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Music, Emotions and the Brain
It is difficult to guess when Homo sapiens first started to use, understand and enjoy
music. Many who research the subject believe that music, song and dance preceded
language as a means of communication. The unborn child provides some evidence of
the capacity of all human beings to react to music when motor responses to
rhythmical stimuli, or even specific pieces of music, are commonly reported by the
mother.
In the neonatal period, the vocalizations of the young child are musical responses.
The rise and fall of the mother's cooing patterns are also very similar in all societies
and cultures. As time passed, the musical qualities of rhythm and pitch gradually
subsumed into the development of speech.
These qualities are subsequently localized mainly in the left side of the brain, which is
subject to significant growth between the ages of two and four. This innate capacity of
the brain to interpret musical information suggests that the process has some
biological survival value too.
Considerable research has proved that there are neurophysical mechanisms, which
appear to have an inherent capacity to analyze musical patterns. The rhythms of the
body and those of music have also been studied. Changes in pulse rate, respiration,
galvanic skin responses and muscle activity have been noted. It has also been proved
that the heartbeat could be slowed if the speed of the music was one beat per minute
slower than the pulse rate suggesting an entrainment effect between the speed of the
music and the pulse.
Music and movement is another area of research. There was a striking increase in
muscular activity in the legs in response to dance music, in the forehead in response
to an. arithmetical task, and in both when loud music was played.
Music is related to certain basic physiological processes. This has been proved
scientifically. Music speaks to us. There are ways in which the structure of music can
be compared to that of spoken and written language. The study of disturbances of
musical function in relation to focal brain damage from strokes and injury has led to
the use of the term amusia which denotes the impairment of musical skills and
understanding associated with a lesion of the cerebral hemisphere. Like. aphasia,
amusia can be divided into expressive and receptive types. Musical dyslexia and
dysgraphia have been used to describe the inability to read or write musical notation
respectively.
However, not much is known about how the central nervous system registers and
reacts to vibrations and particularly those above and below the range of human
hearing. The considerable interest and increasing amount of literat1;1re on
vibro-acoustic therapy, which uses pulsed frequencies of a very low order as well as
musical vibrations, suggests that the physical effect of vibration on the nervous
system may contribute to the therapeutic potential of music.
Certain musical frequencies vibrate the brain cells and this process might 'wash' the
cells so that the cerebrospinal, fluid may more effectively carry away the metabolites
and waste products of neuronal activity. Maybe, this is the modern equivalent to the
ancient belief that the human body and the brain 'resonate' with music.
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