Music and the Brain
Have you ever felt chills run up and down your arms and had the hairs stand on the back of your neck when listening to music? If you have, then you will know that it’s probably because you are listening to something amazing and your body is reacting to it.
I was listening to ‘Sleep’, a choral piece by Eric Whitacre over the weekend. Now, choral music isn’t usually my “go to” genre when I want to listen to something but I heard this song years ago and remembered liking it so I figured I’d turn it on again and see if I still felt the same. WELL, I can tell you now that as soon as I turned it on I got so excited, I remembered how much I really enjoyed this piece and called my boyfriend in to listen to it with me. I was practically buzzing waiting to hear the unusual clashing chords and swooping dynamics and shrill sopranos and deep basses and how the piece literally wanted to make me sleep by the time it was over. I felt those goosebumps rising all over my body and as the piece was coming to the end and approaching the final climax I looked at my boyfriend, glee and pure joy had completely taken over my face….. and then I realised I was standing in the middle of my living room alone. He hadn’t even waited to hear the whole thing. I was so annoyed, clearly he just doesn’t appreciate the amazing sounds that were blaring around our living room!
He told me afterwards that he just didn’t get the same feeling as me when he was listening to it. He didn’t hate it or say it was rubbish but it just didn’t affect him the same way it affected me. This got me interested, and when Jess sent out some topics people wanted to know more about, I thought I would look into how music affects and impacts the brain.
I found a study from the Herriott Watt University which looked at different genres linking to personalities and thought it was really interesting. Have a look at the list below and see if you fall into any of these categories…..
Blues fans have high self-esteem, are creative, outgoing, gentle and at ease
Jazz fans have high self-esteem, are creative, outgoing and at ease
Classical music fans have high self-esteem, are creative, introvert and at ease
Rap fans have high self-esteem and are outgoing
Opera fans have high self-esteem, are creative and gentle
Country and western fans are hardworking and outgoing
Reggae fans have high self-esteem, are creative, not hardworking, outgoing, gentle and at ease
Dance fans are creative and outgoing but not gentle
Indie fans have low self-esteem, are creative, not hard working, and not gentle
Bollywood fans are creative and outgoing
Rock/heavy metal fans have low self-esteem, are creative, not hard-working, not outgoing, gentle, and at ease
Chart pop fans have high self-esteem, are hardworking, outgoing and gentle, but are not creative and not at ease
Soul fans have high self-esteem, are creative, outgoing, gentle, and at ease
Hopefully that hasn’t started a riot!
Some of the other ways that music can impact us and affect our brains is by helping with memory. Studies shows that music engages areas of the brain which are involved with staying focused, paying attention, making predictions and updating events in our memory. This flashed my back to when I was in school studying for exams. I had to have my earphones in at all times while reading or writing as I found I just couldn’t focus when it was quiet around me.
Music has also been shown to have some positive impacts on health. It has been found that listening to music can reduce blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety in heart disease patients (Bradt & Dileo, "Music for stress and anxiety reduction in coronary heart disease patients," PubMed.Gov, 2009). Now, I don’t know about you but I definitely agree that music can impact my heart rate. I listen to some slow and calming music to relax before bed or I blast some raving dance tunes to get me pumped up before and during exercise. Studies also show that music can trigger the brain to release chemicals that distract the body from pain. When music reaches the brain’s auditory cortex, there’s communication between the cortex and the brain’s areas that control emotion, memory, and motor control (Abbie Fenress Swanson, "Music helps vets control symptoms of PTSD," Time, March 8, 2010). If only it could distract me long enough so I could hold a plank for more than 10 seconds!
Anyway, I realise this blog only scrapes the surface! There is so much more information relating to how the brain is impacted by music, the research is fascinating. I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts on anything I have shared here so please let me know if you agree/disagree or if you have any opinions. Hopefully you have learned something interesting.
*Puts on headphones and presses play on 90’s American Punk Music*
