The Brain and Music

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How does music enter the brain?

March 8th, 2009 · 3 Comments · how the brain works, music and the brain

How does music enter the brain?  You may have heard that music enters the brain through the 8th cranial nerve. I believe that, though, that music also enters the whole body, as well as the brain through every pore of the body. Dr. Alfred Tomatis, with whom I studied in 1991, stated that rather than the ear being differentiated skin, actually the skin of the entire body is also like an ear, receiving sonic vibrations and relaying them to the brain. Makes sense to me. Therefore when I started hearing and reading about the value of music during surgery I thought “it would be so beneficial if the ideal music for surgery could come directly into the brain through headphones…through the 8th cranial nerve.” Different people have promoted ambient music in the operating room, but the fact is, the patient needs the opposite music from the surgeon! The surgeon needs upbeat, active music to focus his energy. The patient needs slow, steady, soothing music.

For that reason, I now have patented and begun to sell my wireless, pre-programmed headphones for surgery. You can also simply buy the music in download format and put it on your own iPod! For the headphones, go HERE.
For the download go HERE. Any questions, email me through my website http://www.healingmusicenterprises.com/. Thank you!

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3 Comments so far ↓

  • Heidi, TX

    This sounds very interesting! However your links don’t work. Maybe it’s just me? Thanks for your important blog. I teach Kindermusik and often refer to your blog.

  • David

    Dr.

    I have been attending a series of lectures at the Library of Congress in Washington about Music and the Brain. I have written (and am writing) several posts about the series and the people involved.

    Please take a look and let me know what you think.

    Thanks 🙂

    David

    http://wordzmuz.blogspot.com/

  • Anonymous

    Dr. Tomatis’ statement that all of the body’s skin acts as an ear completely reinforces what I experience as a musician, particularly when playing early wind instruments, such as wooden recorders. My ears give me the big picture of how my sound is fitting in with the other players, but I use vibrations from my arms and hands for fine tuning my external air column with the vibrating air from the other players. I use vibrations from my fingertips, lips, and the inside of my mouth and throat to get information on how the wooden recorder is vibrating so that I can adjust my air stream for maximum resonance. I immensely enjoy playing non-electronic musical instruments because I’m immersed in these vibrations.

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