Science has demonstrated that music’s effect on us can be profound, but the mechanisms behind this are complex. In the academic community, it is well recognised that music has great power over our physical and mental health. However, the science behind the harms and benefits of music on our mind and body is not clearly understood.

Sound is energy in the form of a mechanical vibration which can alter cell viability and movement. Music does not only influence us by its emotional effect via the ears, but sound can penetrate body tissue, directly affecting cells deep in the human body. Music has been found to affect cells in culture, including altering the cell cycle and binding of hormone.⁹³

Music medicine is an emerging therapeutic technique which takes advantage of music’s healing properties. For example, full body immersion in music (as opposed to listening to music with earphones) has been shown to enhance nitric oxide production, resulting in a broad range of health benefits. It also increases the availability of oxygen binding to haemoglobin molecules, aiding tissue repair and reducing pain.⁹⁴ Concetta Tomaino, internationally known for her research in the clinical applications of music and neurologic rehabilitation, stated:

“We now know from clinical case studies that music can affect – in very specific ways – human neurological, psychological and physical functioning in areas such as learning, processing language, expressing emotion, memory, and physiological and motor responses.”⁹⁵

Dr Imogen Clark, Senior lecturer in Music Therapy, and her colleague, Associate Professor Jeanette Tamplin, Head of Music Therapy at The University of Melbourne, discuss the influence of music on the body. The body’s response to music is both conscious and unconscious and our bodies respond automatically, they explain. Rhythm is particularly influential – we breathe and move in time with the rhythm and it:

“…mimics internal bodily rhythms and is therefore an external cue that our brains readily recognise and respond to. The automatic synchronisation of physical movement, heart rate, respiratory rate and neural activity with rhythmic cues in music is known as entrainment.” Furthermore, they describe how “Vibrations from music have a systemic impact on the entire body from single cells through to complex systems. Thus, music has a modulating influence on multiple physiological processes.”⁹⁶

These two music therapists also describe how music affects the neuroendocrine and limbic systems, releasing feel good hormones, such as dopamine, serotonin and endorphins, which make us feel better, reduce pain and give us intense feelings of pleasure and reward. Music can decrease the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, helping to relax us and reduce anxiety; while music with fast tempo, wide pitch variation and syncopated rhythms can energise us. Therefore, they say:

“Musical tempo, harmony, melody, rhythm and volume in music can therefore be manipulated to regulate heart rate, blood pressure, sensory perception, cognitive function, neural activity and emotional response depending on the requirements for a given situation.”⁹⁵

Due to multiple effects on the brain and body, music is excellent accompaniment for exercise and improving compliance with physical activity. Music is even banned from a number of competitive sports due to its performance-enhancing qualities. Owing to these beneficial features, music has been used successfully to rehabilitate patients with various health conditions, such as spinal injury, stroke, heart and respiratory disease, multiple sclerosis, dementia, learning disorders, cancer and numerous other ailments.⁹⁶

Apart from these many health benefits, there are numerous other ways in which music can influence us both positively and negatively, such as our emotional state, behaviour, substance use, brain wave patterns, and even the structure of the brain. For example, some studies have shown harmful effects of frequent exposure to low-frequency sounds, such as the deep bass sounds of music.⁹⁷ Music Therapist, Dr Juanita McElwain, says:

“…there are many different ways music can affect you physically, emotionally and mentally. A good example is entrainment. When the rhythm of the music enters your body, the physiological functions start matching the rhythm of the music. When the rhythm of the music is syncopated (containing unnatural accents which do not match anything in the body or nature) many deleterious results may occur, because the parts of your body start producing these unnatural rhythms.”^{98 (p25)}

As we all know, music has a powerful effect on our emotions. Neurologist, Dr Richard G. Pellegrino states: “The same receptors that bind opium also bind endorphins, a class of natural opioids found in the brain that seem to play a pivotal role in the way we experience music.” These endorphins produce very intense changes in emotional state and “what a powerful feeling it is: Music talks to us, and we talk back,” he says, “like spoken and written language, music can impart information.” “Take it from a brain guy,” he goes on to say, “In 25 years of working with the brain, I still cannot affect a person’s state of mind the way that one simple song can.”⁹⁹

