13 Incredible Ways Music Benefits You
Reader's Digest US|June 2018

13 Incredible Ways Music Benefıts You

Michelle Crouch
13 Incredible Ways Music Benefits You

1 Listening to happy music at work can help you complete tasks more quickly, especially if you’re doing something repetitive such as checking e-mail or filing documents. One study showed that the accuracy and efficiency of surgeons improved when they worked with the music of their choice in the background. Cornell University researchers also found that upbeat tunes help workers cooperate and make group decisions that contribute to the good of the team.

2 Music decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol just as well as massage therapy does, according to a small 2010 study. Scientists randomly assigned anxious patients to listen to music either during massage therapy or while lying in a dim room. After three months, those who just listened to music experienced the same drop in anxiety as those who also got massages.

3 Listening to music before surgery has been shown to ease anxiety and limit the need for sedatives. After surgery, it helps reduce pain. An analysis of 73 studies published in the Lancet in 2015 confirmed that listening to music before, during, or after surgery improves anxiety and pain levels, which in turn means less pain medication.

This story is from the June 2018 edition of Reader's Digest US.

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This story is from the June 2018 edition of Reader's Digest US.

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