The Brain’s Powerful Tool – Music
Something’s afoot when it comes to music and the brain, and it’s not just dancing. For one thing, it is a universal language, surpassing any level of perceived sophistication. In a recent study, research scientists played various selections of classical music – with their own preconceived notions of which piece was happy, sad or scary – for members of a “primitive” society in the Cameroons. The tribe members had never before heard classical music, but members responded just as the “sophisticated” scientists responded. They were able to describe the various classical musical excerpts as happy, scary, or sad.
Music has a sublime power over human emotions and is a great benefit to our mental and physical selves. Music seems to be as important to human life, culture, and communication as is language and gesture. Some studies have shown that the motor regions of the brain, responsible for physical coordination and “fight or flight” action, become highly active in response to music. Hence, through the brain, we have the rhythm and the swaying of the body that leads to dance.
“Self-medication” may not be a term you would associate with music, but nearly every one of us has used music to enhance or alter our mood at various times. Children seem to be born with the ability to interpret music. Parents use this innate characteristic to soothe their children with lullabies or nursery rhymes. Medical professionals have known for some time that music can be a powerful tool to relax patients about to undergo procedures such as surgery or childbirth. The analgesic effects (like aspirin or other pain relievers) of music has been seen to continue for sometime after the procedure has ended and the music has stopped, thus lessening soreness. Music has been used to soften or control the behavior of folks with varying degrees of dementia.
Witnessing the actions of those exercising, or on the dance floor, or feeling the effects of worship services, certainly shows us that music can pump us up. Music is very often used to enhance or give reason to any number of social activities, so it is very likely that it brings us together and enhances our feelings of community and cooperation; which is probably very important to our survival, maybe even our superiority, as a species. Perhaps singing “Happy Birthday” is a lot more than just good wishes for the celebrated person. Elevator or shopping mall music does have a profound affect, admit it or not, on our behavioral reactions regarding institutional or commercial venues.
While we must recognize that there are sources of music outside of the human experience, the production and use of music as a tool is uniquely human. Indeed, the hum of insects on a sunny afternoon, bird songs, maybe even the bangings of monkeys on tree-stumps, could arguably be called music, but there is a form of communication, beyond the threshold of the animal accidents of communication, that humans have taken to be their own special art form of rhythm and tone.
The machinations of the human brain are so important to a human’s actual and sensual health. The brain is capable of many things, it is the control center of these machines, our bodies, that carry it around. Meditation, psychosomatic techniques, acupuncture and other therapies depend on the persuasion of the brain to feel good and healthy – music is one of its more powerful tools.
Photo by MITO SettembreMusica