Music also activates the entire limbic system – a set of structures in the brain which helps us experience emotions. When we listen to music, pressure from sound waves activates the eardrums which causes auditory cells to bend, converting sound energy into nerve impulses that travel to the brain. These impulses activate many neural networks, increasing blood flow to various parts of the brain, including the limbic system, igniting a surge of emotions which are often intertwined with personal memories. Hormones are also released, such as dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin, which make us feel good, improve social bonding and give us a sense of reward.^100,101

Key components of the limbic system are the amygdala, which is the emotional processing centre of the brain, and the hippocampus, which is the memory centre of the brain. That is why music and memory share an intimate bond. Often, a song can trigger a cascade of vivid memories from years past. Information set to a catchy tune tends to stick.^100,101 God instructed Moses to write a song so that the Children of Israel would remember what He had told them. “It will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants (Deut 31:21),” He said.

So powerful is the effect of music on our emotions that it can overpower our frontal lobe – the part of the brain used to reason through things and logically process thoughts. Dr Michael Rich, Director of the Centre for Media and Child Health at Boston Children’s Hospital, says, “Music, particularly among adolescents, is a very powerful motivator of behaviour.” He said we should not underestimate the power of music because of its effect on the limbic system, which can overwhelm all of the other parts of the brain. He points out that we ‘lose our minds’ when we fall in love because of the power of emotion. In other words, he is saying that emotions generated by the limbic system can overpower the reasoning ability of the frontal lobe. He warns that we need to be aware that popular music does affect and change us and we should actively take measures to protect ourselves.¹⁰² In the early 1980s, MTV knew the power of emotion to get young people to forget their logic and they mastered the art of using it to their advantage. Bob Pittman, one of the founders, said, “At MTV, we don’t shoot for the 14-year-olds – we own them.”¹⁰³

That is why Paul said we should sing with the spirit and with understanding (1 Cor 14:15). Over-excitement triggers the limbic system so strongly it can overwhelm the frontal lobe’s ability to think rationally. We lose the ability to analyse what we are singing or the words being preached to us. There may be false doctrines in the words of the song or in the sermon that go straight into our memories without any filtering. If it is secular music we are listening to, worldly values are locked into our long-term memories. If we are to sing with the spirit and with understanding, the lyrics must be spiritual and, according to Mrs White, the music and singing has to be modulated, softened, subdued and melodious, and use clear intonation, correct pronunciation and distinct utterance to facilitate understanding. Paul said:

 “Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken (1 Cor 14:7-9)?” – That would also apply to the lyrics of our songs.

Neuroscientists have studied the effect on viewers of playing a clip of film set to different styles of music. What they discovered is that the music is not just intensifying the mood. The music can: 1) create expectations about events that might be coming up next; 2) lead to associations that aren’t necessarily on the screen; 3) indicate if the story is resolved or not; 4) change the way you interpret characters and their relationships; 5) influence what you remember from the scene; and, 6) it can influence our sense of being inside the world of film as opposed to being somebody watching a film from the outside. These messages can all be conveyed without a single word or lyric. Neuroscientist Dr Aniruddh Patel said that, when they started studying music and the brain using neuroimaging, they were surprised how much of the brain is activated by purely instrumental music without any lyrics. Though the listener is not processing semantic meanings at all, when scientists look at the brain listening to music, they see widespread activation, he said.¹⁰⁴

Music can influence behaviour. By varying the quality, such as pitch, timbre and tempo, music has been shown to subconsciously influence mood and purchasing behaviour in both positive and negative ways. Research has found that the effects of music on consumers are not just due to impact on emotional behaviour.¹⁰⁵ High arousal induced by music may make people impatient when making choices, whereas slower and more relaxed music could increase carefulness.¹⁰⁶ Slow music may improve accuracy as it slows thinking speed, allowing for more careful consideration. Music can influence the places that customers go to, the amount they spend, the length of time they linger in a shop, the products they buy and their memory of advertising. In an experiment conducted at an on-campus cafeteria, for example, students spent more money when classical music was played compared with pop music. In another study, restaurant sales were slightly reduced when pop music was played compared to no music at all but significantly increased with classical music. Music may also have an impact on time perception. For example, “louder music imposes a greater information-processing load, and this leads people to believe that more has happened, and therefore that more time has passed.”¹⁰⁵ In one study, slow music led to supermarket customers shopping 15% slower than when fast music was played, resulting in a 33% increase in spending. French music caused customers to buy more French wine and German music more German wine, even though customers denied the music had any effect on them.¹⁰⁶

So, this raises the question of how music played in church might affect our behaviour in both positive and negative ways. For example, if we hear music in church that sounds similar to club music, how would this affect our subconscious decision-making? Would classical Christian music give listeners a higher sense of value of the message compared to folk tunes? Would slow tempo music put the audience into a better frame of mind for listening to the message?

