That feeling you get when your favourite song plays, where you kind of zone out and really take in the lyrics and the beat - especially with the musical genre that is hip-hop - now has doctors saying it has the power to heal neurological disorders.
Researchers from Cambridge University studied the brains of a number of rappers proving just how much hip hop contributes to all areas of human psychology. Music can still very well impact victims of stroke or neurological disorders in ways that language and memory ability cannot.
The research proved that when rappers are freestyling, it puts their brains into a "flow state" that stimulates parts of the brain responsible for emotion, language, motivation, motor function and processing. Similar studies have come from experiments where jazz musicians are asked to improvise, showing they go to an “alternate state of mind.”
“We do believe that this is a movement and a new culture. With people being able to open up with hip-hop, it will heal them. They can walk away with this and it provides a new form of therapeutic release,” Dr. Inkster says, via Mashable.
It's no surprise that hip hop is seriously being looked at as a means of mental release. Last year a number of schools in New York started Hip-Hop Therapy programs to teach students healthy ways to express themselves.
“When I leave my feelings inside, the only way you’re going to hear it is if I throw a punch,” a student named Ellis McBethat told the New York Times. “Now I make songs about them. I write verses that cool me down.”