Dose of STEM: Music and the Brain

“Where words fail, music speaks” ~Hans Christian Andersen

Music - the universal language - has beauty capable of creating emotions meaningful enough to transcend all barriers. It is common to every society, past or present hence fittingly labelled a cultural universal. The variations in music are just as diverse as those in language; despite this, music has some innate qualities that make it so ubiquitous.

With human evolution, our music has also progressed. What used to be just simple percussion instruments made using wood and stones now has such technical complexities with symphonies, opera etc. Despite this, the fundamental way that music is perceived has not changed. So what is it about music that makes it so great? What does it do to our brains to provoke such intense emotional responses?

The significant factor here is music causing dopamine release in the pleasure center of the brain. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter commonly referred to as the “feel-good hormone”, is a part of the brain’s reward system. Doing pleasurable activities triggers its release, and the brain automatically associates this with happiness and a sense of satisfaction.

Benefits of listening to music

Mood booster – As mentioned above, dopamine released due to music helps regulate emotions. Similar to what happens when we eat our favorite food or engage in our favorite pastime, music also gives brain signals of joy and contentment which can uplift your mood almost instantly.
Better learning – Music stimulates the brain aiding in the learning process. According to a study by Stanford, music can help the brain take in and interpret new information easily.
Improves memory – Music activates sections of the brain responsible for memory retention
Reduce food consumption – Soft music and low lighting serve to create a relaxed atmosphere which results in greater awareness about food intake
Helps pain management – Music provides strong competing stimuli to pain signals, thus reducing the perceived intensity of pain
Catharsis- Listening to music can be a form of releasing strong repressed feelings

How does the brain respond to music?

There is no one specific place where music is analyzed in the brain. Instead, each aspect of the song, like the lyrics, the rhythm, the tone, etc. are handled by a different parts of the brain

Emotion – The amygdala (emotion center of the brain), nucleus accumbens (involved in reward pathway of the brain) and the cerebellum (majorly helps with motor coordination additionally participates in emotional regulation) trigger feelings and create an emotional response
Muscle memory – Knowledge of how to play an instrument, when learnt at a young age, is stored in the cerebellum. This means that someone with Alzheimer’s could forget their family but not how to play the instrument. The reason for this is that Alzheimer’s only impacts the memory centers of the brain- the cerebellum remains unaffected so muscle memory is retained
Coordination – Playing music requires an interaction between the two hemispheres of the brain, translating notes on paper to playing the keys on the instrument. The communication occurs between the two hemispheres through the corpus callosum
Interpreting words and sounds – The lyrics of a song are construed using the language center of the brain whereas sounds are processed by the temporal lobe

Potential negative effects of music

Aggressive music increases negative feelings, which in turn perpetuates dangerous behavior
Sad music can intensify negative emotions beyond conscious control
A study reported by the Scripps Howard News Service found that exposure to rock music causes abnormal neuron structures in the region of the brain associated with learning and memory. Thus, exposure to hard rock can inhibit information storage capacity in some people’s brains
Explicit lyrics may have a bad influence on people
Extremely loud music may disturb the balance and coordination between the brain’s hemispheres
Listening to sad music for prolonged periods may result in poor emotional regulation. For some this becomes a maladaptive strategy and the sad feelings elicited can slowly cause depression.

Musical preference and personality

Each person listens to music for different reasons - as a distraction, to go with a workout or as a mood setter. But are these choices of music influenced by our personality traits?

The studies regarding this topic are limited, but with current data, the following are a few qualities linked with particular musical preferences.

Rock/Heavy metal fans are creative, introverted and gentle (contradictory to the aggressive image of rock)
Pop fans are extroverted and honest but research tends to show they are less creative
Classical music fans are a little introverted but are very creative and have high self-esteem
Rap fans are very outgoing and also tend to have high self-esteem

Again, this information is based on limited research so until more studies are conducted, solid predictions cannot be made.

Fun facts about music

Songs that get stuck in your head are known as earworms
Your heartbeat changes with the music you listen to
The “chills” you get while listening to your favorite music is called musical frisson
Unborn babies hear and react to music- the music stimulates the fetus’ brain and the babies also remember the music they heard for up to four months after birth
Music was an Olympic event from 1912 till 1948
A 2007 study found that music can help make plants grow faster