We do not have detailed answers to these complex questions, but if music makes a significant difference to the way people shop, what they purchase and how much they are willing to pay, it is also likely to make a difference to the way people relate to God. Mrs White said that Satan knows the organs to excite to charm the mind so that Christ is not desired. This makes sense, because if business owners have figured out how to use music to manipulate customers, surely the devil would also use music to manipulate people for his purpose. Fortunately, it is even more true that God would know which organs to excite to capture the mind for Christ. An important lesson to ponder from this research is that music that customers might like the most is not necessarily the music which will give a business the best outcome. Likewise, in church, the style of music that people like to play in their personal time may not necessarily be the most appropriate music to play in church to draw them closer to God and connect them with His Word. 

A large meta-analysis of 136 studies with a total of over 330,000 participants shows that music has a significant effect on substance use. Music plays an important role in the development of identity formation and social beliefs in young people, they report. The more adolescents and young adults engage with music, the more likely they are to believe that what is portrayed in the music is real and link substance use with positive outcomes, such as success, wealth, glamour, partying, sexual activity and socialising. Music containing frequent references to substance use include: electronica, high-brow, reggae, rock, urban, Top Charts and pop. Music consumers are frequently exposed to marijuana references. The authors of the study report that the number of songs containing substance use content has drastically increased. References to MDMA have increased in pop music, hip-hop and rap. Between 1988 and 2008, the percentage of songs with references to substance use in the Top 100 Billboard increased from 12% to 30%. Images of alcohol exist in as much as 45% of popular music videos on YouTube.­ Several studies have shown that rap and hip-hop, rock and dance listeners are especially likely to use substances because drugs are tied to the music culture, which tends to be energetic.¹⁰⁷

Music is also known to affect brain wave patterns. Alpha wave amplitudes tend to rise when we listen to music that we enjoy. Alpha appears to bridge the conscious to the subconscious. Alpha waves increase when our mind is in an alert state of relaxation – we are taking in information but not actively processing the information. Thinking, calculating and analysing reduces alpha waves. Alpha states help us remember things we learn because we subconsciously take in information effortlessly without the distraction of our own thoughts.^108–110 However, if we are not consciously analysing and filtering the information coming in, we can be influenced negatively by it.

We also know that electronic music has ‘consciousness-changing’ and ‘trance-inducing’ effects resembling the psychoactive effects induced by specific drugs. Furthermore, it has been shown that dancing to electronic music can induce states of transcendence and ecstatic trance without having taken psychoactive drugs.¹¹¹ Trance is a state of altered consciousness in which a person has reduced executive control and is highly receptive to suggestion.¹¹²

Music may even have a significant influence on the function and structure of the frontal lobe of the brain. Science has discovered that the frontal lobe is the seat of morality, judgement, reasoning, spirituality, intellect and the will. It is the control centre of our being. An impaired frontal lobe impairs our character or who we really are – our self-control, trustworthiness, reliability, reasoning and interpersonal relationship skills.¹¹³

Dr Neil Nedley, founder of Optimize Your Brain and Nedley Depression and Anxiety Recovery Program, has done extensive research into the effects of lifestyle on the frontal lobe. He says that substances and lifestyle practices that can impair and damage frontal lobe function include: drugs, such as illicit drugs, alcohol, nicotine and caffeine; hypnosis; television; syncopated music rhythms; refined sugar; and the dietary substances tyramine, tryptamine and trimethylamine, which are found in foods such as cheese, wine, fish, sausages, poultry and certain rich foods.¹¹³ In a study by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, researchers found that greater television viewing in earlier adulthood was associated with lower grey matter volume in the frontal lobe of the brain in middle age.¹¹⁴

The Bible says that it is in our foreheads, where the frontal lobe is situated, that our knowledge of God is found: “They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads (Rev 22:4).” The frontal lobe provides elevated spiritual reasoning and superior learning ability. The effects of damage to the frontal lobe, as seen in people who suffer from traumatic injury or stroke, include: impaired moral principle, social impairment, lack of foresight, inability to perform abstract reasoning or to interpret proverbs, diminished mathematical understanding, loss of empathy and lack of restraint.¹¹³ A healthy frontal lobe, therefore, is essential for studying the Bible, analysing its contents and understanding and knowing its author.

