Music as Medicine : How We Can Harness Its Therapeutic Power

The Instant Sunday Times BestsellerA Financial Times, Telegraph and Waterstones Book of the YearShortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book PrizeWhat if music holds the key to healing our minds and bodies? Music as Medicine is the revelatory new book from the million-copy bestselling author of The Organized Mind. ‘Fascinating’ OBSERVER’Essential’ WALL STREET JOURNAL‘Intriguing’ GUARDIAN_Can listening to music boost our cognitive function?Do pop songs hold the key to treating Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s?And why might Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ help cure PTSD?We are only just beginning to appreciate the healing power of music. Here, a neuroscientist and celebrated musician offers a confounding tour through the emerging science of music as medicine – revealing how it can calm our thoughts, repair our memories and heal our deepest psychological wounds.

_’Levitin presents a strong, evidence-based case for how music heals, alleviating pain, reducing anxiety and even aiding recovery from strokes or Parkinson’s. It’s a compelling blend of anecdote and rigorous science, revealing in detail how music harnesses the brain.’ Books of the Year, FINANCIAL TIMES’For many years I have wondered why a bunch of frequencies organised into a piece of music has the ability, even without words, to make the listener cry and become emotional. Although I know this happens to me and many people, I have often wondered how this can be.

Dr Levitin, in this latest book, Music as Medicine, has some fascinating insights into this great phenomenon.’ PAUL MCCARTNEY