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Nicole Shattuck
Mrs. Clyburn
British Literature
18 October 2012
How Music Affects the Human Brain
Sound is the very essence and backdrop of creation. All over, creation is teeming with
life and energy, vibrating at different frequencies creating an array of sound. Music is created
though these frequencies working together to create a harmonic symphony of sound. Music has a
powerful effect on the human psyche because it is interlaced with how the brain works. The
brain vibrates on different frequencies like beta, theta, alpha, and delta. When it receives
different sounds from outside forces, such as music, the frequencies it already operates on are
enhanced and stimulated (Creative Harmonics). This interesting phenomenon has affected
humans in multiple different ways. For example, people who are mentally deficient with
disorders such as Tourettes have been known to be momentarily “cured” just by listening to
different types of music. Music has been scientifically proven to enhance the brains systems’
learning abilities, help those mentally deficient, and increase the creative outputs.
Music has a large-scale effect on one's brain physically when we play an instrument,
sing, or listen to music. In a recent study, a group of researchers found that when an individual
listens to music, not only are the auditory areas of the brain are affected, but it affects the brain’s
neural networks on a large-scale basis. The processing of the music’s rhythm employs the motor
areas of the brain, suggesting the idea that music and movement are intimately intertwined. The
emotional parts of the brain, the Limbic areas, were also found to be involved with rhythm and
tonality processing in it. This is interconnected with activations in the “default” mode network,
which is associated with creativity and mind-wandering (Listening to Music). Even though it is
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true that the right side of the brain, where all of these areas are located, seems to be where our
ability to experience and react to music, it is currently unknown where exactly this takes place in
the nervous system. There are no specific cells devoted to this feature, rather different networks
of our neural system are activated when we play an instrument, sing or listen to music
(Lemonick). Despite the lack of knowledge as the precise location in which the brain specifically
interprets and processes music remains a mystery, it is clear the music does have an effect on
human beings physically and psychologically from an anatomical standpoint.
Various studies have determined that music does not just have a physical response to music and
sound, but it also has a tremendous effect on an individual emotionally. When it comes to music’s
emotional impact, there is indication that music can affect various hormones, some including testosterone,
cortisol, and oxytocin. These hormones involves an individual's arousal, stress, aggression, or nurturing
behavior. It also triggers a release of natural opiates, also known as endorphins, which are hormones in
the brain that affect emotional happiness and relaxation. A PET scan has shown that the different parts of
the brain that are involved with processing emotion light up in activity when an individual hears music
(Lemonick). Music is profoundly evocative within humans, depending on the volume, tempo, and volume
of the music. Even when a piece of music is not familiar to us it can still have a definite effect on us
emotionally (Sacks). It has the ability to make one feel sad to the point of tears, happy, relaxed,
aggressive, or even angry.
It has been found that individuals trained in music or exposed to music at an early age have a
significant improved learning ability, memory, and intelligence. Interestingly, researchers have found that
musicians are better at learning to incorporate certain sound patterns for a new language into words than a
person who has never been professionally trained in music. The musician’s brain appears to be primed for
comprehending speech in noisy backgrounds (Baker). It is evident that music helps with the learning
process and mental capabilities. Even a year, or two years of music training can lead to enhanced memory
and levels of attention when measured by monitor electrical and magnetic impulse tests in the brain. The
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reason for this phenomenon is because the listening and motor skills that are required to play an
instrument in a concert with other people are involved with attention, memory, and the ability to inhibit
actions. Merely listening to music in a passive manner does not promote these same changes in attention
and memory (Schewe). The effect of music training has suggested that music is a resource that trains and
tones the brain for auditory fitness (Baker). For instrumentalists, music will eventually trigger a physical
change in the brain’s wiring. The intensive practice of an instrument leads to enlargements in parts of the
cerebral cortex, which is the layer of gray matter that is most closely associated with higher brain function
(Lemonick). Further research has also found that each instrument has a varying modification within the
brain. For example, changes in the brain of a singer occur in different locations than that of a stringed
instrument player or a keyboard player (Schewe).
Music also has had an impact on people with learning disabilities and mental disorders. Extensive
research has revealed that focusing on sounds and music at different frequency levels, helps people with
different learning or mental disorders. The frequencies that are focused on are used to “feed the brain” by
re-energizing the individual subconsciously with different resonances, pitches, and tones. The frequency
range of five thousand to eight thousand hertz has best been known to recharge the brain’s “batteries”
(Creative Harmonics). During careful study, scientists have also discovered that different mental disorders
have been found to affect how music is perceived in different ways. For example, epileptics have shown
that by stimulating certain areas of the temporal lobe on both sides of the brain awakens things called
‘musical memories’. These ‘musical memories’ are vivid recreations of melodies that the individual had
experienced years before. People with lesions in the temporal lobe have resulted in having ‘music genic
epilepsy’, which is a rare form of the disorder where the individuals seizures are triggered by the sound of
music. People with Autism have been found to become very skilled and accomplished musicians, like
Mozart, despite being mentally deficient (Lemonick). Individuals who have been diagnosed with
Tourette’s syndrome have become composed when exposed to music or perform music. In these
situations, they become tic-free as if they had never had the disease at all. However, in some cases,
different types of music genres can cause a negative effect on a person with the Tourettes syndrome. Such
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as causing the person to have uncontrollable ticcing with the beat of the music. People with Alzheimer’s
disease and other types of dementias, some that may cause them to be unable to understand a language or
even communicate, can also be affected when they are exposed to music. It’s been known that listening to
a familiar song or sound can often cause them to regain focus, evoke memories, or in general experience
states of mind that could not be called up in any other way (Sacks). Thus, music has a tremendous effect
on people with mental and learning disorders.
Music has been discovered to improve the human brain’s learning ability, it’s systems, help the
mentally ill, and increases an individual’s creativity. The study of music and how it affects the brain has
lead to many discoveries about the brain that have helped people worldwide. From mentally disabled, to
small children it is certainly clear that music affects every human on this planet in his or her own way.
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Works Cited
Baker, S. L. "Music Benefits the Brain, Research Reveals." Www.nammfoundation.org.
The NAMM Foundation, 30 July 2010. Web. 19 Oct. 2012.
"Creative Harmonics." Enchanted Mind. Enchanted Mind, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.
Lemonick, Michael D. "Music on the Brain." Time. Time, 28 May 2000. Web. 15 Oct.
2012.
"Listening to Music Lights Up the Whole Brain." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 Dec.
2011. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.
Sacks, Oliver. "Brain." The Power of Music. Brain, a Journal of Neurology, n.d. Web. 23
Oct. 2012.
Schewe, Phillip F. "Music Improves Brain Function." LiveScience.com. Live Science, 06
Nov. 2009. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.
Tomaino, Concetta. "How Music Can Reach the Silenced Brain." PBS. PBS, 20 May 2009. Web.
15 Oct. 2012.
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