Music speaks to everyone and in different ways. And that’s the rationale of music therapy which conventional medicine has come around to accepting. When Diya, an autistic child finally agrees to establish eye contact with her parents or when septuagenarian Harish Grover recovering from a stroke, is able to call out to his wife, it’s thanks to the benign effect of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, pills and injections notwithstanding.

Accepted in the West as routine therapy comparable to physiotherapy or speech therapy, doctors in India too are recognising the therapeutic effects of music to mental and physical health. “We advise patients recovering from a stroke or suffering from dementia brought on by Alzheimer’s disease to listen to music two to three hours daily. Music plays a big role in rehabilitation of such patients — it helps improve memory, comprehension and cognitive abilities,” says Dr Arun Garg, neurologist, Max Healthcare.

For children suffering from autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders or other forms of mental retardation, music can do wonders. “It would be wrong to question the ability of music to improve the mental well-being of any individual,” says Dr Jitender Nagpal, psychiatrist, Vidyasagar Institute of

Mental Health and Neuro Sciences. “Music therapy includes the use of behavioural, biomedical, developmental, educational, humanistic and adaptive music instruction. It addresses the physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs of the child. It helps him improve communication deficits and stimulate nonverbal communication,” he explains.

An advantage of music therapy is that it is an inherently non-threatening and inviting medium. It offers a child a safe haven to explore feelings, behaviours and issues ranging from self-esteem to severe emotional dysregulation. The techniques can be designed to address more complex issues such as grief, abandonment or deeply conflicted emotions. Some of the techniques used in the treatment of emotionally disturbed children include live music production (playing instruments and singing), improvisation, guided imagery (pairing of visualisation with music), creative songwriting and lyric analysis. Says Madhup Mudgal, who teaches at the Gandharva Mahavidhyalaya in the Capital, “Almost immediately you see the transformation as they learn to concentrate and their self-esteem improves as they get an opportunity to express their creative power.”

Music therapy is based on the associative and cognitive powers of the mind. Sound creates vibrations on the eardrum, which is picked up by the auditory nerve and sent to the brain and redistributed throughout the neuron network. Each sound not only registers in the auditory sections, but is also stored as a part of memory. “Every sound, every tone is associated with a previous memory. And when that sound is heard again, it triggers off a memory buried deep in the mind,” explains Dr Kalyan Bagchi, president, Society for Gerontological Research.

The positive effects do not end there. The brain reacts to the music by releasing certain endorphins, which are the natural opiates and palliatives of the body. “Serotonin and dopamine, also called the good hormones, when released into the blood stream give a sense of well-being. These mood alleviators make you relaxed, lower aggression levels and makes the patient receptive to treatment,” says Dr Seema Puri, nutritional expert and reader at the Institute of Home Economics.

Different kinds of music work in different ways. While western classical music or Indian traditional music can work wonders with terminally ill patients, bhajans and satsangs can help patients recovering from brain hemorrhages or heart attacks. “Even percussion instruments like drums can help relieving stress,” says Dr Puri. Nursery rhymes, folk tunes and even fast numbers make children sit up and take notice. Remember the lullaby your mom sang to you as a child? Then, it put you to sleep, today, it rekindles memories of warmth and security. That’s music therapy for you.