Music and its Effects on the Brain by Dylan Pavlisin

As a musician I can personally speak volumes about how many times my brain seems to have been influenced by music. I have always wondered why music has so many different effects on my emotions and mental abilities. Therefore I decided to look into how music effects the emotions of the brain, how a person can use music to improve their daily lives, and whether learning how to play music at a young age can improve a persons mental abilities outside of the musical realm.

Music can have a tremendous impact on a person’s brain. This is due to music’s ability to stimulate various parts of the brain. Due to this ability, music can become a great therapeutic or mood- changing tool. Several properties of music reach out to the different parts of the brain. Music’s rhythm, pitch, meter, and timbre all affect various parts of the brain. Music reaches out to both the left and right brain hemispheres. This is due to the fact that rhythm and pitch are generally left brain hemisphere functions. Where as, timbre and melody are generally right brain hemisphere functions. On top of this meter is processed in both hemispheres. It would appear as though music reaches out to a large portion of your brain. (How Music Affects the Brain 2012)

While it is clear that music affects our brain, what can we do to make sure we are using it to improve our daily lives? Music can help a person overcome several different emotions, adversities, and even improve certain thought processes. Lets have a closer look at some of these.

Have you ever felt extra stress or anxiety before an important event, such as a big test or a job interview? Music may just be able to help you. Music has been known to act as a way to fight off stress and anxiety. This is mainly seen when a person listens to the right soothing music during these stressful times. Soothing music has been known to reduce the level of the stress hormone cortisol. It is important however, that you make sure that you are listening to the right type of soothing music for yourself. You should not just listen to soothing jazz music because it is know to be soothing. If you hate jazz, you should definitely avoid it if you are trying to release stress. Try listening to music that you enjoy and that helps you relax. For example, I am not super into jazz. It can bore me at times. I have found that nothing calms me down more than funky music. It is all about finding the music that helps you feel the least amount of stress. (How Music Affects the Brain 2012)

Do you find yourself constantly getting sick? Music can actually help you with this as well. Music has become a well know immune system booster. Upbeat dance music has actually been known to help a person fight off sickness. The hypnotic beat and rhythm of the music can stimulate the brain and send it into the alpha state. This is where the brain begins to release endorphins and healing hormones. This also another way music can help you release stress as well. (How Music Affects the Brain 2012)

            Another way music has personally helped me in my daily life is by improving my exercise. Upbeat and fast paced music can serve as a point of focus for your brain. This can help keep your mind off of the aches and pains you are feeling when exercising. Not only does it help take your mind off of the pain, but it also can motivate you to work harder. The rhythmic drumbeats of this type of music can help motivate your body to work harder. The human heart will actually entrain itself to the beat of the music. Therefore the heart will match the fast paced tempo of the music. (How Music Affects the Brain 2012)

            Do you ever find yourself constantly forgetting things? Music can actually help with that as well. While it is not proven that it actually helps your memory, several studies have shown that listening to certain types of music can actually help your brain with memory recall. One popular type of music studies have found to work best for memory recall is classical music, such as Mozart or Beethoven. This led to the popular “Mozart Effect.” This was the idea that listening to Mozart as a baby will make your child smarter. While it may not make your baby smarter, it can potentially improve certain mental tasks, such as spatial- temporal reasoning. (How Music Affects the Brain 2012)

            I started learning music at the age of 13.  I have had several people tell me that learning music at a young age can actually help promote several mental abilities. I had always wondered if that was true. I did notice that young kids who picked up music at a young age, seemed to learn it a lot quicker than people who tried to learn later in life. This led me to question whether learning to play music at a young age could actually improve certain mental abilitites.

            Laurel Trainor is the director of the Institute for Music and the Mind at McMaster University. She and her colleagues compared preschool children who received musical training with preschoolers who did not receive musical training. Those who received musical training showed much greater brain responses on several sound recognition tests. This study shows that musical training can actually modify the brains auditory cortex. Trainor believes that musical training can affect a child’s memory and attention. She also believes that it can help serve the brain across several other domains. She does reinforce that passive listening will not have the same effects as actual musical training. (Schewe 2009)

            Gottfried Schlaug is a Harvard University researcher. He did several studies regarding musical training in early childhood. His results were outstanding. They showed not only an improvement in motor and auditory skills, but also an improvement in verbal ability and non-verbal reasoning. His findings actually suggest that this “increase of basic auditory musical perception skills of children with dyslexia may also remediate some of their language deficits.” (Schewe 2009)

            Music definitely has several positive effects on the brain. It can be used to help a person with daily tasks, health, and emotions. It can also help young children improve several mental abilities. It has even been known to help remediate the effects of dyslexia. It would appear as though music may be the cure that many people need in their daily lives. I am very happy that I decided to start playing music. My only regret was that I didn’t start playing earlier in life.

Resource List

How Music Affects the Brain: The Power of Music. (2012, January, 23).

retrieved 2014, November, 22, from OMHARMONICS Web Site: http://www.omharmonics.com/blog/how-music-affects-the-brain/

Schewe, P (2009, November, 6). Music Improves Brain Function.

retrieved 2014, November, 22, from Livescience Web Site: http://www.livescience.com/7950-music-improves-brain-function.html