As humans have evolved, there has always been music — the melody of songbirds, the beat of a drum, the captivating sounds of a Mozart concerto. And over time, science has proven that music is more than just enjoyable; it can also have significant positive effects on our well-being.
Music has been shown to decrease pain, reduce stress and anxiety, improve mood, and more. Research also suggests that music may help those living with certain medical conditions, like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. The transformative power of music is evident.
Over the last four years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with neuromusicologist Roger Dumas, cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, and the rest of the team at MIIR Audio Technologies to bring this power of music to even more people.
MIIR, short for Music Intelligence Impact Retrieval, is an innovative algorithmic technology that extracts musical information and rapidly analyzes the data to uncover a song’s most impactful moment that will resonate most deeply with listeners.
The MIIR algorithm evaluates the components of a song as if it were reading the mind of the composer, producer, and performer. It analyzes the various techniques they used to impact the listener and incorporates knowledge of how those techniques may impact our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and emotional response to the music.
We are excited to incorporate this knowledge of how music and our brains interact with Thrive Reset, a powerful, science-backed tool that allows us to reduce stress in just 60 seconds so we can return to a calm state. The 12 new Thrive x MIIR Resets combine engaging videos and a guided breathing bubble with 60 seconds of music that has been selected by the MIIR algorithm.
Thrive users can choose from two different categories of music: Relax and Impact. “Relax” can provide you with a moment of calm after a tough meeting or conversation, while “Impact” can help move you and provide an extra burst of motivation.
These Resets are designed to meet you where you are, so that you can let the power of music help you move forward. You can find them in the Reset tab on the Thrive platform under the Music Moments category.
To learn more about music and the brain, read more from Dr. Daniel Levitin here.