(Montreal) From the vocal games of Inuit women in the Canadian Arctic to the haunting chanting of Tibetan monks, to your soulful rendition of Dua Lipa’s latest hit while you’re in the shower, music can be a precious ally in these times of great stress, recalls a researcher from the University of Montreal.
Posted at 12:31 p.m.
“It is well known that music has a power of appeasement,” says Professor Isabelle Peretz, from the Department of Psychology at the University of Montreal, with whom The Canadian Press spoke at the International Women’s Day.
As proof, the now viral video of Amelia, a little Ukrainian refugee whose interpretation a cappella of the song let it gofrom the movie Snow Queen (Frozen), instantly silences a crowded shelter of people driven from their homes by war.
In Italy, recalls Mme Peretz, confined Italians came out to their balconies to sing, an initiative that was later picked up in one way or another around the world, including in Quebec.
Who has not seen, for example, the images of musicians who came to serenade – at the height of the health crisis – seniors who were forbidden to leave their homes?
“We often forget that music brings people together,” she said. It could be useful for the Ukrainians as well as for us, who helplessly watch this invasion. »
Recent research carried out in particular in Montreal and Barcelona shows that the music we like triggers the production of several hormones associated with pleasure, such as dopamine and endorphins, in the brain.
And the musical genre has nothing to do with it, whether it’s Chopin, Ray Charles or the dashing Cowboys, as long as it is harmonious to our ears.
These are all “beneficial effects” of music, “without side effects”, said Mme Peretz, at a time when we are beset from the right by the pandemic, from the left by the war in Ukraine, and now from behind by renewed warnings about the catastrophic health of our planet.
“There are many virtues and that’s why Plato called (music) the medicine of the soul,” she recalled.
Music can therefore have effects on the brain comparable to those of chocolate and sex, two of the most pleasant activities we know.
Adding your own baritone voice to the playing piece can then trigger the brain to produce mood-enhancing substances, no matter how in tune you sound.
More specifically, imaging tests have shown that eating chocolate and listening to music both activate the same region in participants’ brains, Ms.me Peretz.
Music is therefore a valuable tool to combat the stress and anxiety that surrounds us, she said.
“We must not deprive ourselves of it, said M.me Peretz in conclusion. You really have to encourage people to use it. »