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Aaron Thomas
Professor Jizi
UWRIT 1103
12/1/15

How Music Affects The Brain

Music has existed since the dawn of man. Throughout history

music has developed, being influenced by the different ages. One
could say that music is history. For example, during the medieval ages,
bards would create music using harps, tambourines, and fiddles. As
time moved on, rock stars became the new bards of the eighties,
creating music with guitars and drums. In the current age, DJs and
producers have become the new hype for creating music, using
synthesizers and focusing on the bass. Like history music is constantly
developing and impacting humans everywhere. But how exactly is it
impacting humans? As an amateur producer myself, I can easily tell
that different genres of music cause various types of emotions from
people. I found that the music I listened to that day had a major
influence on my mood. I was curious to know why exactly this stimuli
caused so many different reactions from people and how does it
actually affect human beings.

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Currently there are 7.125 billion inhabitants living on planet
Earth. Of that number 99.99% of people listen to music every single
day, whether it be on iTunes, or the elevator, or even their mother
singing out loud. The .01% of people that do not listen to music is
diagnosed as deaf but even some of those people are able to visualize
music (Population, Total). Music provides a variety of influences in our
every day lives. It affects our mood, creativity, emotions, and
personality. No other stimuli impact such a broad scale of people on an
every day basis.

Like all types of stimuli, music affects the brain. However, with
the advancements of technology the different parts of the brain being
stimulated can be pictured. When a person looks at a flower his
occipital lobe lights up. When he hears a bee buzzing around him, his
temporal lobe lights up. Scientists use magnetic resonance imaging, or
MRI, to observe which parts are affected. With each new stimulus a
certain part of the brain reacts, however when music is heard the
entire brain lights up like a Christmas tree. Unlike visual or certain
auditory stimuli, no specific part of the brain understands music.
Instead different neurons within the brain will break down and take
various aspects of music (Ball). For example, when a song is played
certain neurons work together to understand the lyrics, while other
neurons work together to understand the instrumental, and even more

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neurons collaborate together to play an instrument to output the same
noise. Another phenomenon that scientists discovered was how our
involuntary actions are affected by music. When music is played our
brainwaves, heartbeat and breath all try to match the beat of the
music. In the entire world, the only two creatures with the capability to
perform this phenomenon are songbirds and human beings
(Lemonick). Scientists believe that because we are one of the only
creatures to perform such an act, that music is engrained on a
neurological level (How Music Affects Your Brain). Another reason why
music may be engrained in our brain is our ability to process and
perform actions. It is often said that people with a dominant left
hemisphere are more into the analytical side while people with a
dominant right hemisphere are heavily associated with the artistic and
creative side. However, studies show that people who research about
the topic of music and listen to all genres are equally dominant on both
sides, therefore using both sides equally (How Music Affects Your
Brain). Music also has the capability to increase or decrease
performance. British researchers conducted an experiment to obtain
this data. Twelve men were brought in during this experiment. Each
man listed to three songs, a normal version of the song, a slowed down
version of the song, and a sped up version of the song while pedaling
on a cycling machine. The results were unanimous. The result of
listening to the normal version was used as a comparison to the slowed

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down and sped up versions of the song. After listening to the slowed
down version, every man pedaled slower than while listening to the
normal paced song and were all frustrated due to the lack of their
performance. However, after listening to the sped up version of the
song, the men increased their pedaling rate and were happier due to
the increased performance (Reynolds). After researching all this data I
came to the conclusion that music is a very powerful stimuli that if
used right can positively affect humans.

I believe that music has had a positive impact on my life. As a kid

I used to be more analytical, playing games like chess and Sudoku. In
fact my favorite e subject was math. But as I progressively started
getting into music I became aware of all the benefits it has given me.
While I do work I listen to gentle and soothing music like classical
songs or jazz but when I work out I listen to hip-hop, which increases
my adrenaline and allows me to have an increased performance.
Listening to my favorite type of music increases my mood and allows
me to have positive emotions. In fact, music has changed my
personality for the better. I used to be very shy and keep to myself
most of the time. However, as I started changing they genre of music I
listened to and heard an eclectic amount of music I became more out
going and creative. Although I have researched about my topic, I am
still curious to learn the types of chemicals released when listening to

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music. Does a certain genre of music like rock release certain
neurotransmitters that cause emotion? If I were to continue I would
focus more on different experiments that were conducted with music.
Music is a very diverse topic that is forever changing. However, one
thing s for sure, when used right music is a resource that will enable us
to think and perform in a positive manner.

Works Cited

Ball, Philip. "Misterioso: All In the Mind." The Music Instinct How Music Works And
Why We Can't Do Without It. New York: Oxford UP, n.d. 241-43. Print.

Hicks, George. "How Playing Music Affects The Developing Brain." Examined
Existence. CommonHealth, 17 July 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.

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How Music Affects Your Brain. Perf. Anthony Carboni. YouTube. Discovery News, 2 Mar.
2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.

Lemonick, Michael D. "Music on the Brain." TIME. Time Inc, 28 May 2000. Web. 17
Nov. 2015.

"Population, Total." The World Bank. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.

Reynolds, Gretchen. "Phys Ed: Does Music Make You Exercise Harder?" The New York
Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., 25 Aug. 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.