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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Music and the Brain

A few facts about music and the brain:

1 Listening to music activates both the cognitive and emotional areas of the brain.

2 Playing a musical instrument also puts the visual, auditory, and motor areas of the brain into play and, over time, strengthens the corpus callosum, the bridge between the right and left hemisphere.

3 No other activity measured to date involves as many brain connections.

4 We acquire musical memories first and they're the last to leave. Alzheimer's patients who may not recognize a spouse or their children are able to recognize tunes from their past.

5 Humans sang before they spoke, singing that involved both rhythm and melody. Stroke victims who have lost the ability to speak can sing songs from their past.

If music involves more of the brain than any other activity, if music actually strengthens the brain, both in terms of the volume and speed of connections, why wouldn't we build an educational system with music at the core?  

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