Music on Brain and Emotions the Effect

¶ … Music on Brain and Emotions

The Effect of Music on the Brain and Emotions

The study of human's mental state on subjection to music has been a research subject to many with interest. Over the past decade, interconnection between human's physical and mental strength and music has been subject to research with a number of positive outcomes. These research endeavors suggest that music exhibits the healing power in certain elements, in a human's life. A sample of music with the best or strongest healing power is the Indian music. What music does is that it injects a calming effect into a human's mind. This speeds recovery-time of certain health ailments. Music positively effects the human's hormone system allowing easy brain concentration and information assimilation (Adalarasu, K.K. et al., 2011). This means that music boosts the learning process thereby augmenting cognitive skills. This paper outlines a brief overview of the various ways that music affects the brain emotions.

Music has over the time been one of the oldest socio-cognitive pillars in the experience of every human being's life. Music holds a hugely significant role in most societies all around the world. It has an immense effect both on the body and mind. Healthcare is currently developing music therapy as one of the field initiatives. This is with the aim of healing many diseases like lowering blood pressure, inflicting body calmness etc. Relying on the pronunciation and the act of listening to sound waves they impact the working process of the neurological system i.e. brain and nerves (Adalarasu, K.K. et al., 2011). The process of music production and listening as well involves numerous brain functions including sensory-motor integration, pattern-processing mechanisms, motor programming complex auditory, memory storage as well as retrieval. Music provides a vital tool in the study of numerous neuroscience aspects from motion to emotion skills (Pereira CS, Teixeira J, Figueiredo P, Xavier J, Castro SL, et al., 2011).

Effects of Music on the Mental State

This paper discusses the effects of music on human's mental state as below.

Fights Depression

The feeling of depression, gloom or being inadequate is easy to eradicate by listening to soothing music. Depressions cuts down brain activity and the mind's ability to structure down plans and execute whatever task in hand. The lack of Serotonin, a neurotransmitter, causes the depression state in one's mind. Music notes of soothing nature helps increase levels of serotonin in the brain, this in turn alleviates mental depression. Natural music notes, on the other hand, are good for making the mind go in an alert state.

Relieves Anxiety

Professionals mainly define anxiety as a feeling that follows fear and/or uncertainty clouding one's mind. Upcoming events characterizing unknown outcome are mostly the causes of such a feeling. The result, which is anxiety, is whatever worries one come the actual happening of the event. Heightened levels of anxiety and stress cause sleeplessness which is decidedly unhealthy in human life. The event of prolonging anxiety periods may in turn lead to one developing anxiety disorders. Music can play a vital role in writing off the occurrence of such. It provides a calming effect on the body's nervous system and soothes the state of one's mind. Flat natured music help in inducing sleep hence avoiding sleeplessness.

Improves Learning Abilities

Musical notes affect the learning and thinking process. Working while listening to soothing music helps one work faster and more efficiently; this is so because music exhibits the ability to make one feel more positive and highly motivated. Recent researches show that musical tunes remarkably help in improving student academic skills. Music improves concentration which is necessary for studying. Studies concentrating on how music boosts intelligence say that music inflicts a soothing effect on the mind, it enhances focus while studying. Music is a potent tool used to block out external noise while creating a background noise necessary for the task. With the benefits of music coming in handy, it also has negative impacts on studying. It might be a distraction agent while the student studies with the words contained in the music piece interfering with one's concentration (Jones et al., 2006).

Music Therapy in Relation to Neuroscience

Physiological, as well as psychological human health can be one's improvement subject to the effects music has on them. There are mainly five factors that contribute to the music therapy effects. Such modulating factors include emotion, attention, behavior, cognition, and communication.

The attention modulation explains that music automatically captures attention one is seeking thus distracting attention emanating from stimuli evoking negative experiences (e.g. anxiety, pain and sadness). This aspect accounts for pain and anxiety-reducing effects of listening to music during certain medical procedures. It is also beneficial in treatment of attention deficit disorders during music therapy. Under emotion modulation, the explanation is that music modulates activity of all the vital limbic and Para-limbic structures of the brain. These structures engage in initiating, generating, maintaining, terminating, and modulating emotions. These findings poise positive implications in music therapy approach in treatment of affective disorders e.g. pathologic anxiety, depression, and stress which would otherwise cause dysfunction to limbic structures. Emotions have effects on both hormonal and vegetative system as well as the immune system. Since music evokes and modulates one's emotions, music therapy helps in treatment of emotion disorders (Koelsch, S. 2009).

The cognition modulation factor involves memory processes relating to music e.g. encoding, storing, and decoding information contained in music. It also involves processes linked to musical meaning and musical syntax analysis. Contribution of this factor to music therapy is the facilitation of adaptation of Alzheimer's patients' to staying in long-term care facilities. Behavior modulation accounts for evoking and conditioning one's behavioral movement patterns such as speaking, walking, and grasping with the effect of music. Behavior and action modulation affect cognitive processes through acquisition of new action and behavioral patterns. The final factor is communication modulation. Music in itself is a form of communication. Professionals employ active music therapy which involves patients making music aiming at instilling nonverbal communication skills. Music is vital in treatment of communication disorders e.g. selective autism. Music listening kick starts cognitive processes aiming at understanding attributes such as desires, intentions, and beliefs of the music producer. Patients suffering from autism and those with conduct disorders can be subjected to music therapy for treatment (Koelsch, S. 2009).