Sound Science

Why does music help?

Music + The Brain

Music cognition involves more parts of the brain than virtually any other activity, affecting:

• Memory (hippocampus)

• Motor skills and spatial awareness (cerebrum, cerebellum, motor cortex, sensory cortex, and visual cortex)

• Linguistic and auditory processing (auditory cortex, cerebellum, prefrontal cortex)

• Emotional processing (limbic system, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and the cerebellum)

Playing music requires creativity, imagination, focus and coordination. Learning an instrument and practicing music enhances these capacities. Psychologically, music provides a means of nonverbal communication, providing an outlet for connecting with and expressing emotion. As a safe and healthy activity, it can help deemphasize obsessive thinking and compulsive behavior. As a non-invasive treatment, sound and music therapies promote relaxation and reduce pain while reducing or eliminating the need for pharmaceutical medications and their associated side effects.

Music + The Body

Sound waves tangibly impact the physical body in many ways, depending on whether they are passively received or actively produced:

• Stimulation of the vagus nerve (affects digestion, heart rate and immune function)

• Promoting coherence between the electromagnetic fields of the heart and brain

• Regulation of the circulatory system

• Regulation of the endocrine system

• Regulation of the sympathetic, parasympathetic and autonomic nervous systems

• Infrasound and ultrasound have numerous medical applications

• Cellular and molecular “massage” when sound waves penetrate the physical body

Music + The Human Spirit

Simply put, music is a deeply human activity (although not limited to the human species). Musical practices and traditions are distinguishing aspects of culture and are deeply interwoven with cosmology and community life. In that regard, shared music-making and dance can promote meaningful relationships and connections within and across social groups, leading to an improved quality of life, shared values and sense of belonging.

Due to the interwoven mental, physical and emotional aspects of music cognition, music-making lies at the intersections of art, psychology, philosophy and science. Because of this, music therapies are well positioned to promote balance on all levels and provide access to cathartic and transcendental experiences.