![]() ![]() They compared Mozart's music with repetitive music by Philip Glass again, Mozart seemed to help, improving spatial reasoning as measured by complex paper cutting and folding tasks and short-term memory as measured by a 16-item test. ![]() Next, the investigators checked to see if the effect was specific to classical music or if any form of music would enhance mental performance. Mozart was the winner, consistently boosting test scores. In their first study, they administered standard IQ test questions to three groups of college students, comparing those who had spent 10 minutes listening to a Mozart piano sonata with a group that had been listening to a relaxation tape and one that had been waiting in silence. The most highly publicized mental influence of music is the "Mozart effect." Struck by the observation that many musicians have unusual mathematical ability, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, investigated how listening to music affects cognitive function in general, and spatial-temporal reasoning in particular. But music also has major effects on many aspects of health, ranging from memory and mood to cardiovascular function and athletic performance. The neurobiology of music is a highly specialized field. Oliver Sacks discusses many fascinating varieties of amusia in his book Musicophilia. At the other end of the spectrum, patients with brain damage may display remarkable defects in musicality the noted neurologist and writer Dr. And music that's powerful enough to be "spine-tingling" can light up the brain's "reward center," much like pleasurable stimuli ranging from alcohol to chocolate.Īlthough every healthy human brain can perform all the complex tasks needed to perceive music, musicians' brains are, so to speak, more finely attuned to these tasks. A different part of the brain, the cerebellum, processes rhythm, and the frontal lobes interpret the emotional content of music. Another nearby center is responsible for decoding timbre, the quality that allows the brain to distinguish between different instruments that are playing the same note. For example, a small area in the right temporal lobe is essential to perceive pitch, which forms the basis of melody (patterns of pitch over time), chords (several pitches that sound at the same time), and harmony (two or more melodies at the same time). Studies using MRI and positron emission tomography (PET) scans suggest that nerve networks in different parts of the brain bear primary responsibility for decoding and interpreting various properties of music. In turn, these cells release chemical neurotransmitters that activate the auditory nerve, sending miniature electric currents to the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe of the brain.įrom there, things get even more complicated. The fluid waves produce swaying movements of the hair cells. Vibrations of the stapes send fluid waves through the spiral-shaped cochlea. It is filled with fluid that surrounds some 10,000 to 15,000 tiny hair cells, or cilia. The cochlea is a busy little world of its own. The vibrations are relayed along the chain of tiny bones in the middle ear until they reach the third bone, the stapes, which connects to the cochlea. As the waves strike the eardrum, they cause it to vibrate. The external ear collects sound waves, and the ear canal funnels them to the eardrum. Like any sound, music arrives at the ear in the form of sound waves. ![]() Still, a varied group of studies suggests that music may enhance human health and performance. Is this a biologic accident, or does it serve a purpose? It's not possible to say. The human brain and nervous system are hard-wired to distinguish music from noise and to respond to rhythm and repetition, tones, and tunes. In tune or not, we humans sing and hum in time or not, we clap and sway in step or not, we dance and bounce. It's been true through history, and it's true throughout an individual's lifespan. Virtually all cultures, from the most primitive to the most advanced, make music. Music is a fundamental attribute of the human species. ![]()
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