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The Jordan Harbinger Show

1147: Daniel J. Levitin | The Science Behind Music as Medicine

The Jordan Harbinger Show

Jordan Harbinger

Social Sciences, Self-improvement, Entrepreneurship, Talk Radio, Business, Science, Education

4.8 β€’ 12.1K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 1 May 2025

⏱️ 84 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Can music replace drugs? Daniel J. Levitin shows how your favorite songs can release natural opioids, restore memory, and heal neural pathways!

Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1147

What We Discuss with Daniel J. Levitin:

  • Music functions like a Swiss Army knife in the brain, not just a hammer. Different music triggers different neurochemical systems β€” dopamine for motivation and pleasure, endogenous opioids for pain relief β€” explaining why personalized music choices are crucial for realizing therapeutic effects.
  • The brain's default mode network can be activated by music, providing a restorative mental break that replenishes depleted glucose levels β€” like nature's reset button for our exhausted, decision-fatigued minds.
  • Music therapy shows clinical evidence for treating Parkinson's (by synchronizing movements), memory disorders, and pain management β€” sometimes reducing or eliminating the need for pharmaceutical interventions through our body's natural neurochemical responses.
  • Musical processing uses different neural pathways than speech, which is why people with speech disorders like stuttering or neurological damage from stroke can often still sing fluently β€” offering alternative communication channels when primary ones fail.
  • You can start your own music medicine cabinet today by creating mood-specific playlists for different needs β€” and counterintuitively, when feeling depressed, choose songs that match rather than oppose your mood. This validates your emotions and creates a feeling of being understood.
  • And much more...

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Coming up next on the Jordan Harbinger Show.

0:02.9

There's not two kinds of medicine.

0:04.7

There's not Western medicine and alternative medicine.

0:07.6

If something's been shown to work, we call it medicine.

0:10.8

If it's not been shown to work, there are some people out there who will call it alternative medicine.

0:16.7

If we knew that it worked, it would not be an alternative.

0:19.7

It would just be plain old medicine.

0:25.4

Welcome to the show.

0:26.5

I'm Jordan Harbinger.

0:27.7

On the Jordan Harbinger show, we decode the stories, secrets, and skills of the world's

0:31.0

most fascinating people and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact

0:35.9

your own life and those around you.

0:37.8

Our mission is to help you become a better informed, more critical thinker through long-form

0:41.6

conversations with a variety of amazing folks, from spies to CEOs, athletes, authors, thinkers,

0:46.8

performers, even the occasional Mafia, Enforcer, Fortune 500 CEO, or Hollywood filmmaker.

0:52.4

And if you're new to the show or you're looking for a way to tell your friends about it,

0:55.2

and of course I always appreciate it when you do that,

0:57.5

I suggest our episode Starter Packs.

0:59.1

It's a great place to begin.

1:00.4

These are collections of our favorite episodes on topics like persuasion and negotiations,

1:04.7

psychology, geopolitics, disinformation, China, North Korea, crime and cults, and more.

1:09.4

That'll help new listeners get a taste of everything we do here on the show. Just visit jordanharbinger.com slash start or search for us in your

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