It’s long been accepted that when children are taught music, they can excel in other classes. Now science shows us what is going on in the brain and why musician’s have bigger brains than non-musicians.
The scientists put it this way…. “Studies of experience-driven neuroplasticity at the behavioural, ensemble, cellular and molecular levels have shown that the structure and significance of the eliciting stimulus can determine the neural changes that result.” (1)
Did you get that?
Let’s try it in common terms: different activities create specific changes in the brain.
Neuro-imaging was used to identify differences in musicians’ brains vs non-musicians’ brains. Researchers used musicians as their subjects because: 1) music is a complex stimulus (it requires hearing, reading, seeing, anticipating, memorizing, etc.) and 2) musicians are exposed to music for extensive periods (practice, practice, practice!). Simply put, music changes your brain for the better.
Neuro-imaging showed that, there is not just one region of the brain that activates when a musician engages in music. Music activates multiple regions, in both the left and right hemispheres, in musicians’ brains. This is because the act of practicing the same piece of music, ‘ties’ together all the regions of the brain. When you play music, you use your eyes, ears, memory, hands, fingers, maybe your feet and your voice, ALL at once!
Importantly, as one engages in music, these regions of the brain interact in a dynamic pattern. Think about a laser-light-show. If there was just one light blinking on and off it would not be a show. You need multiple lights, in an array of patterns, interacting all at once to have a show.
If you ask a musician to visualize playing the Star-Spangled Banner, they may visualize their fingers on specific strings, in a specific order. They may visualize the music written on a page. They may visualize the rhythm and beat that marks the timing for the music. They may visualize anticipating the crescendos, or the parts other musicians play. If you ask a non-musician to visualize the same piece of music, they may simply remember fireworks. The Experience, the stimulus, is very different for musicians vs non-musicians.
The regions of the brain that are activated when you play the Star-Spangled Banner, will be different than the ones used to pay Happy Birthday; because of the differences in producing the songs. However, the regions of the brain that activate when you play Happy Birthday today will be the same regions activated a week from now; because the physical act of producing the song is the same. It’s like a recipe; making chocolate chip cookies is very different from making bread; it requires different physical actions, and different pattern recognition, etc.
Now, for the really cool part. It is not just activation of regions of the brain. Engaging in the creation of music correlates with ‘more brains’… literally. Measuring the volume of grey matter in both the left and right sides of the brain showed that musician’s brains were bigger than non-musician’s brains. (2) The more the regions of the brain that are activated, and the more often those regions interact, the more grey-matter is formed. Practice makes perfect; and it makes more brains.
Thanks to science, we can see, and map, the interaction of various regions of the musician’s brain. As you engage in the creation of music, the different regions of the brain are activated. The more often that happens, the better for your brain. It creates real measurable changes in the brain that enhance cognitive function and spatial ability in all aspects of your life.
Thanks for reading.... Kim M. Ph.D.
References:
- Münte, TF; Altenmüller, E & Jäncke, L: “The musician's brain as a model of neuroplasticity” in Nature Review. Neuroscience 2002 Jun;3(6): pp473-8.
- Gaser, Christian & Schlaug, Gottfried: “Brain Structures Differ between Musicians and Non-Musicians” in The journal of Neuroscience 2003 Nov;23(27): pp9240-5
