Neural bases of music and its impact on music therapy: a literature review

Abstract

Background. The interplay between music and the brain has been examined for nearly a century; yet practice-oriented knowledge remains scattered and unsynthesised. Objectives. To critically review the neural foundations of music and provide evidence-based guidance for music-therapy practice. Methods. A PRISMA-compliant literature review was undertaken. Searches in PubMed, Dialnet, Google Scholar and SciELO produced 75 records; after screening, 45 studies published between 1936 and 2024—17.78 % within the last decade—were included silvia y cristinasilvia y cristina. The strategy combined the Boolean operator “music AND brain” in English and Spanish, and titles and abstracts were independently screened; data extraction followed a standardised protocol silvia y cristina. Design, participants and outcomes were narratively synthesised through the four PRISMA phases. Results. Evidence converges on coordinated activation of auditory, limbic and motor networks during musical perception, while musical training drives cortical plasticity and structural change, including enlargement of the corpus callosum silvia y cristina. Only five included papers used controlled experimental designs. Post-2020 gaps persist in studies employing multimodal neuro-imaging and cutting-edge technology silvia y cristina. Findings also underline music’s modulation of emotional circuitry and cognitive networks implicated in language and executive functions. Heterogeneity in samples and protocols still hampers cross-study comparison. Conclusions. Current evidence supports the clinical and educational integration of music, yet longitudinal, technology-enhanced studies (fMRI, PET, MEG) are urgently required to clarify short- and long-term benefits and to define target populations silvia y cristina. This synthesis provides an updated neuroscientific framework to inform rigorous music-therapy implementation.