Music and the brain MUS 548

Music and the brain :

Music and the brain By Leigh-Ann Short and James McLeod

Physiological effects of music:

Physiological effects of music Music can be traced all the way back to our earliest existence. Scientists have uncovered flutes made of animal bone suggesting that even cavemen incorporated music into their lifestyle. Music is apart of every culture and varies greatly. Music seems to have many affects on the listener both positive, negative, voluntary, and involuntary and causes all sorts of physiological reactions in our brain. The reactions begin before we are even born. They are automatic and beyond our immediate control. Playing music can also create neural pathways and actually change the shape of the brain. So what exactly does this mean? Let’s take a look at how the brain works and how it responds to music.

Early beginnings: Dr. Tomatis:

Early beginnings: Dr. Tomatis Dr. Alfred Tomatis (1920 – 2001) was a French ear nose and throat specialist who believed that there was a rich and direct connection between the ear, nervous system, and the brain. His research and beliefs began the field of Audio-Psycho-Phonology (APP). Though his beliefs are still not accepted by some, they sparked a whirlwind of research in the field. Some of his beliefs are as follows: He believed that inadequate or unbalanced hearing could cause all sorts of ailments and problems such as ADD, learning disabilities, depression, and motor skill problems just to name a few. He believed that music could heal the brain, and aid in its development.

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He believed that there was a dominant ear just as there is a dominant hemisphere in the brain. However, you can change the dominant ear. He believed that the voice could not produce what the ear could not hear. He is the person who created the concept of the Mozart effect The ear begins forming in the womb only a few days after conception. He believed that the “fetal” ear guided and stimulated the development of the brain. He believed that you could retrain the ear to listen. He created the mechanical ear for this process.

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In order to see how music changes and effects the brain, let’s take a look at the parts of the brain and how they function.

Parts of the brain:

Parts of the brain THE brain has two hemispheres: Left and Right It can be further broken down into the following parts

Our brain is electrifying:

Our brain is electrifying The brain is an electrochemical organ, producing up to 10 watts of electrical power. This electrical power can be measured in waves, of which there are four basic types: Beta Waves Alpha Waves Theta Waves Delta Waves

Two other types of waves:

Two other types of waves Sensory Motor Rhythm - SMR Gamma Brainwaves

How parts of the brain relate to music:

How parts of the brain relate to music

How do they know?:

How do they know? There are many ways to track and see what’s going on in the brain. In the following slides, you will see some of the most common machines used to monitor and study changes and effects of music and other things in the brain. EEG (Electroencephalogram) PET (Positron Emission Tomography) MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) CT/CAT Scan (Computed Tomography)

EEG (electroencephalogram):

EEG (electroencephalogram) An electroencephalogram or EEG for short, can be used to measure the electrical activity in the brain caused by the firing of neurons . It works by placing electrodes on the scalp that send readings to a computer.

EEG test results: calming music :

EEG test results: calming music

PET Scan (Positron Emission Tomography:

PET Scan (Positron Emission Tomography This test uses a radioactive chemical called a radiotracer, that is injected into the arm. It generally takes 45 minutes to an hour for the tracer to work. Once the tracer has had a chance to travel through the body, the subject lies down and is moved into the center of the PET Scanner. The images obtained from this machine are three dimensional and generally look like the ones on the right.

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During an MRI, pictures are obtained of organs, soft tissues, bone and most other body structures by using magnetic fields, and radio frequency pulses. These pictures can be viewed on a computer monitor, transmitted electronically, printed, or even copied to a CD. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

3D MRI of Human brain:

3D MRI of Human brain

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CT scans are x-ray tests that produce images onto a computer. This allows a doctor or interested party to look right at the area of interest. CT or CAT SCAN

What happens during a ct scan?:

What happens during a ct scan?

Actual ct scan:

Actual ct scan

Research:

Research What they did UlmanLindenberger , Shu -Chen Li, Walter Gruber, and Viktor Muller studied 13 professional guitarists grouped into 9 pairs. However, one pair was excluded from data analysis. Thefirst four pairs had the same lead guitarists and the last four pairs had varying lead guitarists. Each guitarist was connected to an EEG machine to measure brain electrophysiological activity as they played a jazz melody in unison after four metronome beats. Brain activity was studied both before and after play onset.

