Music and the Brain Essays

The haunting melodies of evening prayer soon began to drift across space and time from the many mosques just beyond the hills. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, reliving the moments that got me to this place. I was halfway across the world, alone in my thoughts, and in a land that once seemed so distant. The sound of water rained from the shower and the music of religion wafted through the air as the sun began to let out its final gasp. For the first time all day I was alone—seemingly at peace.

Music has been around since the very beginning of time. The human body flows in a rhythmic syncopation. Music is used to change one’s mood and to inspire those who open their minds. It has the potential to cure diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. Humans, of every culture and society, function with a type of rhythmic music. As humans, we are hard wired to respond to music (Mannes). The human brain responds to music in such a way that the brain becomes more open to new rhythms, ideas, and values. Music has the power to take over the human body. This makes it easier to overcome conflict and change the ideals of somebody while using music (The Power of Music).

In Vodou and Santeria, music plays an important role. Mostly, music is used as a mean of communication with different deities during ritual ceremonies. As the textbook specified it, each deity has his specific music that incorporates dance, action and gesture that express his character. Each deity being associated with a particular drumming pattern and song, the performance of that music will regulate possession or the trance state. In Santeria, it more question of style of the music that accompanies the ritual.

For instance music can bring back long forgotten memories, or give an athlete the drive to push harder while training in the gym. Brattico and Pearce show that the reason for this lies in the neurological effects that music has on the human mind (2013). The reason for these affects is the way that music affects different parts of the brain like the amygdala, and the auditory cortex (Brattico). By affecting theses parts of the brain music has been shown to have an influence previously thought to only known to be associated with visual stimuli (Brattico). According to Saarkillio, Vuoskoski, and Luck there is even an element of communication in music that is almost like communicating emotions (2014). Silverman states we connect certain tones and tempos with certain feelings, for instance a ballad is almost always played in a minor key with a slowed tempo, and conversely we connect a major key and a quick tempo with feelings of happiness

Music is composed of sounds intertwined with melody and rhythm that can have powerful effects on a person. It can help people focus on tasks or calm the mind. Research has shown that music has beneficial effects on the mind, body, and health of a person. A journal article by Rastogi, Solanki, and Zafar (2013) refers, on the contrary, to:

From time immemorial, sound and music have been used to heal the mind and body.

When we run a race or when we’re excited or scared, we hear “dhun, dhun, dhun” in our head. This is the rhythm of the body. The rhythm of the body is not just in the beat of the heart. Every fiber and every pranic nadi in the body has its own

Relating to the previous idea, the brains of the elderly population are also affected by music. While music therapy is often associated with children it’s also often used with elders. At St. Anne’s, a long-term care facility in Pennsylvania, Laura Bruck informs readers of a music therapist introducing to music therapy to the occupants of the facility. The music results in an increase in mental health, helping occupants feel confident and successful. Another way changes in the brain become apparent are in drum circles. Drum circles can affect many different types of patients in various ways. Dorian Friedman names some of these patients and effects, one type are victims of trauma. By participating in drum exercises, brain waves are altered, reducing

For a considerable length of time contemplation has been connected with positive mental advantages. Albeit numerous Eastern societies have grasped the idea that customary contemplation practice can adjust one's condition of cognizance or upgrade one's impression of reality, the enchanted or powerful suggestions connected with reflection have restrained Western social orders from embracing it all the more broadly. A quarter century prior, Benson and his associates started to look at the mental and physiological parts of reflection inside of a Western exploratory and medicinal system. Subsequent to examining the social, religious, philosophical, and exploratory underpinnings of reflection, Benson and his associates presumed that contemplation requires just two particular steps: (1) centering one's consideration on a solitary dull word, sound, petition to God, expression, picture, or physical movement; and (2) inactively coming back to this center when diverted. At the point when one participates in these two stages, an arrangement of unsurprising physiological occasions happens inside and outside the focal sensory system (CNS) that advance a feeling of smooth and behavioral latency. Benson marked this arrangement of physiological occasions the unwinding reaction. The unwinding reaction is the natural outcome of a wide mixture of mental centering systems, one of which is

The therapeutic effects of music have been demonstrated through numerous accounts, yet the examination of the extent of its capabilities has thus far been neglected. Music has certainly provided aid to individuals suffering from a number of ailments such as cancer, but these benefits may also be extended to people who do not necessarily require such assistance. Moreover, the beneficial effects music can have on critical areas such as sleep can significantly improve one’s life. As music and sleep quality have strong influences on one’s person, exposure to music during the process of sleep can significantly improve multiple facets of overall sleep quality, thus positively altering an individual’s cognitive capabilities and natural behavior when

The formation of specific nerve cells, named neurons, allows the brain to learn and store information, communicate, and grow; this ability is called neuroplasticity Urban Child Institute, n.d. & Harvard University, n.d.). Neuroplasticity is impacted by music due to the all-encompassing nature that music possesses (Collins, 2014 & Kent, 2006 & Urban Child Institute, n.d.). Due to this, music can be considered a form of exercise for the brain; as the music passes through the brain, it causes the neuron networks to communicate through synapses (electrical pulses), the more synapses that occur in the brain, the stronger the corresponding neuron network is strengthened (Kent, 2006 & Urban Child Institute, n.d.). Neuroplasticity

Spiritual drums have been us to reduce stress and anxiety. Studies have demonstrated the calming, focusing, and heading effects of drumming on Alzheimer’s patients, autistic children, emotionally disturbed teens, recovering addicts, trauma patients, and prison and homeless populations. Study results demonstrate that drumming is a valuable treatment for stress, fatigue anxiety, hypertension, asthma, chronic pain, arthritis, mental illness, migraines, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, paralysis, emotional; disorders, and a wide range of physical; disabilities.(Drum Therapy, M. Drake

Music has a positive affect on mood and behavior through listening to lyrics of music, music therapy, and influence of music. Music has been around for many years, as far back as cavemen. Most Don 't know but music has more of a purpose than just mere entertainment. Music is used in many cases as a therapy to help heal people. Music affects many different parts of the brain in a positive way. Music is also used to express pain and sorrow or other emotions and in many cases magnifies the feelings.

In some cultures, the sound is used in meditation sessions for calming the mind and increasing brain wave activity. They call this practice mantras it is a part of the Asian culture the most popular mantra is the OM mantra. A study in the Stanford news said “Rhythmic music may change brain function and treat a range of neurological conditions, including attention deficit disorder and depression, suggested scientists who gathered with ethnomusicologists and musicians at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics May 13. The diverse group came together for the one-day symposium, "Brainwave Entrainment to External Rhythmic Stimuli: Interdisciplinary Research and Clinical Perspectives," to share ideas that push the boundaries of our understanding of the human musical experience. Musicians and mystics have long recognized the power of rhythmic music. Ritual drumming and rhythmic prayer are found in cultures throughout the world and are used in religious ceremonies to induce trance states. But since the counterculture movement of the 1960s, scientists have shied away from investigating the almost mystical implications of musical rhythm, said symposium organizer Gabe Turow, a visiting scholar in the Department of Music”. Rhythm is the way the brainwaves function and move. The sound therapy uses this science to help calm the mind with alpha and beta waves similar to the way our

Music affects people of all ages developmentally , intellectually and medically as well as it affects their social , personal lives. In other words, music affects the way in which we think , behave and feel.