Music and the Brain

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month! Since I wrote about Music Therapy for TBI in November, I thought I’d dig into the brain itself. Why does the human brain respond so well to music?

There is a common belief that the right brain is the creative side, and the left brain is the analytical side. As it happens, multiple areas of the brain are involved in processing music, whether you’re performing it or engaging in it in some other way. When sound enters the ear, its vibrations against the eardrum convert to electric signals that travel (via nerves) to the brainstem, which relays messages to many parts of the brain. Different parts of the brain are activated depending on how we are engaging in the music, and what type of music it is.

Your Musical Brain: An Overview

Motor Cortex and Cerebellum are involved with creating rhythm; the Parabelt is responsible for finding the beat to a song.

Auditory Cortex recognizes and understands pitch- the melody and the harmonies of a song.

Prefrontal Cortex analyzes the expectations inherent in our cultural music. If a song surprises us, our brain lights up like its happy. (Bobby McFerrin demonstrates this well!)

Hippocampus stores memories from favorite songs, so we recognize them quickly and can fill in lyrics or rhythms in the space between notes.

Cerebellum, motor cortex, the sensory and visual cortices are fired up when we are playing an instrument or reading music.

…and our emotions are triggered while listening to music in the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and cerebellum.

image courtesy Johns Hopkins

Music can alter the brain, reconnecting damaged regions. This is why music is considered to be therapeutic for people with brain injuries, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and many other brain-related conditions. All the more reason to dust off that trumpet from junior high band! Music is a fun, engaging workout for your brain.

One note, to musicians who have had brain injuries: it may be frustrating to try to play your main instrument after suffering a TBI. I often recommend picking up a completely new instrument, or getting comfortable improvising on your instrument in an adaptive way- really simplify what you’re playing. It can be tough to let go of our high expectations of ourselves as professional musicians, but this work requires flow and that requires a level of relaxation. Try to have fun with a new way of playing! Feeling stress or talking negatively to yourself will only slow the process.