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What they found When the guitarists played together, their brains were in sync with each other. Both beforeplay onset (the first four beats from the metronome) and after, synchronization was highest at frontal-central sites of the brain. This was found consistently between all participants. The importance of the findings show that interpersonally coordinated actions are preceded andaccompanied by between-brain oscillatory couplings. These reflect a similarity between the individuals perceptions and actions.

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Implications This research begins to show how our brains interact. It suggests this interaction is beyond our immediate control, existing on a subconscious level.

More Research:

More Research What They Did In this experiment, Thayer and Levenson added musical scores to an industrial safety video soundtrack that showed accidents. They created three different versions of the video: one film with no music that was used as the control, one film with “horror” music, and one film with “documentary” music. The subjects, 60 male psychology students, were randomly assigned to watch one of the videos. All of the subjects were strategically hooked up to electrodes that were attached to polygraph machine that was connected to a mini computer. They were also given an anxiety dial to rate the level of anxiety they were feeling at any given point of the video.

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What they found Neither group varied much on any of their pre-film levels. The skin conductance levels when watching the horror music film, which were measured by the polygraph, were higher than the control for the first and third accidents and higher than all three of the accidents with the documentary music. The documentary music film had lower skin conductance levels than the control for all three accidents.

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Implications The results imply that music can be used to either raise or lower stress levels while watching a film. This seems to validate the use of music for manipulative measures. Future Studies Future studies should involve a more diverse group of test subjects. Would women get similar results? Also, would the results be similar using a non-stressful video.

Music and the brain:

Music and the brain

Future Studies:

Future Studies Additional study is needed: To specify the effect of each of the components of music on specific areas of the brain To specify areas of brain activity during emotional responses to music To analyze the structural similarities between music and language To study the neuromuscular effect of low-frequency vibration and music To study the effect of music on retrieval in short and long term memory To study the changes in spatial-temporal elements To study music’s effect on reorganizing neural Pathways To study music’s effect on Brain Plasticity

Brain Plasticity:

Brain Plasticity

Bibliography:

Bibliography Alfred A. Tomatis . ( n.d .). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . Retrieved March 30, 2011, from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_A._Tomatis BioMed Central | Full text | Brains swinging in concert: cortical phase synchronization while playing guitar. ( n.d .). BioMed Central | The Open Access Publisher . Retrieved March 30, 2011, from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/10/22/ Brain music - Music is Life. ( n.d .). Music is Life - Home . Retrieved March 30, 2011, from http:// pernek.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid =72815706 Brain wave Functions Alpha  Beta Theta Brainwaves. ( n.d .). Memory Brain Mind Research Technology induced altered states using binaural beat brainwave syncronization tapes brain wave entrainment technology for Altered states meditation relaxation lucid dreaming stress management sleep aid enhancedlearning depression anxiety self help zen . Retrieved March 22, 2011, from http://www.web-us.com/brainwavesfunction.htm Byrne, P. ( n.d .). Study: Music Gives Brain Pleasure Rush – Patrick Byrne presents the Studio of Musical Arts, LLC ™. Patrick Byrne presents the Studio of Musical Arts, LLC ™ . Retrieved March 30, 2011, from http://www.studio-musicalarts.com/2011/01/11/study-love-music-thank-a-substance-in-your-brain/

Cont.:

Cont. Electroencephalogram (EEG) Test to Measure Brain Electrical Activity. ( n.d .). WebMD - Better information. Better health. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/electroencephalogram-eeg-21508 Exploring the Brain and Brain Waves. ( n.d .). Neurofeedback , Your Brain, and Your Health . Retrieved March 22, 2011, from http://www.brainandhealth.com/Brain-Waves.html Find out more about EEG - City University London. ( n.d .). City University London - Top ranking UK university for employment . Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://www.city.ac.uk/psychology/research/CNRU/eeg.html Youtube – 3D MRI of Human Brain. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwUn64d5Ddk Youtube – Brain Plasticity Definition. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCp56nDin8c&NR Youtube – CT Brain case study 1. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXJHKomJ-GY Youtube – EEG test with alphamusic -brainwaves. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP14wN1yWC4 Youtube – Music and the Brain: How the mind interprets music. www.youtube.com/watch?v =MZpm6XgeMN8

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