DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

                       

                                          

                                      

  Music and the Human Body

                        Cognition, Physiology, and Emotions

 

As the famous Greek philosopher Plato said, “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” From the beginning of time, music had been acknowledged to hold incredible power in the life of man.  In the Bible, the word of the Lord states that praise for God is often signified through music. Daniel wrote, “Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (English Standard Version, Daniel 3:15). The ancient Greeks used music to accompany just about every life event. From festivals to war, music was present to supply a greater meaning to the events taking place (Music Of The Ancient Greeks).  As history progressed, music became significantly more restricted. Sixteenth-century Europe believed playing music was a religious affair and that music should only be played within the church walls. Soon, composers such as Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven began to lead a revolution in music through their symphonies, concertos, and sonatas. With people fighting, rebelling, and risking their lives and social status to play something as common as music, there must be something more. Music isn’t only something to listen to but rather its own entity that impacts the human brain and body physically, cognitively and emotionally.

            For centuries, music has been known to have an effect on the mood of human beings. Confucius believed that in order to achieve Jen, or true enlightenment, one must fully immerse his or herself in music (Pallito 2). A person aspiring to achieve Jen must also experience all emotions and have a strong and definite understanding of them. Music and emotions have a direct correlation to one another. This correlation derives from the very structure of the music and its power to influence a person’s mood.

“Pitch, tempo, and melodic pattern all influence music's effect on mood and physical processes. For instance, high pitch, acceleration of rhythm, and ascending melodic passages are all generally felt to increase anxiety and tension and sometimes even lead to loss of control and panic” (Lefevre 187).

Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata opus 27 no. 2, a composition done in presto adagitato could facilitate an anxious mood for the listener. As the third part of the sonata, presto adiagiato meaning, very fast with agitation, is the longest part of the three movements. With an unyielding, fast paced tempo, it can begin to overwhelm the listener and increase the body’s pulse and heart rate. Furthermore, the listener can distinguish two different themes within the movement. The themes contrast from each other by having a strong and accented note on the down beat and then a change in tempo to a melodic rhythm. The two different themes in the one movement displays a lack of stability within the piece. That too can cause the human brain to have a negative reaction to the piece as the brain favors rhythmically compatible patterns. 

Inversely, music with a slow melody can provide an opposite affect. Slower tempos, in a moderato or andante, done in a more positive key would supply a calming effect for the listener.  For Example, the great nineteenth-century composer, Aaron Copland’s remarkable composition Appalachian Spring begins with a clarinet solo done in piano. The tempo of the piece stays at a moderato as more woodwinds (Oboe and Bassoon) join the melody. With the group of woodwinds all playing together, the tempo speeds up ever so slightly while the oboe raises the pitch and deviates from the main theme. Soon, the string section comes in slowly with a crescendo but reverts back to the main theme very rapidly, going back to the melodic line the piece started with. Copland’s work balanced melodically and rhythmically is very pleasurable to the ear. When the brain comprehends something pleasurable such as something rhythmically sound the brain releases dopamine. Thus supplementing the feeling of calm and serenity to the listener.

Similarly, songs done in a more solemn tone can facilitate sadness and depression.  In a study done by the University of Toronto, researching music’s effect on the human brain, researchers compared a fast paced Mozart sonata to a solemn Albinoni sonata done in adagio. “Listeners who heard Mozart’s sonata exhibited higher levels of arousal and more positive moods than their counter- parts who heard Albinoni’s Adagio” (Hussain 137).  The results of the research did in fact support the theory that the more upbeat the music, the more upbeat the listener’s mood would become. Similarly, the slower and gloomier the song, the lower and more depressed the listeners mood can become. Franz Shuberts’s string quartet no. 14, a continuation of another one of his other works, Death and Maiden does just that. Its constantly rebelling melody first puts the listen on edge because there is no harmony between the two themes. The solemn A section, which most people believe symbolizes death, and the whimsical B section that is symbolic for the Maiden, are in constant dispute. The key of the work is in D minor, a key that in itself is extremely dark and depressive. The triplet rhythms along with the dark and eerie undertones of the piece can leave the listener feeling a sense of hopelessness of and depression. Furthermore, towards the end of the piece, the A section modulates to D minor’s relative major key, B major. This can symbolize that death has returned and is trying to swoon the Maiden into thinking that death is appealing and she should succumb to its luring melodies. Soon after the A section plays in major, the coda marking brings the work back to the original A section leaving the listener in the same initial depressive state.  Because the sound and rhythm of the song is less pleasing to the brain there will be a decrease in flow of dopamine thus causing the listener to become tense and left in a depressive like state (The Role of Dopamine and Norepinephrine in Depression). Interestingly enough that was exactly what Schubert was trying to achieve.  Schubert suffered from numerous mental and physical illnesses throughout his life. Towards the end of his life he contracted syphilis and his ultimate demise was typhoid fever. Many historians consider Death and Maiden Schubert’s testament to his own death. 

