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Annotated Bibliography

What effect do different genres of music have on mental health?

Moye Balogun
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
10/15/15

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Annotated Bibliography
Stack, S., Lester, D. and Rosenberg, J. S. (2012), Music and Suicidality: A Quantitative Review
and Extension Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 28 Sep 2012 Web. 10 Oct 2015.
This scholarly article details several studies done to find an association between music
and suicidality (and many theories on the relation between the two). According to a study
conducted by Baker F. and Bor W. cited in the article, youth in the UK and the US spend
2.5 to 4 hours a day listening to music. Considering the daily activities of the average
teen, this is relatively frequent. Generally, under the classification of music-oriented
subcultures, there are two perspectives utilized during research. The first takes a
sociological stance and feels that the connection between mental health and music is
based on the fact that listening to music is a subculture activity which reflects as well as
reinforces the values, attitudes, and behaviors of its members. Subculture, can be
defined as a cultural group within a larger culture that often has beliefs or interests
different from that of the larger culture. In todays society, the activity of listening to
music has developed into its own culture. A few examples of music-oriented subcultures
are Clubbing, Goth, and Heavy Metal subcultures.
The other research perspective enforces the belief that the association between music and
mental health is based on the topic of suicide being prevalent or even promoted within
the songs. This angle takes a psychological viewpoint that also takes into account an
individuals personal perception of the music. They believe that suicide songs influence
listeners regardless of their possible membership in a music subculture.
Despite seemingly opposing outlooks, these two perspectives can be taken hand in hand.
The article provides the example that even though a person is associated with a music

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subculture, they might still have been initially drawn to the group based on individual
differences. I believe this article will be extremely useful since it provides me with
several arguments surrounding my topic and an abundant amount of valuable
information. The article contains several subtopics (e.g. suicide ideation and suicide
acceptability as they relate to the fans of various music genres) that will permit me to
narrow my focus as I continue with my project. Further understanding of the conclusions
drawn from this article will allow me to piece together whether a connection between
music and mental health issues exists and whether the conditions of a genre have an
impact.
American Psychological Association. Speaking of Psychology: Music and your health.
APA.org Web. 10 Oct 2015.
This podcast relays an interview of neuropsychologist, Daniel Levitin hosted by APA
journalist Audrey Hamilton. During the interview, Hamilton queries Levitin about how
music affects brain chemistry and ones health. Levitin states that currently there is
evidence that music has the ability to alter brain chemistry to produce components
usually present in a healthy immune system such as cytokines and immunoglobulin.
Since mental health issues such as depression and anxiety are based on excessive or
deficient hormones in the brain, I believe this statement alludes to the conclusion that
music can be utilized to bring the brain chemistry in mental health sufferers back into
balance. Levitin also details the influx and importance of evidence-based research on
musics effects, whose findings bolster musics capability to alter pain thresholds,
increase immune system functions, and even affect mood, heart rate, and respiration rate.

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Further into the interview, Levitin goes on to challenge the popular Mozart Theory, which
entails that listening to classical music, especially Mozart, significantly improves brain
function. Despite the well-known theory being viewed as scientific fact, Levitin states
that there has been research to disprove the theory and propose that it is rather the act of
playing an instrument that influences ones mental capacity. This turns my mind to the
question of whether playing music can specifically influence ones mental health. I am
already aware of the proposed physiological effects, but I wonder whether there are any
known positive psychological changes provided by it.
Even though this podcast doesnt present an in depth look into the cognitive aspect of
listening to music, it is useful in the sense that it contributes to my general knowledge
about the overall health effects of this activity. The podcast also helps me define terms
such as music intervention, which Levitin mentions is usually incorrectly enclosed in the
umbrella term music therapy.
American Music Therapy Association. American Music Therapy Association Web. 11 Oct
2015.
For my reliable website, I chose musictherapy.org which is the American Music Therapy
Associations website. I believe this website will be a very useful source for my project
since the site provides clear and concise information on the relation between mental
health and music as well as other avenues. Without having to be on the website for too
long, I am able to access definitions of music therapy and other related vocabulary,
techniques used to conduct this service, exactly what role music plays in the lives of
persons with mental health needs, and much more. In other words, I now know that music
therapy is officially defined as the clinical and evidence-based use of music

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interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a

credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program. I
know that music therapists use instrumental and vocal strategies to elicit changes that are
usually non-musical. I know that mental health patients use music therapy for cognitive
and communicative needs. I know that music provides patients with a means of
communication and expression, while simultaneously helping them address issues they
may struggle to express verbally. All these things I was previously unknowledgeable
about, I now know. I am now able to take this useful information and further develop my
paper with research based facts and findings.
Landau, Elizabeth. Music: It's in your head, changing your brain. CNN CNN.com. 28 May.
2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
This article from the popular news source CNN, details musics effect on the brain in
relation to things such as pleasure, evolutionary adaptations, influences on animals
besides humans, emotions, language, etc. The article contains several professionals
advocating music as a positive component of healthy brain function. According to
associate professor of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins
University, Dr. Charles Limb, "It [music] allows you to think in a way that you used to
not think, and it also trains a lot of other cognitive facilities that have nothing to do with
music." Psychologist Daniel Levitin believes that "The structures that respond to music in
the brain evolved earlier than the structures that respond to language." I found this
interesting, because previous to viewing this source, I hadnt taken the evolutionary
aspect of music and mental health into account. Levitin also pointed to the fact that

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before writing, our ancestors used music to help remember things. For example, in
Judaism, the Torah was set to music to be remembered before it was written down.
Moreover, when it comes to pleasure, the article states that music is strongly associated
with the brain's reward system. The striatum, a brain structure, releases dopamine upon
the presence of pleasure-related stimuli. Neurology and neurosurgery professor, Robert
Zatorre, and his colleagues conducted an experiment to view dopamine release in
participants while listening to music they find pleasurable. The predicted dopamine
release was present but, to the researchers surprise, the dopamine did not come from the
ventral striatum, but rather the dorsal striatum. The dopamine was also strangely released
10 to 15 seconds before the moment of peak pleasure. This is an interesting turn of events
that provides basis for questions such as Why is this pleasure hormone released before
the actual point of pleasure? and Is it the brains predictive nature that allows for this
experience?
This source is extremely useful to me since it references several professionals that are
well versed in the specific details of my topic. I plan to use this article and the other
sources it leads me to, to increase the factual basis in my argument.