Health benefits of music

Helps with relaxation, improving memory, controlling emotions

Whether it's the Top 50 or something a little more sophisticated like Mozart, the music you listen to can do more than relieve stress. It can also ease pain and fight addiction.

"Music can influence your behavior, your thinking, your emotions," explained Galina Mindlin, MD, PhD, an assistant professor at Columbia University.

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Music has also recently been shown to be linked to memory.  A study from Cornell University found young adults can better recall and have more positive memories of the music they listened to as a child, which is the music their parents liked.  The same study also found participants could name the title and artist of a song after hearing less than one second of it.

Before the Cornell study, many assumed the music you listened to as an adolescent had the biggest staying power.  The study also showed young adults like their parent's music as much and even more than that of their peers.

Music can also be used to train your brain to react in certain situations.  Studies have shown songs with a certain number of beats-per-minute can make your brain react differently in different situations.  Playing the right song can condition your brain to make you calmer, more alert, or even happier.