Neuroscience reveals how rhythm helps us walk, talk — and even love
Rhythm goes far deeper than just music — it underpins the way we speak, the way we move, the way we think. ‘Rhythm is life,’ says Lois Butcher Poffley, a sports psychologist with a specialty in rhythm training.
Drumming boosts the immune system
Group drumming boots the immune system and increases cancer-killing cells, helping the body fight back against cancer as well as other viruses, including AIDS.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11191041
Drumming reduces stress
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11191041
Drumming reduces blood pressure/stress/anxiety
Drumming may improve cardiovascular health without posing the risk to unhealthy or older populations that may be experienced with more intense forms of exercise.
Post-drumming:
- Drop in systolic blood pressure in older population
- Significant decrease in stress and anxiety in both middle-aged and younger drummers
Group drumming improves depression, anxiety and social resilience
By 6 weeks: decrease in depression, increase in social resilience
By 10 weeks: further improvements in depression, significant improvements in anxiety and mental wellbeing.
These changes were maintained at 3 month follow-up.
The drumming intervention group also saw their immune profile shift from a pro-inflammatory towards an anti-inflammatory response.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0151136
Drumming increase brain white matter & executive cognitive function
Two months of drumming intervention resulted in cognitive enhancement and improvements in executive function and changes in white matter microstructure
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25300331
Drumming reduces pain
The act of drumming – as opposed to passively listening – elevates the pain threshold and is connected with endorphin release.
Researchers concluded that it was the “active performance of music that generates the endorphin high, not the music itself.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23089077
Drumming reduces the symptoms of PTSD
“A reduction in PTSD symptoms was observed following drumming, especially increased sense of openness, togetherness, belonging, sharing, closeness, connectedness and intimacy, as well as achieving a non-intimidating access to traumatic memories, facilitating an outlet for rage and regaining a sense of self-control.”
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197455607000883
Drumming reduces adverse effects of Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s patients can connect better with loved ones when drumming is a part of their daily routine.
Drumming supports clarity of mind. The predictability of rhythm can provide a framework for positive cognitive responses in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia patients.
http://www.themusictherapycenter.com/factsheets/mtcca_alzheimers.pdf
Drumming improves socio-emotional disorders
Low-income children enrolled in a 12-week group drumming intervention saw multiple domains of social-emotional behavior improve significantly, from anxiety to attention, from oppositional to post-traumatic disorders.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21660091
Drumming induces transcendent experiences
“Exposure to repetitive drumming combined with instructions for shamanic journeying has been associated with physiological and therapeutic effects.” As well as “a significant decrease” in levels of the stress hormone cortisol, volunteers who were exposed to repetitive drumming combined with shamanic instructions reported experiencing “heaviness, decreased heart rate and dreamlike experiences.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24999623