The Sound of Recovery: How Music Moves Us and Mends Us

by Sofia Meinardus

It began with a familiar melody.

After a catastrophic stroke in 2015, singer songwriter, Joni Mitchell, unable to walk or speak, seemed unlikely to ever return to music. But as her nurses played some of her favorite songs, something remarkable happened (Tiller, 2025). Music sparked a change. With the support of music therapy guided by neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, Mitchell began to recover. She gradually relearned how to walk, talk, and even play guitar. Seven years later, she stunned the world with a triumphant return to the stage (Guardian News and Media, 2025).

Mitchell’s story isn’t just an isolated miracle. In 2011, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords survived a gunshot wound to the head that left her with aphasia, a condition that severely impaired her ability to speak. Yet, against the odds, she regained her voice not through traditional speech therapy alone, but through singing. Music therapy, specifically melodic intonation therapy, helped Giffords tap into the emotional and rhythmic elements of music to reroute language processing in her brain (American Music Therapy Association, n.d.; Brain and Life Magazine, n.d.).

Stories like these remind us that music’s power runs deeper than entertainment. But that it can comfort, motivate, and in some cases, heal (Lone Star Neurology, 2024). Across hospitals and rehabilitation centers, music is now being used not just for comfort, but as a vital tool in neurorehabilitation (Sihvonen et al., 2017). So, a key question arises: what is really going on in the brain when music helps someone recover?

First, music doesn’t just make us feel something, it makes our brain do something. When we listen to music, we engage in a complex network of brain regions that intertwine auditory processing, memory, and affective regulation (Koelsch, 2010).

This is partly why music can feel so emotionally vivid. Listening to music is a full-brain workout that activates multiple neural networks simultaneously (Zatorre et al., 2007; Levitin & Tirovolas, 2009). At the core of this process is the auditory cortex, which decodes the pitch, rhythm, and harmony of sound (Kleber et al., 2010). But music’s real power lies in how it engages the limbic system, the emotional center of the brain (Harvard Medical School, n.d.).

The limbic system, especially the amygdala and hippocampus, tags the experience with emotion and memory. Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex lights up when we hear something personally meaningful. And then there’s the reward system, most notably the nucleus accumbens, which delivers that rush of dopamine we feel during a musical “high” (Koelsch, 2010; Salimpoor et al., 2013). From the limbic system to the auditory cortex, music’s emotional power can shape neuroplasticity and play a critical role in the future of brain recovery (Rodrigues et al., 2010; Olszewska et al., 2021).

Neuroimaging studies have shown that listening to emotionally powerful music can lead to the release of dopamine (Zatorre et al., 2011). Interestingly, dopamine is released both in anticipation of a musical “peak” and at the peak itself, suggesting that music taps into ancient reward systems similar to those activated by food, sex, or drugs. Music, in other words, is wired into us and the effects don’t end at pleasure.

The emotional reactions play a key role in something even more profound: healing. From cases like Mitchell and Gifford we have learned that these emotional responses can promote neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to reorganize itself (Särkämö et al., 2008). This is what allows undamaged regions to take over lost functions. But here’s the twist: neuroplasticity doesn’t just happen on its own. It thrives on emotional engagement. (Kolb & Gibb, 2011). That’s where music steps in.

When a piece of music triggers a strong emotional response, it boosts dopamine, strengthens synaptic connections, and enhances motivation, all critical ingredients for relearning skills like walking, speaking, or remembering (Särkämö et al., 2008; Salimpoor et al., 2011). When music evokes a strong emotional response, it not only boosts motivation but also enhances memory consolidation and motor learning, key factors in rehabilitation (Zatorre et al., 2007).

Even motor systems get involved. The beat of music links the auditory cortex to areas like the basal ganglia and premotor cortex, which coordinate movement (Grahn & Brett, 2007). This is why Parkinson’s patients often show dramatic improvement in gait and coordination when they walk to a rhythmic beat (Thaut et al., 1996; Pacchetti et al., 2000).

Furthermore, music therapy has gained considerable attention as a non-invasive and effective intervention for cognitive rehabilitation in patients with neurological disorders such as stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and Parkinson’s disease. For example, rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) has been shown to improve gait and coordination in Parkinson’s patients by engaging motor timing networks in the basal ganglia and cerebellum (Thaut et al., 1996; Pacchetti et al., 2000).

Beyond motor coordination, music’s emotional salience plays a vital role in enhancing memory recall and attention. Music-evoked emotions activate limbic structures such as the amygdala and hippocampus, which are essential for emotional learning and memory consolidation (Koelsch, 2014). One study using fMRI found that music listening post-stroke was associated with increased gray matter volume in frontal and limbic regions and improved verbal memory and focused attention compared to controls (Särkämö et al., 2008).

The emotional power of music increases motivation and engagement in therapy. When patients connect emotionally with musical stimuli, it triggers dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens, enhancing neural plasticity and reward-related learning (Salimpoor et al., 2011). This emotional-cognitive synergy helps sustain attention and effort over time, key factors in long-term rehabilitation.

Furthermore, group-based music therapy has been linked to improvements in social interaction, mood regulation, and executive functioning, reinforcing the importance of emotion-driven interventions in neurorehabilitation (Pfeiffer et al., 2024). As such, music is not merely a supplement but a core medium for reconnecting cognitive, emotional, and motor systems in the healing brain.

Music is far more than cultural expression, it’s a powerful neurological tool that taps into the brain’s emotional and cognitive circuitry. From activating the amygdala and hippocampus to enhancing neuroplasticity through emotionally salient engagement, music can restore not just movement or language, but hope. As we continue to understand how deeply emotion shapes healing, tools like music aren’t just complementary, they’re essential.

I’m not going into medicine, but learning how music helps the brain heal reshaped how I approach research and people. I had to parse dense studies, decipher neurological mechanisms, and translate them into something human, not just clinical. That process taught me how to ask better questions and connect science with lived experience.

As I pursue a legal career, these skills matter. Whether I’m interpreting complex legislation, advocating for patient rights, or crafting policy around accessibility or intellectual property, I’ll need to translate technical frameworks into human outcomes. This blog reminded me that healing, progress, and justice don’t happen in isolation, they require emotional insight, social context, and the ability to listen deeply.
Whether I end up defending the therapeutic rights of patients, shaping digital accessibility policies, or representing artists whose work fosters healing, I’ll carry forward this lesson: healing isn’t only clinical. It’s emotional, communal, and often, musical. And maybe, just maybe, law can help protect that.

References

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