music and the brain

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Ryan Nay
Bennett
12th Lit/Comp
16 September 2011
How Music Affects the Brain
Music has been affecting society throughout history. Throughout every great civilization
there has been the discovery of music. Music is just a part of human instinct; all the cultures that
can be found on Earth can be traced to music. The influence of music on modern society can be
easily seen today. It has been proven that music has many influences on humans in positive and
negative ways. Music has been proven to alter a person’s mood, and has shown to cause
physical responses in many people simultaneously. Also music has the power to strengthen or
weaken emotions from events like a funeral. Classical Music causes the heart beat and pulse rate
to relax to the beat of the music. The mind is able to concentrate better, as the body becomes
more relaxed and alert. By decreasing the blood pressure this enhances the ability to learn.
Music affects the brain by influencing behavior, being therapeutic, and helps the mind process
information more efficiently.
Science has also confirmed that humans have responded to music from birth. Their
studies have also shown that music may even help patients heal from disease or stroke. Elena
Mannes, a lead scientist in brain research, has tracked the human relationship with music
throughout a person’s lifetime. She believes that one day music will play a major role in how
people deal with their health. Some of her studies have shown that infants prefer “consonant
intervals, the smooth-sounding ones that sound nice to our Western ears in a chord, as opposed to

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a jarring combination of notes” (Mannes.) Mannes even went far enough to say that the cries of
babies just a few weeks old were discovered to have some intervals common to western music.
She also states that scientists believe music stimulates more parts of the brain than any other
human function. With this knowledge, she sees that music has so much potential when it comes
to affecting the brain and how it works.One of the main areas of the brain music can have a real
impact on is with neurological deficits. For example, if a patient who just had a stroke occur and
lost verbal functions, those functions can be stimulated by music. This is known as melodic
intonation therapy and it can help patients regain their speech.
The human brain is split into two parts, the left and right hemisphere. The right
hemisphere has been traditionally thought of to be the “seat of music appreciation.” However,
the right side has not been proven for that role in any way; people with brain damage to the left
and right side still appreciate music in the same way. “Studies of musical understanding in
people who have damage to either hemisphere, as well as brain scans of people taken while
listening to tunes, reveal that music perception emerges from the interplay of activity in both
sides of the brain” (Joelving). One important thing to realize is just how the brain breaks down
and interprets music. To interpret music all sounds go into the ears, then travel to the auditory
cortex, which are assemblages of cells just above both ears. This cortex is crucial for getting
pitch, and other types of melodies like harmony, timbre, and rhythm. On the left side of the
brain, people can process quick changes in frequency and intensity. Both hemispheres of the
brain are needed for total perception of rhythm. A reason for this is because without both sides of
the brain it is impossible to tell the difference between three-quarter and four-quarter time. The
front of thebrain is where memories are stored, which also plays part in rhythm and melody

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perception. Research has also found that activities in the brain control movement even when
people just listen to music without moving any parts of their bodies.
Music has an almighty power to affect man’s emotions and behavior. Many different
parts of the brain and body are stimulated by the sound of music. “Psychological study of music
is based on this reason. Studies have found that music can reduce stress, aid relaxation, alleviate
depression, and help store and recall information among other functions” (Kirkweg). A vital
way music reduces stress in the body is by lowering the total amount of the hormone cortisone.
Music can be a great stress reliever for everyday life. The way this is being used today is with
music therapy. Music therapy is musical activities for the reason of changing behaviors and
improving everyday life. Another way this breakthrough therapy is used today is by helping
people with memory problems. With our tremendous advances in realizing how the mind
processes information; it is easy to see how this is possible. The brain is made up of a very
intricate system of neural networks that sends information from one part of the brain to another.
Through studying neural networks it has been discovered that there are many factors that seem to
affect this. These factors are attention, stress, emotion, music, and aging. The music factor
improves the efficiently of how the brain transfers information; therefore, improving memory for
the patients.
Many scientific experiments and projects have been completed to discover the extent of
the power of music. Until 1970, research done on music had to do with studying effects that
relates to the beat of the music. It was found that slow-paced music could slow the heartbeat and
the breathing rate as well as decrease blood pressure. Faster music was found to speed up these
same measurements in the body. The key component of music that makes it positive to the brain
is the order in which it is made. “The order of the music from the baroque and classical periods