 The ability music has to alter the brain’s thinking knows no bounds. A simple key or meter change can completely alter somebody’s state of mind. Music takes an extraordinary toll on the human psyche. Emotions, seeming very disconnected from the body’s physiological processes are actually very closely connected. Therefore, as music does to emotions, its power to alter the physiology of the human body is outstanding as well.

The average number of side effects contained by any one medication approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration is 70 (Moaella).  However, with music’s startling physiological effects, it’s a wonder how it hasn’t begun replacing medication to a greater extent. “The promise here is that music is arguably less expensive than drugs, and it's easier on the body and it doesn't have side effects (Your Brain On Music). 

 Music has made its way into hospitals, schools, and even rehabilitation centers due to its stress relieving properties. “The patients who listened to music had less anxiety and lower cortisol levels than people who took drugs”(Your Brain On Music). Though anxiety was stated previously as a feeling or mood, it also contains properties that would make it a physiological disorder as well. Anxiety is brought on by both emotional and physical factors. Though doctors aren’t precisely sure what connects anxiety both physically and emotionally certain studies are beginning to show conclusive results.

 “The feeling [of anxiety] is thought to arise in the amygdala, a brain region that governs many intense emotional responses. As neurotransmitters carry the impulse to the sympathetic nervous system, heart and breathing rates increase, muscles tense, and blood flow is diverted from the abdominal organs to the brain” (Harvard).

Both stress and anxiety are the leading contributors to health issues such as high blood pressure, and increased pulse rate. Studies show that songs with around 60 beats per minute decrease pulse rate by helping the body return to a natural rhythm (Polman 65).  Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orchestral Suite no. 3 has been proven to be a song that holds approximately 60-65 beats per minute. Done in a moderato the soft tune is started by the violins both section of the string instruments float on the melody line causing a soothing and relaxing state. As the piece continues, the viola’s chime in with a perfect harmony to the soft violin line producing a thoroughly pleasing composition. This again would produce a greater level of dopamine in the brain, which can physically lower

Musical form once again impacts the human body but rather than emotionally it does so physically. Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative neurological disease that is caused by a decreased level of dopamine in the brain causes the body to lose all sense of motor skill. The brain in a sense begins to skip beats and therefore ceases up. Someone with Parkinson’s disease loses voluntary use of his or her muscles, limbs, and eventually thoughts (National Association for Parkinson’s Disease and Stroke). Musical form can help those with Parkinson’s disease and other motor neurological conditions by allowing the brain to keep time, and follow a pattern. Songs with strong repetitive rhythms have been proven to temporarily eliminate the tremors associated with Parkinson’s disease (Music as Medicine for the Brain). For example, Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, a song that is known to go back to its chorus over a dozen times could definitely be a song that someone suffering from Parkinson’s goes to when they are looking for a relief from their ceased muscles. “We listen to music with our muscles” (The power of music).  The composition also incorporates a strong down beat and a volume of mezzo forte all the way through Though each person is going to be effected differently by music, it is clear that the body does have an inevitable positive reaction to it. Furthermore, an open mind can further increase the benefits of musical healing. As Rene Descartes said, “I think therefore I am” If people embrace the positivity they want to see in their healing, better results can happen. With more studies currently in effect, music therapy for people suffering from other alignments such as post stroke rehabilitation, and Tourette’s is being coming highly demanded.

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines cognition as the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses (Misch). Just as it has emotionally and physically, music has an outstanding impact on human beings cognitively. In ancient Egypt, they believed that sound healing, would help the Pharaoh’s be wiser than the rest of the people below them. They participated in sound healing each and every morning in order to be as divine as they could (Aluede 15).  In today’s society, music has been proven to increase cognitive thought in human beings. For example, one study conducted on people recovery from a stroke showed increased cognitive thought.

