This type of jazz playing may be closer to recitation than creation— its creativity comes in the choices made as to which elements to recite. While often less successful for listeners, this is at the heart of creativity: turning bits of the known into something new. Of course their right hemispheres are active. For any type of music — perhaps any type of art — it may well be that the experienced performer is always going to be working more from their left hemisphere. Years of practice produces competence, and perhaps more importantly, familiarity, with the material to be performed.
It can still be fascinating to watch a true musical great perform, their every gesture being forehead-smacking evidence of almost unbelievable skill. Each type of music elicited a different but consistent pattern of physiological change across subjects. Until recently, scientists knew little about the brain mechanisms involved. One clue, though, comes from a woman known as I. Her intelligence and general memory are normal, and she has no language difficulties.
Yet she can make no sense of nor recognize any music, whether it is a previously known piece or a new piece that she has heard repeatedly. She cannot distinguish between two melodies no matter how different they are. Nevertheless, she has normal emotional reactions to different types of music; her ability to identify an emotion with a particular musical selection is completely normal!
From this case we learn that the temporal lobe is needed to comprehend melody but not to produce an emotional reaction, which is both subcortical and involves aspects of the frontal lobes. An imaging experiment in by Anne Blood and Zatorre of McGill sought to better specify the brain regions involved in emotional reactions to music. This study used mild emotional stimuli, those associated with people's reactions to musical consonance versus dissonance. Consonant musical intervals are generally those for which a simple ratio of frequencies exists between two tones.
An example is middle C about hertz, or Hz and middle G about Hz. Their ratio is , forming a pleasant-sounding perfect fifth interval when they are played simultaneously. In contrast, middle C and C sharp about Hz have a complex ratio of about and are considered unpleasant, having a rough sound. What are the underlying brain mechanisms of that experience? PET positron-emission tomography imaging conducted while subjects listened to consonant or dissonant chords showed that different localized brain regions were involved in the emotional reactions.
Consonant chords activated the orbitofrontal area part of the reward system of the right hemisphere and also part of an area below the corpus callosum. In contrast, dissonant chords activated the right parahippocampal gyrus.
Thus, at least two systems, each dealing with a different type of emotion, are at work when the brain processes emotions related to music. How the different patterns of activity in the auditory system might be specifically linked to these differentially reactive regions of the hemispheres remains to be discovered.
In the same year, Blood and Zatorre added a further clue to how music evokes pleasure. When they scanned the brains of musicians who experienced chills of euphoria when listening to music, they found that music activated some of the same reward systems that are stimulated by food, sex and addictive drugs.
Overall, findings to date indicate that music has a biological basis and that the brain has a functional organization for music. It seems fairly clear, even at this early stage of inquiry, that many brain regions participate in specific aspects of music processing, whether supporting perception such as apprehending a melody or evoking emotional reactions. Musicians appear to have additional specializations, particularly hyperdevelopment of some brain structures.
These effects demonstrate that learning retunes the brain, increasing both the responses of individual cells and the number of cells that react strongly to sounds that become important to an individual. As research on music and the brain continues, we can anticipate a greater understanding not only about music and its reasons for existence but also about how multifaceted it really is.
He is a founder of U. A pioneer in the field of learning and memory in the auditory system, Weinberger is on the editorial board of the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue.
See Subscription Options. Go Paperless with Digital. Inner Songs UNTIL THE ADVENT of modern imaging techniques, scientists gleaned insights about the brain's inner musical workings mainly by studying patients--including famous composers--who had experienced brain deficits as a result of injury, stroke or other ailments. Recent Articles by Norman M. Weinberger Music and the Brain. Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter. Sign Up. Support science journalism. Knowledge awaits. This bilateral activation is extremely beneficial for strengthening problem solving skills, where creative thinking must engage with logical reality.
This is still true, but we are learning that although the creative side of music is a right brain activity, the analytical left brain is involved as well, even if at a lesser degree.
However, research has also shown that by stimulating right brain activity, those having difficulty speaking can learn to speak through music. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Click here to join our next online training session to see how the Fun Music Company curriculum program can help in your music teaching in The act of listening to music has several noted benefits Yoon : Stress relief and emotional release Increased creativity and abstract thinking Positive influences on the bodies overall energy levels and heart rhythm Music research on music education suggests that musical activities like dancing, playing an instrument, and singing demonstrate long term benefits in memory, language development, concentration, and physical agility.
Some key points to remember: Music research indicates the music education benefits students by increasing self-expression, cognitive abilities, language development, and agility. While music listening has marked benefits regarding physiological effects of stress, playing an instrument or taking vocal lessons offers a marked increase in the benefits of music education, especially in regards to memory, language, and cognitive development.
Netherwood, C. Music to your ears. Autralian Parents, About the Author: FunMusicCo. Amanda Hemley May 22, at am - Reply. Hi Janice, This is a fantastic article. Thanks Amanda. Hi Amanda, I would be delighted if you could use this article in your work. Stepanov Sergey May 22, at am - Reply. A b s t r a c t Throughout many centuries, the musical structure has had numerous modifications.
Tim Thomas May 26, at pm - Reply. Janice — Great compilation of information! Cynthia Bridges June 20, at pm - Reply. Pat June 25, at am - Reply. Thanks for sharing your inspiring story with us Pat : Your program sounds amazing!
Kothadnapani June 29, at pm - Reply. Jennifer July 24, at pm - Reply. Jon Dempster April 4, at am - Reply. Thanks again. Janice April 4, at am - Reply.
Tammie September 10, at am - Reply. Thank you for your consideration! Hi Tammie, Sure, you can reprint parts of our articles in your newsletters. Please just include a link to our site Kind regards, Janice.
Bernd Willimek December 30, at pm - Reply. Music and Emotions The most difficult problem in answering the question of how music creates emotions is likely to be the fact that assignments of musical elements and emotions can never be defined clearly. Paula Manwaring February 6, at pm - Reply. Janice February 7, at am - Reply.
Betty Bynum February 6, at pm - Reply. Deborah Smith February 20, at am - Reply. Many thanks Deb. Lisa September 8, at pm - Reply. Richard Schwagerl March 1, at am - Reply. Samuel January 2, at am - Reply. Do you know the parts of the brain that is used to play the violin? In contrast to Ravel, Russian composer Shebalin and British composer Benjamin Britten both continued writing musical works although they experienced impairment to their spoken language after having sustained strokes in the left hemisphere.
Research into music localization using modern imaging technologies such as fMRI and PET shows playing music professionally develops analytical processes in the left hemisphere, whereas other individuals process music in their right hemispheres. There is evidence of left hemisphere predominance in musicians compared to musical amateurs. Music lateralization toward the right hemisphere is seen in inattentive listeners.
Which side of the brain engages with music can also be subject to cultural influence. The Japanese process their traditional popular music in the left hemisphere, whereas Westerners process the same music in the right hemisphere. Music and language are processed separately; they are localized in homologous regions of the opposite hemispheres.
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