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Music doesn’t just cheer us up, comfort us, or inspire us. Its action affects a variety of areas of the brain – and, according to neuroscientists, even allows you to change their structure.
Since ancient times, people have attributed miraculous abilities to music. The ancient Egyptians believed that it helped with snake bites. The Italian musical style and dance of the tarantella, according to one legend, was originally a popular healing tool among the people: its rhythms were believed to help get rid of the poison of tarantulas. Gradually superstition was replaced by scientific knowledge. Today, music is quite consciously used by psychologists, psychotherapists, teachers and doctors in their practice. Neuroscience research is helping to understand why music lessons are a universal tool for keeping our brain in good shape.
She restores lost abilities
Sometimes singing about something is literally easier than saying it in words. This applies to cases where brain injury leads to speech disorders. Science writer and popularizer Elena Mannes, in her book The Power of Music, tells the story of a man who, after suffering a stroke, lost the ability to speak. He literally had to learn the language all over again. In the course of rehabilitation therapy, it turned out that he was able to master phrases much more easily if he sang them, rather than pronounce them. This method is known as melodic-intonation therapy – when using it, the right hemisphere of the brain is involved, while the center of speech in most people is concentrated in the left. The researchers note that in some cases, after a stroke or serious injury as a result of such therapy, the speech center even moved to the other hemisphere (1).
Interestingly, the ability to perceive music is preserved in the most difficult cases – even when a person ceases to recognize other people and loses memory. “Only in very rare cases do survivors of brain injury lose the ability to enjoy music,” wrote neuropsychologist Oliver Sachs. “The influence of music on our brain is enormous, and even now we do not fully understand this mechanism. It’s not just about cognitive abilities. For example, people with the consequences of encephalitis, who were practically paralyzed, music restored the ability to dance. Almost all areas of the brain are involved in the perception of music. That’s why its effect is so versatile.”
Read more:
- Oliver Sachs: “Man is musical”
She trains our brain
So, with the help of music, you can “teach” the injured brain the usual things again. But can music change a healthy brain? Studies show that music lessons are especially important in early childhood. Neurologist and pianist Fredrik Ullen explains that at an early age, the formation of white matter and the pyramidal tract, the area responsible for the coordination of movements, occurs. For example, for pianists who started practicing before the age of ten, this zone was better developed. Ullen also notes that similar changes are seen in athletes and ballet dancers.
“Music alone does not make us smarter,” explains Canadian psychologist Sylvain Moreno. “However, it affects a variety of abilities, which, in turn, make us more sensitive to the perception of information.” Moreno’s group did a study with two groups of children. The former participated in a 40-hour music training program that included work on rhythm, tone, melody, and voice. The second group went through a similar program, but focused on working with visual material (perception of color, composition, artistic images). Then the children from both groups were tested. It turned out that the group of “musicians” coped better with the tasks of concentration, attention and the ability to quickly master new information. (2). Moreno notes that musical literacy allows us to expand our “cognitive reserve” – a set of mental strategies that allow us to find new and innovative solutions to problems.
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- Music for life
She keeps us from getting old
Those who practice music, the brain ages more slowly. In older people, the neural connections responsible for the perception and processing of sound signals weaken. The signal goes slower – and the person asks again more often, does not immediately answer the question, cannot distinguish a familiar voice from the general noise. Research by Northwestern University (USA) showed that in adult musicians, the areas associated with sound transmission functioned almost as well as in younger ones (3). Does this mean that rock legends like Mick Jagger, who radiate energy and youthful charm even in their seventies, intuitively unraveled the rejuvenating secret of music?
And yet, why music? Why can’t even the contemplation of magnificent paintings or, say, calligraphy classes be compared with melodic sounds and incendiary rhythms? The opinions of experts agree on one thing: when we listen to or make music, our whole brain is in motion. Music seems to spread over it, penetrating into various corners. When we listen to a piece, hum, tap a rhythm, dance or play an instrument, our neurons are in a real disco. Electrical activity moves from one area to another, and thus the connections between them are strengthened. This gives many advantages: the exchange of information becomes faster, and the number of neurons involved in this exchange increases. Such changes are observed even in those adults who start learning late. So if you absolutely do not want to get rid of the old piano, you have a legitimate reason to leave it – and turn it into a laboratory for studying the possibilities of your brain.
1. «Music therapy for acquired brain injury», Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2010, online publication from July 7.
2. «Short-Term Music Training Enhances Verbal Intelligence and Executive Function», Psychological Science, November, 2011, vol. 22, № 11.
3. «Musical experience offsets age-related delays in neural timing», Neurobiology of Aging, 2012, vol. 33, № 7.