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causes the brain to respond in special ways. This order includes repetition and changes, certain
patterns of rhythm, and pitch and mood contrasts” (O’Donnel). When the brain translates the
order of music it is a lot like doing a math problem in school. Once realized by the brain, the
mind starts performing more efficiently while listening to this ordered music. An example of the
brain figuring out the order in music is when the brain looks at different pieces of information
and decides if they are different or the same.
By studying the biology of music, people could use music in areas where it produces vital
benefits like the medical field. Normally after heart bypass surgery, the recipients often
experience irregular changes in blood pressure. These changes are always treated with different
drugs. Recently though, studies have started to show that in intensive care units where
background music is played, the patients need lower amounts of the drugs compared to patients
with no music. It does not just stop there; hospitals also play background music in intensive care
units for premature babies. “Researchers have found that such music, as well as a nurse's or
mother's humming, helps babies to gain weight faster and to leave the unit earlier than babies
who don't hear these sounds” (Cromie). For the elderly, music is being used to calm
Alzheimer’s patients. During their mealtimes in the hospitals, these people are difficult to
organize. By being difficult to organize fights occur, but with the right type of music the
confusion and disagreements are reduced. These are just a few of many practical reasons why
music has such a strong effect on the mind.
“The pleasing effect of melodies and harmonies are mediated by personal as well as
cultural preference. It has been theorized that individuals are greatly influenced by the tones
found in their native language which in turn influence their native music” (Sancar). Once
realizing this, it easy to imply that individuals born into diverse cultures have brains which are

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formed to respond to different types of melodies. The brain reacts strongest to the music he was
culturally raised with. For music to cause an emotional response, the areas used in deciphering,
learning, and remembering music must be linked to the areas producing an emotional response.
In short terms this means to get an emotional response from a song, the brain needs to decipher
and learn it to make a connection to its emotions. The main reason for people liking a certain
type of music all depends on which type produces the most endorphins. Also liking certain types
of music all depends on the mood that a person is currently in. Music has also been proven to
activate areas of the limbic system which are vital in producing pleasurable effects. It is the
limbic that releases endorphins to the brain. Having this information, there are more possibilities
of using music therapy like for people who have depression in their lives.
It is quite easy to see exactly how strong the power of music is and will become in the
future. There have been many studies that have proven this. For example, a study shows that
students who study music in high school make better grades then those who do not. The
reasoning for this is that listening to music makes you think more efficiently and improves your
memory. Society has relied on music so greatly that without music life would change as we
know it today. Every culture that has been created throughout history has some form of music,
showing that music is fundamental to life. Even though people think of music as just
entertainment it is really goes much deeper. Music is now being used as therapy which is
radicalizing the way people think of sound. People can lower their blood pressure, find
happiness through depression, and recover through major surgery all by the power of music.

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Works Cited
Mannes, Elena. "'The Power Of Music' To Affect the brain." NPR books.Bloomsbury
Publishing, 2011.Web. 8 Sept. 2011. <http://www.npr.org/2011/06/01/
136859090/the-power-of-music-to-affect-the-brain>.
Joelving, Frederik. Scientific American. Scientific American, Inc., 2011. Web. 8
Sept. 2011. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/
post.cfm?id=new-research-explores-how----and-wh-2009-07-06>.
Kirkweg, Sara B. "THE EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON MEMORY."ClearingHouse. Missouri
Western State University, 1 May 2001. Web. 8 Sept. 2011.
<http://clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/manuscripts/230.php>.
O'Donnell, Laurence. "Music and the Brain."Brain & Mind.Music Power, 1999.
Web. 8 Sept. 2011. <http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n15/mente/
musica.html>.
Cromie, William J. Harvard Gazette. Harvard College, 2002.Web. 8 Sept. 2011.
<http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2001/03.22/04-music.html>.
Sancar, Feyza. "Music and the Brain: Processing and Responding ."Biology 202.
Serendip, 7 Jan. 2002. Web. 8 Sept. 2011. <http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/
bb/neuro/neuro99/web1/Sancar.html>.

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