
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 1.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Music Therapy and Health
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Social Sciences › Education › Music Education and Analysis
- Keywords
- music therapy, music listening, music production, brain activation, emotional processing, mirror neuron system, multisensory integration, social cognition, memory, attention, musical syntax, mental health, physiological health
- MeSH terms
- Cognition, Humans, Music Therapy, Neurosciences
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