How music influences the brain

Music is an abstract relationship between one note and the next. Woven together with elements of rhythm, pitch, harmony, emotion, melody, pattern, and tune, it forms a complicated web of sound that requires your brain to actually do work to compute and understand.

Although it seems like you just hit the play button and let the magic happen, the science behind music’s effect on the human brain is much more intriguing.

It all begins with the very vibrations that commute through the air to your ear. Once inside the ear canal, these vibrations are converted into electrical signals, which can then be relayed to the brain through the auditory nerve. Once in the brain stem, these electrical signals are assembled and rearranged into the sensation we understand to be music.

Studies have found that listening to music increases blood flow to the limbic system of the brain – more specifically, the amygdala. This region of the brain is responsible for processing emotions, which provides an explanation for the correlation between music and mood.

Research has shown that listening to music causes the levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) to drop. This increases overall feelings of well-being and also causes a surge of dopamine, the hormone that helps elevate mood and decreases the perception of pain.

Additionally, according to several studies conducted, mental alertness and cognition can be increased while doing tasks by listening to soft background music. In one specific study, where two batches of students completed tasks with and without music, the students who worked with music were found to be more productive and got more answers right. However, the type of music being played in the background is critical to the effectiveness of this technique. Soothing and relaxing music, such as classical or smooth jazz, is optimal, while other genres are less effective. This has also been proven to improve memory as the repetitive nature of the music’s melody helps the brain form patterns to store information and better retain facts. While the efficacy of this has been revealed through multiple trials, it is important to note that this may not work for everyone, rather the large majority of people.

However, while experts have a fairly good understanding of the effects of music on a person, the actual process of making music is said to activate completely different regions of the brain. To further our knowledge on the subject, Johns Hopkins researchers hosted numerous musicians from varied genres, be it rap or jazz, to observe their brain behaviour. Upon running fMRI imaging (functional MRI imaging) on the musicians while they improvised lyrics and melodies, the researchers analysed the results on the machine to see which areas of their brains lit up. These results contribute meaningfully to our understanding of the human brain, and will allow us to better explore the benefits and effects of music.

However, studies have revealed that music allows people to ruminate and dwell on negative emotions, which further fosters feelings of pain or depression and is harmful to mental health. This is especially dangerous as it can contribute to the developments of conditions like anxiety and can worsen existing conditions.

Works Cited

Botello, Roger . “The Harmful Side of Music.” Children’s Hospital New Orleans, 12 Apr. 2023, www.chnola.org/news-blog/2023/april/the-harmful-side-of-music-understanding-the-effe/#:~:text=However%2C%20research%20shows%20that%20music.

Budson, Andrew. “Why Is Music Good for the Brain?” Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Publishing, 7 Oct. 2020, www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-is-music-good-for-the-brain-2020100721062.

Fink, Jennifer. “Why — and How — Music Moves Us | Pfizer.” Www.pfizer.com, 2023, www.pfizer.com/news/articles/why_and_how_music_moves_us#:~:text=Listening%20to%20(or%20making)%20music.

Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Keep Your Brain Young with Music.” Www.hopkinsmedicine.org, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/keep-your-brain-young-with-music#:~:text=If%20you%20want%20to%20keep.

Shepherd, Becks . “How Does Music Affect Your Brain?” Livescience.com, 15 Dec. 2022, www.livescience.com/how-does-music-affect-your-brain.

Waters, Shonna. “15 Surprising Benefits of Music for Your Brain and Body.” Www.betterup.com, 21 Feb. 2022, www.betterup.com/blog/benefits-of-music.