The brain is a human organ, which is least understood in science, despite the significant strides made by biological research in the 21st century. Medical researchers are still straining to unfold the mystery of this organ which is the controller of our thinking, speech and action.
The knowledge of this organ will definitely improve the way we, the human beings, think, feel and react to our surroundings. That will also help us in treating people who are mentally and emotionally ill, besides working towards prevention of many diseases that affect this organ.
In recent decades, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques have helped in the study of the structure (anatomy) of the brain, though lot more research needs to be done on its functions (physiology) in terms of brain chemistry and blood flow — during health, normal ageing and illness.
The major neuroimaging techniques used are Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPEC1), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), along with Electro-encephalography (EEG), an earlier technique for monitoring brain activity. Advances in all these modern techniques have enabled scientists to produce remarkably detailed computer-screen images of brain structures and to observe minute neurochemical changes that occur in the brain as it processes information or responds to various stimuli which includes music.
PET, SPECT, MRI, and EEG are non-invasive procedures that can measure biological activity through the skull and reveal how the living human brain works. Each of these techniques has its own use, as it provides different information about brain structure and function. For this reason, scientists increasingly are conducting studies that integrate two or more techniques. For example, merging a PET scan image that shows activity at brain molecular sites or receptors, with a highly detailed MRI image of brain structure produces a composite image that makes it possible to identify more precisely where in the brain the activity is occurring.
In a recent study conducted at Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, by Koelsch and his team, pleasant (consonant) and unpleasant (permanently dissonant) music was used to evoke emotion. The study used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Unpleasant music contrasted with pleasant music showed activation of amygdala, hippocampus, Para hippocampal gyms and temporal planes in the brain. These structures are known for their emotional processing role and that they get activated during the perception of auditory (say, musical) information.
In this study, pleasant and unpleasant emotions were induced by consonant and dissonant music. Unpleasant (compared to pleasant) music evoked a significant decrease of Heart Rate (HR). In the EEG, pleasant (contrasted to unpleasant) music, was associated with an increase of frontal midline (Fm) theta power. This effect is taken to reflect emotional processing in close interaction with attentional functions. These findings show that Fm theta is modulated by emotion more strongly than previously believed.
Recent research studies (2010) show that music has an effect on the auditory cortex of the brain. A live science article states, “…pianists show more brain activity in their auditory cortex–the part of the brain responsible for processing sounds—than non-musicians in response to hearing piano notes.” A study at McMaster University, Ontario, showed “larger brain responses on a number of sound recognition tests” among preschoolers with musical training. A Harvard University study had also found a correlation between early-childhood training in music and enhanced motor and auditory skills as well as improvements in verbal ability and nonverbal reasoning; yet another study indicated that “musical training gives an individual the acoustic responsiveness of a child some 2 – 3 years older.”
Research studies clearly reveal that learning to play the piano or any other instrument can have an impact on memory. Agnes Chan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, found that “…adults who received music training before the age of 12, have a better memory for spoken words than those who did not. Music training in childhood may therefore have long-term positive effects on verbal memory.”
Nina Kraus of Northwestern University in a review of research work on music has also found that musical training can build meaningful patterns on the nervous system which is important to all types of learning. This study after reviewing research results from all over the world came to the conclusion that an active engagement with musical sounds not only enhances neuroplasticity, but also creates permanent patterns important to all learning. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to adapt and change as a result of training and experience. Frances Rauscher of University of Wisconsin has also speculated that “understanding music, particularly learning to translate musical symbols into sound, might be transferring to other abilities, because they are sharing similar neuro pathways.”
A recent study in which children were given eight months’ worth of piano (keyboard) lessons showed a correlation between musical study and spatial-temporal reasoning improvement. In the study, the control groups were given singing lessons, computer lessons, or no lessons. The findings were “…that only those children who received the keyboard lessons had improvement in the spatial-temporal test,” which involved putting together puzzles. These findings were confirmed by yet another study at University of California, Irvine, which also showed similar results, finding that “preschool children given six months of piano keyboard lessons improved dramatically on spatial-temporal reasoning while children in appropriate control groups did not improve.”
Based on these scientific findings by brain researchers, Nada Centre for Music Therapy, a pioneering organisation devoted for propagating music therapy in the country with a world-wide following emphasises that music should be an inseparable part of our educational curriculum in India and every school in the country should have a musically-trained teacher to teach musical lessons to all children, especially to the preschoolers in nursery and kindergarten classes and in crèches. It is the firm conviction of the Centre that music therapy should be part of the curriculum in all universities which have departments of music and/or psychology and seniors should be trained in selecting appropriate music pieces to be recommended for overcoming increasing mental ailments among our brethren due to wrong values inculcated by wrong leadership and negative orientations.
This article was published in BHAVAN’S JOURNAL, DECEMBER 15, 2012 – Page 83 to 86
Edited by Geeta Shreedar, Nov. 8, 2021