In 2024, Daniel Levitin, neuroscientist, musician and author of the New York Times bestseller "This Is Your Brain on Music," released his latest book, "I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine." If you want to know about each of the conditions we mention throughout this article, what regions of the brain are affected, and how music might help with healing, or promoting healthy functioning, this is the book for you. As an added bonus, Levitin's musical background inspires his allusions to the musicians and songs of our generation, starting with the title's nod to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," and including a chapter on the neuroanatomy of music cheekily called "If I Only Had a Brain."
Pain, for example, can trigger activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, including regions most impacted by music, Levitin writes. He goes on: "This opens the door for music therapies targeted for pain relief, in which particular structural elements of music may release pain sensation." The structure of music includes its common features like melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, repetition and tension and release. Levitin's book is setting the standard for scholarship in the field, and the paperback version, available in August, will make cutting-edge discoveries accessible to a wider audience.
~ Steve Mencher