The Musical Brain

Music as therapy is becoming the new “it” discussion. With high profile books such as Oliver Sack’s “Musicophilia” and Daniel Levitin’s bestseller “This is Your Brain on Music,” music as therapy is making its’ way into mainstream media. Both books identify music as a very complex brain process while giving the reader a simple understanding of how music is useful and beneficial for our well-being and growth.

Levitin reminds us that music is a global process. Therefore music does not just tap into one area, but in many areas of the brain at the same time. This means that music can transcend neurological injury or impairment, often forging its way through our neuron circuitry and finding the roads that work (through a process called neuroplasticity). Mark Tramo, assistant professor of neurology at the Harvard Medical School started to study how different forms of brain damage interfere with normal perception of music and speech. One subject of a case study lost most of his auditory cortex to strokes. He could hear but complained that music and speech were hard to understand. However, the part of his brain that survived the impact could still recognize his favorite songs.

During sessions at the Association for the Rehabilitation of the Brain Injured (www.arbi.ca) music therapists use the music from the client’s senior high school years as a means to stimulate long and short-term memory. One 40 year-old female who sustained a head injury demonstrates that she has sensitive feelings towards music from the 1980’s. She will often close her eyes during reflective moments in the music and may cry to a lyric or melody that has particular meaning. Although unable to speak she is able to blink once for yes and twice for no. Through this process, and over many weeks, a song was written about people, things and experiences that were important to her.

It seems that there are many different spins on the musical brain. In an article by Mark Wheeler published last month, he wrote of Istvan Molnar-Szakacs who will be using “emotional music” to examine the brain regions involved in emotion processing. “Music has long been known to touch autistic children,” Molnar-Szakacs says. “Studies from the early days of autism research have already shown us that music provokes engagement and interest in kids with ASD. More recently, such things as musical memory and pitch abilities in children with ASD have been found to be as good as or better than in typically developing children.” His research hypothesis is, “if we are able to engage the brain region involved in emotion processing using emotional music, this will open the doorway for teaching children with ASD to better recognize emotions in social stimuli, such as facial expressions.” (online resource: http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/using-music-to-explore-the-neural-49912.aspx)

In study after study scientists are finding correlations between music making and some of the deepest workings of the human brain. Research has linked active music making with better language, improved social behavior and school grades.

Recently I found a reference to Albert Einstein’s grade school years. At one point, teachers told his parents to take him out of school because he was “too stupid to learn.” The school suggested that his parents support Albert in getting a manual labor job. Instead of following the school’s advice, Albert’s parents bought him a violin. Albert had a natural affinity towards the violin and he became proficient on the instrument. He loved the music of Mozart and Bach the most. A friend of Einstein, G.J. Withrow, said that the way Einstein figured out his problems and equations was by improvising on the violin.

I had the pleasure of attending an “open mic” for persons with disabilities who chose to display their musical growth and talent in front of an audience filled with loving friends and family. Some of the performers have autism and/or autistic tendencies. One young woman who performed had been told that she would never be able to learn anything. Not talk, walk, read, or any of the other things that we all take for granted. Not only did she perform two pieces of music….she read every note.

As we continue to discuss music therapy at a professional and community level many more questions will be considered in the area of using music as therapy. There are however some things we know for sure. As the professor of music at Harvard Kay Shelemay states, “All humans come into the world with an innate capability for music.” Perhaps for some it may just take extra time, patience and professional support to unlock the musical brain in each of us.

Cromie, W (2001) Music on the Brain: researchers explore the biology of music. Harvard University Gazette, March issue
Levitin, D. (2007) This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession USA: Penquin Group Inc.
Sacks, O. (2007) Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain USA: Knopf Publishing Group
Wheeler, M. (2008) Study uses music to explore the autistic brain’s emotion processing UCLA Newsroom http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/using-music-to-explore-the-neural-49912.aspx

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