Music really does help your brain
28 June 2006
by Carina Lee
The properties of music have impacted on human behaviour such as increased grey matter in the brain of musicians. This is according to a collective study into the effects and evolution of music which also included comparisons with whales and dolphins. In one of the studies, researchers examined the right hemisphere of the brain with a focus on the auditory cortex region. The result proved that more grey matter was found in the brains of musicians compared to non-musicians. Grey matter is the tissue component of the brain where a relatively high proportion of neural activity occurs and many nerve cell nuclei can be found in this region. This notion of increased intellectual ability for those who listen to music was further investigated when it was reported that listening to classical music enhanced cognition and memory skills by actively exercising the neural networks in the brain responsible for this function. When looking at species other than humans, scientists have collated data from other studies that observe different organisms utilising sound, pitch, and vocals as behavioural characteristics. Other aspects that were explored in this study include the impact music had on a person’s emotions and immunity, with the overall result portraying music as a positive influence. |
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