A well-known scientific study found that non-synchronised music altered the structure and function of the brains of mice. The non-synchronised music consisted of tones that were not aligned with the dominant beat. After two months of exposure, these mice had significant changes to their hippocampi and had impaired learning and memory. No such effects were observed in mice exposed to synchronised music or no music at all.^115,116  Schreckenberg and Bird’s study into the effects of different music rhythms found that softly playing disharmonic drumbeats impaired the memory and learning ability of the mice. When their brains were examined, they discovered visible evidence of permanent damage to the major memory regions of the brain as well as shrinkage of the frontal lobe. Mice exposed to classical music in the study retained their memory and learning abilities. The concern is that rock and pop music and other genres of modern dance music contain heavily syncopated rhythms, a type of disharmonic off-beat rhythm described by music professionals as “a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm” or “the placement of rhythmic stresses or accents where they wouldn’t normally occur.”^117,118

Though many health benefits have been discovered from listening to music, including rock and pop music, significant harms may have been overlooked in the research. Nikki S. Rickard and her colleagues at Monash University in Australia, have found important methodological weaknesses in studies that claim music exposure enhances human cognitive performance. They state:

“…the claim that music can have a significant impact on cognitive performance lacks stability on both empirical and theoretical grounds. To date, the data in support of the claim are sparse and, in many cases, unconvincing.”

These researchers make a case for more use of appropriate animal models, such as Schreckenberg and Bird’s study discussed above, to avoid many of the confounding factors associated with human music research. However, they do point out that Schreckenberg and Bird’s study does fail to explore other manipulations of the music apart from rhythm. For instance, it is not known if the effect was dependent on other music properties, such as loudness, accent, tempo, time of administration or duration.¹¹⁶ Though their study does not prove that rock music damages the frontal lobe and memory of human brains, it is a red flag and should be taken into serious consideration given the implications. If frequent TV watching can adversely alter the grey matter of the brain, it is certainly possible that regularly listening to unhealthy styles of music could also adversely alter the structure of the brain.

In summary, by varying the characteristics of music, it is possible to manipulate its effect on the human mind and body. Music talks to us. Music affects our behaviour. Music alters our level of alertness. And music can even affect the function of the frontal lobe – the seat of morality, judgement, reasoning, spirituality and intellect – either by overpowering it with emotions or perhaps even by altering its structure. The evidence from science, therefore, is clear: music in and of itself, regardless of the lyrics, is a powerful force which can manipulate the mind, alter behaviour and potentially influence our judgement and reasoning ability.

Seemingly Harmless Things Can Prove Deadly

Though we have come a long way in science, there is an enormous amount that we do not know, including the science of music and its effects on us. Sometimes seemingly harmless things in our environment can prove to be detrimental to us. Without inspiration from God, we cannot know for certain the potential harms and benefits of certain styles of music for our physical, mental and spiritual health. Long before modern day science, the Bible provided us with important health principles. For example, it discourages the use of alcohol. In the ceremonial laws, blood was to be drained from the meat and fat cut away before consumption. Also, mould was to be avoided and diseased individuals were to be strictly quarantined. It is only in relatively recent times that science has discovered that much disease is carried in blood, animal fat leads to heart disease and quarantining can prevent the spread of infectious organisms. In the Book of Daniel, we see highlighted the health benefits of a vegetable diet which is also increasingly supported by modern day science. The Bible does not teach us about the science behind these health principles – it just teaches us what to do and what not to do.

Apart from spreading the gospel, the early years of the Salvation Army had an emphasis on healthy lifestyle. This message mainly centred around temperance, especially abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and gambling. The Booths were also strong supporters of hydropathy and General Booth was partial to a vegetarian diet and encouraged Salvation Army officers to have a healthy diet.

From early in its history, the Seventh-day Adventist Church also had a strong health message, but it was more comprehensive than that of the Salvation Army. Joseph Bates, one of the co-founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is recognised as the first prominent figure in the movement to advocate for a vegetarian diet and abstinence from alcohol, tea, coffee and tobacco. Mrs White first describes having a health vision as early as 1848 and, in 1863, she relates having a major vision dealing with health concerns. Her first publication on health was a short booklet titled, An Appeal to Mothers, in 1864. This was followed by a chapter on health in volume four of Spiritual Gifts, the same year. The Ministry of Healing is a major publication on health by Mrs White which first came out in 1905.

