5 minute read
A look at how music affects the brain
photo by | LOUISA MARTIN
i l l ust ration by | JOANNE SUNG
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MUSICALA MIND A look into how music affects our brain and our community
RHEA PATNEY
associate editor
From catchy commercial jingles and jazzy elevator music to acoustic melodies and smooth symphonies, music envelopes us each and every day, whether we realize it or not. However, we rarely think of the effects it has on people, as individuals and as a community.
From head — where neuron production increases, improving memory — to toe — which secretly taps along inside our shoes — listening to music can help jump letter grades. For people with unique conditions in relation to music, such as synesthesia, a condition in which multiple senses are activated at one time from one stimulus, music can be so much more than just an auditory experience.
Additionally, the variety of opinions surrounding musical taste and genre often results in sharp conflict, which can lead to constructive debates and an ensemble of new ideas. Music can help people become more in tune with their surroundings and emotions, help form lasting bonds with friends, family or even strangers on the internet.
As a society, we’ve grown to find a tune or beat to nearly anything, tapping to the beat of staccato raindrops and whistling along to legato waves, but something about certain combinations of sounds makes us want to listen to it on repeat over and over again until we just can’t bear it anymore.
So waltz into a new perspective of music, where the neurons prance, opinions dance and the memories from the balcony in summer air will never fade. p
SOPHIA LIU in-depth editor
F F rom Broadway ballads and boogie-woogie blues to Beethoven, music plays an integral role in shaping countless lives and cultures. But why do certain songs evoke bursts of energy while others render us speechless with goosebumps?
Music has the capacity to generate an astounding impact, from stimulating emotions to enhancing academic performance. The powerful effects of listening to or playing music have fueled researchers to pursue explanations for the way our brains respond to music.
For decades, researchers widely believed that processing music was limited to the right hemisphere of the brain, which is often deemed the creative hemisphere. However, with improved experimental and neuroimaging tools, researchers have unearthed music-related involvement in virtually all areas of the brain. In fact, when sound vibrations are translated into electrical signals, they are transferred by neurons into the brain, where different lobes and cortexes analyze and respond to musical elements like rhythm, tone and pitch. Additionally, listening to music is a stimulus associated with the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, in the nucleus accumbens. The release of dopamine regulates feelings of pleasure, producing the “high” many people experience while listening to or playing music.
“Music can be a wonderful enhancer,” AP Psychology teacher Amanda Kaupp said. “There have been a lot of studies that show a correlation between listening to music and an impact on our moods and feelings.”
In fact, students commonly listen to music to boost their mood, stay on task while working on homework or studying for tests. However, Kaupp advises people to not listen to music with lyrics while studying or reading, as it can be distracting. When one does this, their Wernicke’s area, located in the temporal lobe, simultaneously deciphers words being heard and those on paper. With this influx of information to process, the brain is placed in a predicament that is analogous to being stuck between two radio stations — getting a little of each but not the full impact.
feeling color color
Junior synesthete Fiona Ferguson explains how she organizes her playlists by color
Enhances thinking and planning functions Front al L o be
Increases dopamine release, resulting in feelings of pleasure Nucl eus Accumbens
Triggers emotional Amyg responses such as goosebumps da la
i llustration by | RHEA PATNEY & JOANN “Blue is very calm, like dark moonlight. It’s a lot of synth type stuff and male voices.”
CONNECTION
How music affects different parts of the brain
Motor C o r tex Causes movement in response to music, such as dancing
Stimulates neuron production which improves memory Hi ppo c a mpus
“When I grade papers, I listen to an Icelandic band called Sigur Rós,” Kaupp said. “Because I can’t understand Icelandic, it won’t affect me reading, so [here is a] tip: pick music without lyrics or lyrics you don’t understand when studying — aka an Icelandic band.”
For musicians and composers, the visual cortex is especially active while reading sheet music, helping to transform notes on paper into harmonious melodies. The visual cortex, alongside other parts of the brain, may also contribute to synesthesia, a neurological condition in which information meant to stimulate only one sense stimulates several senses. While there still remains uncertainty surrounding synesthesia, many researchers theorize that it is derived from an abundance of neural connections and increased communication within the brain’s sensory regions. Synesthete musicians like Duke Ellington and Pharrell Williams report associating melodies and rhythms with distinct hues and textures. For junior Fiona Ferguson, her synesthesia presents itself in the form of affiliating colors, environment and time of day with music.
“When I’m listening to music, colors and music go hand in hand,” Ferguson said. “It’s different for everyone. It’s so weirdly abstract that it is hard to piece together sometimes.”
Although there is no official way to diagnose synesthesia, the American Psychological Association estimates that about one in 2,000 people experience some sort of synesthesia in the form of seeing colors, smelling scents or tasting flavors when listening to music. To accommodate her experiences with synesthesia, Ferguson assigns colors to playlists, customizing them to her preferences. For instance, Ferguson’s yellow playlist is composed of animated pop music whereas her green playlist comprises songs in the folk genre. Because of the ambience and tone created by the playlist, Ferguson can listen to a certain playlist depending on the type of mood she feels.
“Colors themselves don’t hold that much significance, it’s the colors that relate to the music,” Ferguson said. “It was kind of hard in the beginning because distinguishing the feelings between each color and song didn’t come naturally. Now they kind of just fall into place wherever they go.” p
“Orange has very friendly music. It’s like driving at sunset, but you’re not alone in your car.” “Green is like the feeling of going on vacation.
It feels chilly and has acoustic guitar.”
