Introduction
Humans have played music since at least 35,000 years ago (Nicholas J. Conard, June 25, 2009). Since then music has evolved in many genres and has become a huge part of every culture. It is often called the Universal language because music can convey information like a feeling, an attitude or a mood (Chris Dobrian, 1992). It affects people in a way deeper than regular speech. Regular speech does not make people feel any particular emotion if they cannot understand what one is saying (Mark Changazi, September 15, 2009). Music causes something different to happen.
When people hear music a spiral sheet in their inner ear is plucked like a guitar string. It triggers the auditory cortex of the brain, located just above the ears. Different patterns of firing cells that go off at first trigger other groups of cells that identify different music with emotions, ideas and past experiences. (Willian J. Cromie, November 13,1997). And a study in 2001 by Anne Blood and Robert Zattore showed that when people listened to pleasurable music it activated the limbic and paralimbic areas of the brain. Those are connected with “euphoric reward responses” that we experience during good food, sex or drugs (Phillip Ball, April 19, 2013).
Music now has been used to therapeutically for a number of diseases including Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia and cerebral ischemia. Researchers at Cleveland Clinic found that music lessened chronic pain and rates of depression and scientists at National Taipei College of Nursing found that playing music in the background with dementia patients lowered aggression (Maria Konnikova, September 26, 2013). Music therapy has been used for people in correctional settings, on the autism spectrum, as a response to Crisi...
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Cromie, Willian J.. "How Your Brain Listens to Music." The Harvard University Gazette. Harvard University, 13 Nov 1997. Web. 10 Nov 2013. .
"Music Therapy Fact Sheets & Bibliographies." American Music Therapy Association . American Music Therapy Association, n.d. Web. 10 Nov 2013. .
"Benefits to the Brain." VH1 Save the Music Foundation. VH1 Save the Music, n.d. Web. 10 Nov 2013. .
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Occasionally music is used as medicine. One scholar shows that music can lower blood pressure, speed up stroke recovery, help you fall asleep, and help relieve pain (Surprising Effects of Music). Many schools provide a challenging curriculum for their students. Music classes would give students a chance to relax. Research demonstrates that liste...
Whether you’re a devoted music enthusiast or you just listen to the radio to pass time, we all listen to music. However, when listening to music, nobody stops to think about what they are doing. Nobody stops to contemplate how the music they are listening to affects them psychologically. We just listen to the music and enjoy ourselves. In fact however, a great deal of research has been done to determine the psychophysiological effects of music. Many studies have been conducted to determine whether music can help people who suffer from psychological and medical disorders, Scholars continually debate whether music can influence behavior, and researchers are attempting to understand what is happening in our brain when we listen to music.
Music and the Brain: Processing and Responding (A General Overview). For any individual who either avidly listens to or performs music, it is understood that many melodies have amazing effects on both our emotions and our perception. To address the effects of music on the brain, it seems most logical to initially map the auditory and neural pathways of sound. In the case of humans, the mechanism responsible for receiving and transmitting sound to the brain is the ears.
Ducharme, Jamie. "How Music Therapy Works." Hub Health. Boston Magazine, 15 5 2013. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
I’m writing my paper on Music Therapy, and how music affects the mind and body, to treat various illnesses. Music therapy is the prescribed use of music under the direction of specially trained therapists to influence changes in negative conditions and behavior. It accomplishes this by maintaining and restoring mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health .One type of theory is the idea that music, movement, and speech are inseparable. Music evokes unconscious thoughts and feelings, which in turn expand self-awareness. Music therapy is a powerful and non-invasive form of sensory stimulation which provokes responses due to the familiarity, predictability, and feelings of security associated with it. In some medical settings such as mental health services, it has been used to decrease patient’s perception of pain, anxiety and depression. ICU patients listening to music showed a significant decrease in blood pressure. It has been shown to calm the patient and to relax their mind and body. Music eases the burden on the arteries and nerves through relaxation. Du...
Scott, Elizabeth, M.S. “Music and Your Body: How Music Affects Us and Why Music Therapy
Music stimulates multiple areas of the brain by provoking auditory, emotional, autonomic, and cognitive processing. Once the sound waves from the music are heard, signaling travels from the auditory system to the areas of the brain responsible for processing and dissecting the sound information. These areas are the primary auditory cortex, heschl’s gyrus, the frontal operculum, the superior temporal sulcus, and cortical language areas. Following sound processing, emotional processing of the sound heard takes place in the amygdala, cingulate gyrus, and medical orbitofrontal cortex of the brain. Feedback from the processed music can lead to physiological responses and changes in the autonomic nervous system as a result of the type of music heard (Nizamie and Tikka). For example, harsh, fast paced music tends to increase sympathetic nervous system activity (increased heart rate, faster breathing), whereas gentle, soothing music stimulates the body to relax, activating the parasympathetic nervous system (slower heart rate, lower blood pressure and slower breathing) (...
Mannes, Elena. "www.npr.org/2011/06/01/136859090/the-power-of-music-to-affect-the-brain." Mannes, Elena. The Power of Music to Affect the Brain. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011.
Wicke, Roger W. . "Rocky Mountain Herbal Institute." Effects of music and sound on human health . N.p., 2002. Web. 14 Jan 2012.
Levetin, D. "This is your brain on music." The science of a human obsession. David Levetin, n.d. Web. April 2011. .
Landau, Elizabeth, and Daniel J. Levitin. "This Is Your Brain on Music." CNN. Cable News Network, 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. .
Levitin, Daniel J. “This is your Brain on music: The Science of a Human Obsession.” Print
Campbell, D. G. (1997). The Mozart effect: tapping the power of music to heal the body, strengthen the mind, and unlock the creative spirit. New York: Avon Books.
In order to understand why the use of music therapy is growing, one must know what exactly music therapy is. Music Therapy is an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals. Music therapy also provides avenues for communicati...
Cooper, Belle. " How Music Affects and Benefits Your Brain."lifehacker.come. N.p., 11 22 2013. Web. 3