How Music Can Be Medicine, with Dr. Dan Levitin

A lot of us reach for music when we’re struggling. Whether we’re going through a breakup or just a rough day, our favorite jams seem to have an almost magical ability to give us relief. But WHY?! What exactly is music doing in the brain that affects how we feel? And how powerful is it? Like, could music actually treat diseases? We dig into these questions with musician, neuroscientist, and professor Dr. Dan Levitin. He wrote a book called “I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine” all about the incredible neuroscience science behind music and how it can help with things like depression, pain and even Alzheimer’s disease.

This episode does mention depression. Here are some crisis hotlines:

United States: US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Dial 988 (Online chat available); US Crisis Text Line Text “HOME” to 741741

Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14 (Online chat available)

Canada: Call or text 988

United Kingdom: Samaritans 116 123 (UK and ROI)

Full list of international hotlines here

Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceVsMusicAsMedicine

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Intro

(03:04) How music activates the brain

(09:17) The effects of music on mental health and pain