Science is not able to clearly define music. But, whatever it is, music has very unique effects in the brain related to learning, memory, emotion and spirituality. It uses most of the brain in wide circuits that brings about such strong neuroplasticity that it affects the ability to learn other subjects as well (metaplasticity – see post) This post about unique effects of music on the brain is an update of previous posts on music (What is Music, Music and the Brain, Music Tra

Last week a 24 year old woman went to a hospital in China because she was dizzy and nauseous. The doctors discovered that she had no cerebellum—the critical brain center with half of the brain’s neurons, related to movement and habit memory. As a child she was late walking and talking, but is now married and normal with a minor gait disturbance and slightly slurred speech. This most recent dramatic example of neuroplasticity shows, again, how the brain will alter itself to pr

The brain is a 3-pound organ in our body, which, like any other organ, can be healthy or unhealthy. Uniquely, the brain is intertwined with our mind, emotions, behavior and the functions of all other organs. Fortunately, simple actions in daily life can have a great effect on maximizing brain health and minimizing degenerative brain diseases. Many different approaches have been found to build and maintain positive active brain circuits, decrease excessive stress, clean out de

The common wisdom that myelin is just an insulator to make faster neuronal communication has been overthrown by recent research that finds much more complexity in how myelin is used by the brain. The old “neuron doctrine” (one of many useless dogmas) was that each neuron sends a signal to the next neuron, and so on, in computer like fashion. In fact, the process is vastly more complex and variable and the new myelin code adds to brain complexity in very important ways. Resear

Music has a central role in human society because it so strongly evokes feelings and affects social activities and interactions. The study of music’s influence has greatly increased knowledge of emotion in the brain. Studies show that technology has advanced music and recent studies show dramatic effects on all the brain regions that are related to emotion—amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens and critical regions of the cortex including insula, cingulate and

What is music? Where does it come from? Is it an inevitable result of brain anatomy and the fundamentals of mathematics? Does it come from culture and mind? Does it come from the nature of consciousness? Has it evolved through time as a form of communication? Three basic elements of language and music, pitch (intervals and melody), timbre (the quality of the sound), and rhythm have an infinite range of possibilities and are related to experiences in nature. Specific meaning i

Melody, harmony, timbre, rhythm and lyrics are perceived as movement, as meaning, and as emotion in the brain. The unique power of music to harness nature, culture and mind plays out in the interaction of music and the brain. Some consider vision the major sense, the way our view of the world is most organized. But, this view overlooks the unique characteristics of sound. Hearing may be the most important sense. Sound is uniquely affected by the environment, not just what

With our multi sensory brain, music harnesses powers of nature, culture, and mind. How much is the brain changed by the effects of music training and neuroplasticity? Music is one of the most demanding cognitive and neural challenges, requiring very accurate timing of multiple actions, precise interval control of pitch not involved in language, and multiple different ways of producing sound. Auditory and motor actions influence each other in a constant interplay, which is la

Throughout history human beings have continually made new creative actions of all kinds determining culture and science. With creativity such a common human activity, the question arises whether it is an inherent trait? In the arts, creativity is often related to spirituality. Free form music is a natural creative form used around the world, at times connecting music improvisation and spirituality. While it is not clear what creativity is, elements include intuition, expert

For many, music exists to express emotions. Music stimulates both psychological mood and physiological changes including heart rate and breathing. Music can help anxiety. It drives the body with loud, fast music making people lively and promoting dance. Slow, soft music can make people calm or sad. Are these inherent responses to music or are they culturally learned? To find out we must look at the brain responses to music emotion and evolution. Mood Music There are many cha