The Brain and Music

Listening to favorite music triggers similar brain activity, whether it is jazz, classical, New Age, or even hip-hop!  That’s not really so surprising, is it?  It’s all about pleasure, I think, and we all like different types of music, different types of food, different types of climates, even different types of personalities.  But this study is observing that no matter what type of music a person prefers, the way that the brain reacts to that music is surprisingly uniform!

Dr. Jonathan Burdette of Wake Forest University says

“Music is primal. It affects all of us, but in very personal, unique ways,” said Burdette, a neuroradiologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. “Your interaction with music is different than mine, but it’s still powerful.

“Your brain has a reaction when you like or don’t like something, including music. We’ve been able to take some baby steps into seeing that, and ‘dislike’ looks different than ‘like’ and much different than ‘favorite.'”   You can read the entire article at Science Daily.  Today brain research is looking at how music can affect brain plasticity, how it can enhance learning, and how it can slow down diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.   Everyone knows that music is so powerful in their lives, and brings such great joy and pleasure, and yet we take it for granted.  We are used to hearing music in the grocery story, the elevator, the mall or pretty much everywhere, but because of that, we learn to tune it out and not really focus on it.

When we choose music that we specifically want to listen to for it’s positive benefits, as well as the joy it brings, this is when this specific brain activity will be seen!