'Hope you found the videos in my previous posting informative. I encourage anyone interested in Music and the Brain to google this topic. There is some incredible research going on in this area. Research, which I believe can help us in a therapeutic sense.
Music activates many areas of the brain, differently, depending on whether one is actually playing an instrument, imagining a tune, or listening to a piece of music.
Certainly, even before MRIs, we have been aware of music contributing to long term memory. If you hear a piece of music popular from when you were in high school, it will take you back. I can accurately recall exactly where I was sitting (the basement rec room) how I felt (sad) what I was eating (Triscuits) listening to "I'm not in love" by 10cc:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo40aTe_3JM
(I think I ate the whole box of Triscuits.)
It is thought that music may serve a pre-language function in our evolution as humans, thus explaining its huge impact in our lives: it is part of our basic wiring.
I believe we can use music to "re-wire" our brains. Example: For months, I have been using a particular CD (nature sounds mixed with New Age music) to help me settle down and go to sleep.
Lately, I have used this CD to help calm myself when I feel hyper or agitated. I put it on and lie down, or even doing the dishes, I can feel myself stop vibrating inside. My breathing slows and becomes deeper.
My body "knows" that when it hears this music, I am supposed to be calming down and going to sleep.
Now, this technique doesn't always work. When I am really upset about something, I may have to try something else, like a vigorous walk, journaling, a hot bath, etc. But it works often enough that this particular CD has become a "tool" in my toolbox of coping with life.
The key for this to be a useful tool is repetition. It is only because I have used this particular set of sounds as a soporific for months, that I can now draw on that neural pathway response to calm myself.
Music activates many areas of the brain, differently, depending on whether one is actually playing an instrument, imagining a tune, or listening to a piece of music.
Certainly, even before MRIs, we have been aware of music contributing to long term memory. If you hear a piece of music popular from when you were in high school, it will take you back. I can accurately recall exactly where I was sitting (the basement rec room) how I felt (sad) what I was eating (Triscuits) listening to "I'm not in love" by 10cc:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo40aTe_3JM
(I think I ate the whole box of Triscuits.)
It is thought that music may serve a pre-language function in our evolution as humans, thus explaining its huge impact in our lives: it is part of our basic wiring.
I believe we can use music to "re-wire" our brains. Example: For months, I have been using a particular CD (nature sounds mixed with New Age music) to help me settle down and go to sleep.
Lately, I have used this CD to help calm myself when I feel hyper or agitated. I put it on and lie down, or even doing the dishes, I can feel myself stop vibrating inside. My breathing slows and becomes deeper.
My body "knows" that when it hears this music, I am supposed to be calming down and going to sleep.
Now, this technique doesn't always work. When I am really upset about something, I may have to try something else, like a vigorous walk, journaling, a hot bath, etc. But it works often enough that this particular CD has become a "tool" in my toolbox of coping with life.
The key for this to be a useful tool is repetition. It is only because I have used this particular set of sounds as a soporific for months, that I can now draw on that neural pathway response to calm myself.