“60 patients with a left or right hemisphere middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke were randomly assigned to a music group, a language group, or a control group. During the following two months, the music and language groups listened daily to self-selected music or audio books, respectively, while the control group received no listening material. In addition, all patients received standard medical care and rehabilitation. All patients underwent an extensive neuropsychological assessment, which included a wide range of cognitive tests as well as mood and quality of life questionnaires, one week (baseline), 3 months, and 6 months after the stroke. Fifty-four patients completed the study. Results showed that recovery in the domains of verbal memory and focused attention improved significantly more in the music group than in the language and control groups” (Music listening enhances cognitive recovery and mood after middle cerebral artery stroke). 

Moreover, a Stanford University study found that cognition is actually increased after the music is listened to.  When setting up the experiment, the research team chose three different compositions by William Boyce, each of the compositions varying in form. “Peak brain activity occurred during a short period of silence between musical movements” (Music moves brain to pay attention, Stanford study finds). Though this might seem counter productive, it is in fact exactly how the brain works. The human brain takes time to process, as the brain is processing it is taking in everything around it. The Stanford study also showed the biggest correlation between a cognitive increase and music was when a piece of classical music was transitioning to and from different movements. “"These transitions between musical movements offer an ideal setting to study the dynamically changing landscape of activity in the brain during this segmentation process”. (Music moves brain to pay attention, Stanford study finds). Mozart’s symphony no. 38 would be a great piece for the study to have used due to its ever changing dynamics and its aba’ format. 

            The symphony starts with an opening movement containing a piano in adagio and then to allegro. Concurrently, the piece is then followed by a mixture of string instruments such as viola, violin, cello, and double bass to create a melodic A section. The B section starts with a decrescendo transforming the piece to mezzo piano. As the music continues in the B section it progresses into the Minuet movement. The symphony closes when the movement goes back to what the listener believes to be the original tempo and melody. However, as the piano plays the allegro melody the strings and woodwinds play in piano to create a dynamic contrast. This is what makes this section an A’ section due to it’s ever slight deviation from the original A section. This format would show the slight variations the brain would have interpreting the different movements and movements composed very similar to another. Overall, the study found that when the brain is waiting to interpret something, such as a possible key change or tempo increase, the amount of acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that is associated with memory increases in the brain (Acetylcholine and memory). Therefore, music could have an extraordinary effect on those suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Both dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are neurological disorders in which acetylcholine isn’t produced in enough abundance. If compositions such as Mozart’s famous Symphony No. 38 can counter act the degenerative qualities of these diseases it only makes tense that music therapy will be used more often to improve the cognitive skills of those who are experiencing the debilitating illness. Not only does music have a cognitive effect on the elderly, but also children. In 2011 there was a study redone on the famous Mozart Effect.  The Mozart effect was a study done by Don Campbell in the hopes that if young children would listen to certain classical pieces their IQ’s would increase (The Mozart Effect: A Closer Look). Unfortunately today’s science disproved their “inconclusive findings.”       

 

            Fortunately, Dr. Nina Kraus, a doctor of Auditory Neuroscience at Northwester University decided to conduct a modified version of the experiment. She re-conducted the experiment on musicians and how music affects their brain rather than how music affects the untrained ear. She believes that musical training ultimately gives children a greater advantage at school because of the discipline it takes to learn an instrument. Furthermore, the study supported the fact that children who have studied music have better listening skills which in fact give them an advantage in the classroom musical experience fundamentally changes how the nervous system responds to sound. Among other things, musicians are better at hearing speech in noise, an important skill for kids trying to learn in a bustling classroom (Music and Cognition: The Mozart Effect Revisited). As well as a positive effect on a child’s sense of hearing and attention skills there is also an exact correlation between the acquisition of language and the listening of music. Children are incredibly impressionable. Therefore, if something is said to them that somehow had an impression on them, they will likely remember it. Different from instrumental music, lyrical music has a strong influence on the vocabulary of young children.

