THE SURPRISING HOBBY THAT COULD BOOST YOUR BRAIN AND HEART HEALTH
I’ve only been doing it for a few minutes, but already I can feel the effects in my body: I’m slightly out of breath and there’s a tightness where I’ve been engaging my core. But although it feels like a workout, this isn’t an exercise class – it’s a singing lesson.
At this time of year, many of us are channelling our inner Mariah Carey, whether it’s to sing carols in church or belt out classic festive hits after one too many glasses of fizz at the office Christmas party.
Fewer of us realise, however, that if we sang more regularly throughout the year, it could have a host of benefits for our health.
“Research has proved singing is brilliant for us physically, including for respiratory and cardiovascular health, immune function and memory,” says Marianne Rizkallah, director of North London Music Therapy.
A professional singer and vocal coach, she works with clients with health issues ranging from lung conditions to dementia.
Today, during our lesson at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama, we’re singing Beatles songs.
A lover of karaoke, but not always the most dulcet vocalist, I find it challenging – not to mention embarrassing – but Rizkallah helps me focus on my breathing and by the end I’ve improved slightly.
I’ve also had fun, which she says is a key factor in its positive effects. “Singing releases endorphins, dopamine and oxytocin, the ‘feelgood’ chemicals linked to joy and bonding, and it also stimulates the vagus nerve, reducing stress and boosting mood,” she says.
But the benefits reach far beyond mental health – here’s our guide to some of the most surprising.
Sing to boost your defences
If you want to ward off illness, singing along to your favourite tunes instead of just listening to them could help. For one German study, participants were asked to either sing or listen to music on two separate occasions. It found that the singers produced higher levels of immunoglobulin A, an antibody which acts as an important first line of defence for the immune system.
Dr Daisy Fancourt, Professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London, has led several studies into the effect of singing on our immune systems. One, looking at cancer patients, found that singing in a choir for just one hour a week led to increases in cytokines, immune system proteins that help the body to fight serious illness.
“When people sing, it activates certain biological processes, which seem to include immune function,’ she says. If someone sings for 20 minutes and doesn’t sing again for the rest of the week, the effect will be short-term. ‘But if they do it more regularly, it affects their autonomic balance – the state of equilibrium the body maintains between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, which is vital for overall health.”
She points out that immune response is also closely linked to mental health. “Positive mood is associated with lower levels of inflammation, so the immune response we see is probably part and parcel of the psychological benefits of singing.”
Improve your memory and brain power
There’s a good reason children find it easier to learn their times tables when they’re set to music: the links between singing and memory are powerful. It engages multiple parts of the brain at once – auditory, motor, emotional and language areas – which deepen the brain’s encoding and recall process.
For people suffering from dementia, singing has been shown to improve long-term memory recall, verbal fluency and word recall, according to the Alzheimer’s Society.
“The region of the brain involved in long-term musical memory is one of the last to be badly affected by dementia, which is why people might have forgotten who people are, but can still remember music,” says Dr Fancourt. “Because music carries an emotional connection, they can often recall memories with a link to the song – and it can also trigger other, unrelated memories from their past.”
For those of us who want to protect our brain health as we age, singing could be an important tool.
Findings from a recent University of Exeter study of a group aged over 40 found regular singing improved memory and the ability to solve complex tasks.
And if you want to learn a new language, singing words or short phrases can help it stick. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh found that people who did this while learning Hungarian, a notoriously tricky language, were twice as good at speaking it than those who simply spoke the phrases.
Another study, from the University of Helsinki, found that in people who had experienced strokes, singing helped repair the brain’s language network. The practice increased the volume of the brain’s grey matter, which plays a pivotal role in cognition.
Recommended
I'm learning the piano at 61 to help save my brain
Join a choir to combat asthma
“There is a growing body of evidence showing that singing is a very beneficial activity for people who have breathing difficulties due to conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” says Stephen Clift, Professor Emeritus at Canterbury Christ Church University, whose specialism is singing for health.
For years, Jim Morris, 77, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, suffered from recurring chest infections, which his GP treated as possible asthma. He was given a series of inhalers, none of which helped, and one day spotted an advert in the GP’s surgery for a local branch of Shared Harmonies, a social enterprise running community singing for wellbeing groups.
“The next time I returned to the GP, after five sessions with the singing group, the result of my peak flow test was so much better. I’ve been singing for six years and haven’t used inhalers at all for the past four. My chest infections are gone, too.”
A 2025 trial by researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, saw patients with either COPD or interstitial lung disease – a general term for conditions that cause progressive scarring of lung tissue - take part in a 90-minute online group singing session once a week for 12 weeks. They reported a significantly higher quality of life than the control group who did not sing.
Another recent Turkish study on children with asthma found that those who completed singing training as well as an exercise programme showed significantly greater improvements in markers including peak expiratory flow and feelings of breathlessness after exertion, than those who only exercised.
“The really key thing is that when we sing, we generally take a deep, short intake of breath, and an extended out breath,” says Professor Clift. “Over time, this helps strengthen respiratory muscles, improving breath support and control.”
Boost your heart health
According to a 2024 European Heart Journal review of current research, “Music therapy, particularly singing, is a remarkable avenue for promoting heart health.”
One reason is that it’s good exercise. A 2021 study found that singing produced similar moderate-intensity cardiorespiratory effects to brisk walking, including raising participants’ heart rate above levels seen when walking at 4km per hour.
As a result, it can help people to lose weight. Just an hour of singing while standing up burns around 140 calories for a person who weighs 150lbs, according to the London Singing Institute. For those who weigh more, the number of calories increases.
The rhythmic breathing pattern involved in singing also influences heart activity, speeding up your heartbeat when you breathe in and slowing it down when you breathe out. This pattern is known as respiratory sinus arrhythmia.
“The increase in heart rate is associated with sympathetic nervous system activation, and the heart rate going down is associated with parasympathetic activation,” says Professor Clift. “That’s why people often say they feel energised by singing, but it’s also calming.”
This heart rate variability, paired with singing’s relaxing, blood pressure-lowering effects, are very likely to have a positive impact on heart health.
Reduce your pain levels
The endorphins and oxytocin released when we sing – particularly in a group – act as natural painkillers, while the reduction in stress hormones including cortisol can also make pain less acute.
One systematic review on the effects of group singing in people with long-term health conditions found that in most studies, singing reduced pain intensity.
Another recent pilot study of 40 healthy adults found that singing increased pain tolerance – how long they could endure painful stimulus – compared to listening to music or silence.
After my lesson, I’m not quite ready to inflict my vocals on a local choir – but I’ll be singing my heart out in the privacy of the shower.
Recommended
Three of the best exercises to improve your heart health
2025-12-13T13:05:48Z
