What can playing musical instruments give us?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Movement, dexterity, synchronicity: we understand how music affects the brain, how the brain of musicians differs from the usual one, and what can playing musical instruments give us?

In his essay Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (2008), renowned neurologist and psychiatrist Oliver Sachs noted:

The universal ability to respond to music distinguishes humans as a species. Birds are said to “sing”, but music in all its complexity, with rhythms, harmony, tonalities, timbre, not to mention the melody, belongs only to us. Some animals can be taught to beat a rhythm, but we will never see them suddenly spontaneously start dancing to the music, as children do. Like language, music is a human feature.

However, in a sense, music anticipated the emergence of language, because it was sounds that were the primary form of communication. We are able to express emotions, talk, inspire, evoke sympathy, trust and compassion through the sounds we make, but the music itself invariably makes us experience different states - from calmness or immersion in deep sadness to stimulating incredible activity and the birth of genuine joy. And perhaps for this reason, music is one of the most instinctive and communicative arts. At the same time, music as the most sensual and intuitive art still remains a mysterious phenomenon, especially from the point of view of its impact on the brain, on our neurophysiology.

How does music affect the brain? How is a musician's brain different from a normal one? What can playing musical instruments give us? As shown by numerous studies around the world - a lot. So, recently, scientists from Stanford found that listening to music helps the brain to anticipate events and improves concentration. In addition, research into the therapeutic effects of rhythmic music has shown that it stimulates the brain and causes brain waves to resonate to the rhythm of the music, which in turn "facilitates movement when the ability to move is impaired or not developed at all."

And a recent study by Finnish scientists from the University of Jyväskylä found that playing any musical instrument regularly can “change” the circuitry of our brain and even improve its overall performance.

The study is based on data from back in 2009, which then showed that prolonged periods of musical practice increased the size of the centers of the brain responsible for hearing and physical dexterity. Musicians are more likely to be able to filter out sound interference and understand speech in a noisy environment, and some can even boast of distinguishing emotional cues in conversations (in the same noisy environment). Previous studies have also shown that the corpus callosum - the tissue that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain - is larger in musicians than in normal people. Finnish scientists, led by Iballa Burunat, decided to double-check the old data and find out whether this circumstance improves the connection between the cerebral hemispheres.

Two groups were formed for the study. The first included professional musicians (keyboardists, cellists, violinists playing the bassoon and trombone), and the second included people who had never played musical instruments professionally.

To figure out how listening to music - not just playing it - affects the cerebral hemispheres, scientists used MRI scanners. While the subjects were in the scanners, three pieces of music were played for each of them: the song Stream of Consciousness by the Dream Theater group (progressive rock), the Argentine tango "Adios Nonino" by Astor Piazzolla and three excerpts from the classic - "Sacred Spring" by Igor Stravinsky. The researchers recorded each participant's brain response to music and compared the activity of the left and right hemispheres using software.

As it turned out, the part of the corpus callosum that connects the two hemispheres is actually larger in musicians. The researchers also found that left and right brain activity was much more symmetrical in the brains of musicians than in non-musicians. At the same time, keyboardists showed the most symmetrical balance, and the researchers attribute this to the fact that playing keyboards requires more synchronous use of both hands. Burunat emphasizes:

Keyboardists use both hands and fingers in a more mirror-like manner when playing. Although playing the strings also requires fine motor skills and hand coordination, there is still asynchrony between the movements of their fingers.

Musicians in professional ensembles have shown quick responses to multiple sensory stimuli, an essential skill for successful musical collaboration. The researchers believe this skill - requiring speed and agility - may also require more symmetrical use of both hemispheres.

But, as scientists note, the most amazing thing about this is that all the effects that playing instruments have on the brain are turned on by musicians and simply listening to music - which means that not only the brain changes with musical education, but also the perception of music. The musicians' brains seem to "reconfigure itself", creating alternative neural pathways.

We also observed symmetrical brain responses in the fronto-parietal regions of musicians, which are responsible for the work of mirror neurons. Hence, listening to music is likely to activate neurons that also regulate the movement that makes those sounds.

According to Finnish scientists, the results of their research convincingly indicate that the brain of musicians is different from the brain of an ordinary person: its hemispheres interact better with each other. Their brains are able to work more synchronously, but scientists are not yet ready to say what benefits this enhanced connection gives musicians in other skills related to the work of the hands. These questions will certainly form the basis of new research. In the meantime, one thing is clear - a long play on a musical instrument directly affects the development of the brain and the fruits of this influence are constant and independent of the playing situation itself. Is this not a reason to make music?