 A study done at The Ohio State of 25 children ages 4-6 were shown them lyrics of a song. Unsure of what the words meant the children then were given the song to listen to. Within a 15 minute time span 78% of the children found a translation to the lyrics and were able to use them in a sentence (Talenkowicz). The study displays that although the children weren’t taught the meaning of the words, the way that the song was executed was enough for them to get an idea of the meaning.

On the other hand, this does present a problem when it comes to the impression certain contemporary song lyrics has on both children and adolescence.  “Certain types of music or more specifically, [music with] violent lyrics, are believed to have a negative impact on adolescents” (“Effects of Music on Children and Adolescents”). The message in contemporary lyrics has increasingly become more vulgar, harsh and dangerous as opposed to lyrics from previous centuries. For example, Stefano Donaudy’s song O Del Mio Amato Ben published in 1918 to O, lost enchantment of my dearly beloved. Donaudy chose to use beauty within his lyrics rather than innuendos or profanities like one would hear today. Common innuendos often have to do with sexual behavior.  Many of the lyrics that do contain sexual “Sexually explicit lyrics and mounds of profanity exuberate through certain songs can have a negative effect on the thoughts and feelings of adolescents” (Effects of Music on Children and Adolescents). Furthermore, each day on the radio more songs appear to be having a bad influence on children. For example, a very famous song the band Kings of Leon is called Sex on Fire. Just the title of the song is sending the message to adolescence that behavior and encourage children to take part in it.

With solely the world of music having such a tremendous influence on the minds of children it is imperative that parents become more involved in what their children are listening to and how it influences their beliefs. Every child is influenced differently by various factors and that is why a parent really needs to be aware of who their child is as a person. Because no one child is the same, the mindset of one child will always differ from another’s. The organ that is the human brain as complex as it is, is always different in its processes.

Overall, the human brain is a tremendous organ and music’s power to alter it is even more outstanding. It is truly amazing that a simple stream of notes, a melody and rhythm can do all to that brain that it does. Whether it comes to the rhythm of music and it’s power to adjust how the brain thinks (cognitive function) or a melody to persuade the hormones to alter the mood one can possess. Music knows no bounds. Furthermore, music’s effect on the physiological processes is always progressing and becoming more and more influential. With new studies being formulated each and every day, it’s a wonder how music hasn’t replaced an even larger amount of prescription drugs.

For some, music really is just something to listen to or play. For others, music is something that has provided such a vast change in their lives that they could never imagine what it would be like to live in a world where music wasn’t there to heal. No matter how music is viewed it is vital that all human beings understand that to all things good, there must be something bad. When it comes to music, it is extremely vital that children and adolescence should surround themselves with the right type of music. They need music that will have a positive influence on their lives and not something that will bring them down or succumb to artist’s unorthodox thinking. However, through the good and bad, music is an incredibly entity that is helping more people each and every day begin to live a life they have always wanted to live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

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Baker, Mitzi. "Music Moves Brain to Pay Attention, Stanford Study Finds." - Office of Communications & Public Affairs. Stanford University School of Medicine, 1 Aug. 2007. Web. 03 Mar. 2014.

 

Landau, Elizabeth. "This Is Your Brain on Music." CNN. Cable News Network, 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

 

Polman. "Result Filters." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.

 

Sacks, Oliver. "The Power of Music." The Power of Music. Oxford University Press, 2006. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

 

Shulman, Matthew. "Music As Medicine For The Brain." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 17 May 2008. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

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"Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia | Alzheimer's Association." Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia | Alzheimer's Association. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp>.

 

"Music and Cognition: The Mozart Effect Revisited." : San Francisco Classical Voice.. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <https://www.sfcv.org/article/music-and-cognition-the-mozart-effect-revisited>.

 

"The Role of Dopamine and Norepinephrine in Depression - Primary Psychiatry." Primary Psychiatry. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://primarypsychiatry.com/the-role-of-dopamine-and-norepinephrine-in-depression/>.

 

 Webster's new collegiate dictionary. Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam Co., 1973. Print.

"‘Franz Schubert's Illness: The Melancholy of an Autumnal Sunset‘." Interlude.hk.. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://www.interlude.hk/front/franz-schuberts-illness-the-melancholy-of-an-autumnal-sunset/>.

 

Kelley, Tasha. “Effects of Music on Children and Adolescents.” Web. 28 Apr. 2014. http://www.suite101.com/

 

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.