12 Brain-Based Reasons why Music Therapy works 1. Music is a core function of our brain.

Our brain is primed early to respond to and process music Day-old infants can detect differences in rhythmic patterns Mothers across the world in different cultures throughout time have used lullabies and rhythmic rocking to calm crying babies 2. Our bodies entrain to rhythm Ex. Walking to a beat-entrainment Our motor systems naturally entrain (or match) to a rhythmic beat o When a musical input enters our central nervous system through auditory nerve, some of the input heads towards the motor nerves in our spinal cord, allowing our muscles to move to the rhythm without us having to think about it o May help a stroke victim re-learn how to walk 3. Physiological responses to music 4. Music taps into our emotions 5. Music helps improve our attention skills because some of it can grab and hold our attention 6. Uses shared neural circuits as speech Listening to music with lyrics uses shared neural circuits as listening to and expressing speech o May help a stroke victim re-learn how to talk again 7. Music enhances learning Its an effective pneumonic device that makes it easy to learn and recall information 8. Taps into memories Second to smell in ability to stimulate our memory o Can help people with Alzheimers 9. Music is a social experience 10. Music is predictable, structured, and organized with predictable steady beat, organized phrases, and structured formand our brain likes it!! Even sound waves that make up a tone or a chord have a mathematical structure!

MUSIC AND NEUROSCIENCE When we hear a song, the frontal lobe and temporal lobe begin processing the sounds, trying to decipher things like rhythm, pitch, and melody If the song has lyrics, Brocas and Wernickes areas, which process language, kick in Visual cortexour brain tries to construct an image of the changes in pitch and tone Motor cortexleads you to tap your foot (?) Cerebellum tries to figure out where a piece of music will go next Medial prefrontal cortexmemory is stored o Since this is one of the last areas hit by Alzheimers, research shows that people can remember songs from long ago, even if they cant remember short term Emotional reactions in the frontal and temporal lobe

o Using brain scans, a woman with damaged frontal and temporal lobe had expected emotional reactions to a song, even though she couldnt distinguish the melody o Studies show that music wed expect to be happy activates reward centers of the brain, releasing dopamine, so that music gives us the same hit of happiness as a piece of chocolate. MUSIC AND HAPPINESS Were hardwired to interpret and react emotionally to a piece of music o 5-month-olds react to happy songs while 9-month-olds recognized and were affected by sad songs o Happy songs=lively upbeat tempo, major keycan cause a person to breath faster (physical sign of happiness) o Sad songs=slow, minor keyscauses slowing of the pulse and a rise in blood pressure Music has been found to boost immune systems of patients after surgeries, lower stress in pregnant women, and decrease blood pressure and heart rate in cardiac patients Hospitalized children were happier during music therapy, where they could experiment with maracas and bells rather than play therapy, where they only had puzzles and toys. Music therapy may be more efficient than other types of therapies in patients suffering from depressionits shown lower levels of anxiety and loneliness in the elderly

Every human culture has some form of music in which listeners perceive a regular beat, and in every culture, people move in synchrony with the beat of music Humans are the only species to spontaneously move in synchrony with a musical beat from complex rhythmic patterns (Question: might it involve the large size of the human frontal lobe?) Neuroplasticitythe brains ability to adapt and change as a result of training and experience over the course of a persons life An active engagement with musical sounds not only enhances neuroplasticity, but also enables the nervous system to provide a stable support of meaningful patterns so important to learning A musicians brain selectively enhances information-bearing elements in sound. In a relationship between sensory and cognitive processes, the nervous system makes associations between complex sounds and what they mean, which leads to: Musicians are more successful than non-musicians in learning to incorporate sound patterns for a new language into words. Musicians trained to hear sounds in melodies and harmonies are primed to understand speech in a noisy background. Therefore:

Music training seems to strengthen the same neural processes that often are deficient in individuals with developmental dyslexia or who have difficulty hearing speech in noise

PIANO PERFORMANCE AND BRAIN ACTIVITY Experiment: pianists were blindfolded and put into a PET scan machine. On a digital keyboard, they would play scales and a Bach concerto. The purpose was to see which areas of the brain were activated during memorized piano performance. Occipital lobe (involved in visual)reflect a visualization of their hands or notes on a score while playing blindfolded Bilateral temporal lobe (involved in hearing)mightve held memorized representation of melodic harmonies and structures that helped auditory stimulus of recalling the piece (recalling how the piece sounds) Limbic cortex (emotions)invoke emotion into the piece Supplementary motor area coordinates the hand movements (other areas of the brain support more specific movements) Posterior cerebellummay support auditory processing Anterior cerebellummay support sensory input from arm and finger movement Memorized music performance actually deactivates a range of areas that may distract the performer!! WHAT CAN MUSIC DO? 1. Changes ability to perceive time a. When your brain is distracted, youll be less likely to notice things around in detail, including passage of time. Our brains have limited input capacity 2. Taps into primal fear a. Humans are very good at sensing friendly and unfriendly noise b. Scary movie music c. Humans automatically associate certain sounds with sudden and painful death because they tap into our evolutionary fear of the screams of other animals or humans d. Screams of fear in almost any animal are made up of discordant noises. Any unpleasant noises fall into this category. When we hear them, we get the urge of getting out of there 3. Makes you stronger a. People who listen to music while doing physical activity perform measurably better! i. Distractionyoure not thinking about how much your legs hurt or how much more time you have to run ii. Synchronicityyour movements match a steady tempo and you spend less time and effort on the inefficient slowing down and speeding up that happens when youre on your own rhythm iii. Can make you feel less pain. Patients who listened to music after surgery needed less sedatives, reported less pain, and lower blood pressure. Many surgeons put on music while performing a surgery because they believe it helps their performance

4. Changes your drinking habits a. Bars and nightclubs play fast music to increase alcohol-based profit while upscale restaurants typically play slow, relaxing music. The tempo of music is linked to your bodys arousal level. i. Fast music heightens arousal which will make you do everything more quickly, including drinking and leaving the restaurant, giving place for more people to come in and out quicker ii. Slower music means that you eat at a more leisurely pace, allowing you to stay longer and maybe consume more 5. Better communicator a. Pro-musicians can detect subtle emotional changes and intonations in the vocal tones of other. They know when youre actually sad when you say youre fine b. Makes them better to tune out background noise, so they are even better at paying attention to what you are saying in a crowded area c. Musicians brains are wired differentl y, which allows them to better express and understand emotions others express. d. May help children with autism to better express themselves WHILE LISTENING TO MUSIC, YOURE BRAIN IS MOVING EVEN IF YOURE NOT When listening to a rhythmic sound, the motor region of your brain is active, even if youre body isnt, which may lead to an urge to tap to the beat EMOTIONS Joyful happy music increases left frontal EEG activity Fearful sad music increases right frontal EEG activity Overall increase in frontal region activity