One reason Seventh-day Adventists believe Mrs White was divinely inspired is because of the apparently extraordinary accuracy of her health claims, which were made long before science proved her right. Many of the health principles that we take for granted today were unknown and unproven in the 1800s. For example, until recently, doctors told patients to rest in bed when they had back pain, while Mrs White taught that people with joint pain should keep moving. It is now well recognised that patients with mechanical back pain should start moving as soon as possible to improve outcome. Don McMahon, a medical doctor, after extensive research into her health message, concludes that the lifestyle principles promoted by Mrs White are remarkably consistent with the World Health Organisation.^{119 (p32,89)} Long before embarking on his research, it was becoming apparent in the medical community that there was accuracy to her claims. Dr McMahon says that her lifestyle statements are in close accord with modern thinking, making her more than 100 years ahead of her time.^{119 (p142)} Just as we have discovered certain practices to be harmful which we once thought harmless or even healthy for us, it might be that with further scientific research, certain forms of music might eventually be proven to be harmful. Preliminary research is already revealing potential profound harmful health effects from bass sounds in music. If Dr McMahon is right about the accuracy of Mrs White’s health claims, then perhaps her advice on music will also be proven in time to be protective against physical and spiritual harm. 

Many critics have rightly pointed out that Mrs White made numerous statements about health which have since been proven to be inconsistent with science. Dr McMahon says there is a satisfactory explanation for this. In his book, Acquired or Inspired, he makes an insightful observation about Mrs White’s health claims. He divided all of her health claims into two categories: the whats, or what health principles we are to follow, and the whys, or the science behind the health principles. He concludes that Mrs White’s what statements were highly accurate, while her why statements were no more accurate than any other author of her time. He argues that this is consistent with Biblical authors who were shown through inspiration what to do, but they were not given reasons why. Dr McMahon argues that Mrs White was not shown in vision why certain health practices were important and was reliant on the known science of her day for an explanation.

Accordingly, it would be expected that Mrs White’s what statements would be more reliable than the why statements if the what statements were inspired – and, according to his research, this is exactly what we find. Dr McMahon discovered that Mrs White was far more accurate in her health claims concerning the whats compared to other prominent health reformers and health professionals of her time, including renowned physician, Dr John Harvey Kellogg. For example, in Spiritual Gifts, she was found to be 96% verified and 87% of the whats in Ministry of Healing have been verified so far by science. This contrasts with the four contemporary health reformers studied whose accuracy ranged from only 35-42% verified. In other words, Mrs White had more than double the accuracy of her peers regarding her advice on healthy lifestyle choices. This is despite the fact that she only had a partial primary school education. On the other hand, when it came to the whys, or the scientific explanation, she was only 45% accurate in Ministry of Healing which is comparable with her contemporaries.^{119 (p43-47)}

Adventists argue that opponents of Mrs White have focused on the relatively few unverified claims to discredit her. However, over time, science has verified increasingly more of her health claims. Unproven health claims often do seem hard to believe until proven. For example, Mrs White’s claim that meat consumption can cause cancer seemed unlikely until reputable organisations, like the Australian Cancer Council, confirmed that red and processed meat do significantly increase the risk of colon cancer. Since the time when the scientific data was gathered for Dr McMahon’s book, further scientific discoveries have been made. One of the unverified claims discussed in his book concerns decaying leaves.^{119 (p105)} Mrs White advised that no “heaps of fallen leaves should be allowed to remain near the house to decay.”^{120 (p276)} A study in 2002 found that decaying leaves contain chemicals belonging to DDTs and PCBs, both classes of toxic pollutants.¹²¹ Further research is required to verify the toxicity of the specific subclasses of chemicals, but it could well be that this claim will be verified in the future.

Why is all this important and what does it have to do with the effects of music on our physical and spiritual health? Well, Mrs White made numerous statements concerning the effects of music, especially on our spiritual health. For example, she claimed that the devil uses music to turn our minds away from Jesus and from spiritual things. She also gave detailed advice about desirable and undesirable forms of music. Given Mrs White’s track record concerning health claims in general, it would be prudent to at least give careful consideration to her statements on music, since we now know from science that music does indeed also influence our health in profound and powerful ways.