Listen to Music - It Can Save the Brain and Make It Grow
85Music Mandatory for Life
My educational research experience agrees with the reports of major universities and the Kennedy Center for the Arts. These show that speaking grammatically correct language to an infant or young child, infant through K, along with providing exposure to music and the arts, create the necessary gray-matter and white-matter brain cell connections via active cell axon (signal transmitter) proliferation and growing synapses (signal "jump points") in the infant and childhood brain. The same is true for the adult brain and even for injured child and adult brains.
Listen Whole
Dame Evelyn Glennie
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Music - Hearing and Non-Hearing
Hearing and mimicking language, hearing music, and exposure to arts also create additional synapses in the brain. These synapses are "jump points" across which data signals from axons travel between 2 cells or among many cells in a network. The more synapses together with increasing numbers of transmitter axons, the greater the ability of the brain to learn and to apply information. IQ rises. Music does this for most humans. As with any trend, there are exceptions. However, even the deaf can benefit, proven by the fact that the world's number one percussionist, including the very musical xylophone, is deaf -- She is Dame Evelyn Glennie of the UK.
American (and other) Sign Language accesses both language and movement (exercise) processing; therefore, deafness does not eliminate language as important. Language is irrevocably linked with personality and culture in an individual. Music and arts make up culture, along with other elements. Language, music, and arts all have mathematic components. They set the stage for mathematics learning and understanding, particularly. In the late 1960s, Ohio State University and other major education facilities ensured that a tape of Baroque Music was packed with every math text book, because that style of music increased mathematics learning when it was played while the student studied mathematics. In leaning programs at a branch of the company PIC in Ohio from 1995 - 2005, this type of music was shown to increase learning in all core subjects.
In addition, a group of approximately two dozen summer program 7-8th grade youth in 1996-1998, raised their reading scores from 3rd - 4th grade to 6th-8th grade through drawing pictures, under the instruction of a certified art therapist.
Music was also played. In short, the more they drew, the better these youth were able to process spoken and written language. The better they could process language, the more they could write in a cohesive way that made sense. The more they could do this, the more they were able to relax and smile.
In Pre-K classes for 3- and 4-year-olds in our public school systems in the 21st century, the agenda is to talk to the children, do art with them, play music and have them march and dance to it, and to exercise in other ways for 3 hours a day. These children are entering 1st grade later, having already learned ABCs, numbers from 1 - 100, and other skills, almost as a natural occurrence -- Drills and memorization have not been needed.
Kennedy Center Research
- Kennedy Center for the Arts - Critical Evidence for Music
Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefit Student Achievement. PDF booklet, 24 pages. Excellent read. Factual and understandable. - National Arts and Disability Center
Mission: to promote the full inclusion of audiences and artists with disabilities into all facets of the arts community. All sapsects of the arts, including careers and film festivals. - Vanderbilt Kennedy Center
Extensive site concerning human development, including music and its impact on health, healing, and learning - including music camps for learning disabled youth.
Education Through Music - Other Subjects Enhanced by Music
Music = Language = Mathematics
On the other hand, sit a baby in a corner in a crib unattended all day, as some youngsters do that have had children of their own, or sit a young child in a chair or in their room and ignore them until they are 6, and they will most often turn out not very bright and too much toward sedentary, for the rest of their lives. Some of this can be overcome in some individuals, but this is the general trend. Certain computer games, educational PC programs, and even music and action on TV can counter some of these affects; and some of these children benefit from this. Others of these children become isolated, aggressive, and unable to develop social skills.
The importance of music, then, is why our nation's school systems should not cut out music and the arts, as some systems have done. Music, arts, and exercise, create the necessary connections in the brain that are required to ready the human child to be able to learn, understand, and perform in reading, mathematics, science, and other subjects. No Child Left Behind needs a music component in order to succeed without targeting the wrong goal - memorization to achieve higher test scores. We cannot skip the preparation of language, music and arts for the brain and go directly to memorization drills. It is not working. However, these have always been the items cut from school budgets with the excuse that they are "frivolous."
Hands-on learning through actually doing projects that combine several subjects together helps children and youth that have not been exposed to the simulation of early language, music, and arts. Most of these individuals are better able to learn this way that through memorization. How much better they could learn if they had had the stimulation of music, the arts, and language processing via listening, early on.
Music and participation in music are very important elements of human brain development. Human cultural development includes music, arts, and language. It must all be preserved and encouraged.
Oliver Sacks - Music and Parkinson's Disease
Brain Music Therapy
Brainy Links
- The Insitute for Music and Brain Science
Information regarding the neurobiological foundations of music. How to fight diseases that impair musical ability. Treating children and adults with neurological and other diseases via music. - Kindermusik with Jeanne
Jeanne Lipincott. "Music nurtures a child's cognitive, emotional, social, language, and physical development. Every child should experience the joy, fun, and learning which music brings to life." without the pressure to perform. - The Musical Brain
Neuroscience for Kids. - Exploring the Musical Brain
How humpback whales and humans write music using the same methods and how whales rhyme. - Music and the Brain
Music is processed in many parts of the brain. Music can therefore make more oparts of the brain usable, even after trauma. - Music Moves Brain To Pay Attention
Details of a study. Listen to music produces significant results.
- What Causes Healing? - Maybe the Heart: Gabby Giffords Opoen Head Injury
The American love story of Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly rivals that of Australia's Steve and Terri Irwin. Love and music helped Gabby recover from a gunshot would to the head.
BRAIN MUSIC
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CommentsLoading...
O wow, you commented fast! Your brain is very smart!
Lots of music instruction growing up. :-)
Lucky You!
Great Hub, it will help the elderly and also to us to exercise our minds.
You're right, cgull8m. I need to listen to more music, come to think of it.
I find it fascinating that even deaf people can benefit from music, fantastic.
Yes, indeed. Evelyn Glennie often performs barefoot so she can feel the vibrations more clearly form the stage she stand upon. She's amde a Film entitled Touch the Sound.
Patty! Life would really be awfull without music. I often thought what a shame that the deaf can not hear any of this beauty. Having read your hub I feel better...
great HUB regards Zsuzsy
Great hub! I've actually read in more than one place that listening to classical music before trying to memorise something can increase your chances of retention. I hadn't realised why it worked until reading this hub.
Zsuzsy - I'm glad you came by to read this, Evelyn Glennie is supernatureal almost, but I've read where the deaf brain can rewire itself to understand music.
Hovalis - Thanks for coming to read my Hub -- Music does really work and it's fun! I always used music to help memorize poetry in high school :) If I srudied it right before I went to bed, by music in the background, I would awake and know the whole poem in the morning!
Great post Patty! As a speech/language pathologist, I've seen some phenomenal results of therapeutic listening systems with children who have various behavioral, fine/gross motor and /or speech/language needs. There's an occupational therapist, Sheila Frick, who travels nationally (internatonally?) training people in use of her therapeutic listening cds. Intriguing stuff for sure! I myself trained with Sheila sevreral years ago to learn about her system.
You would think the seven people in our family would be great musicians.
Val's Uncle was a prodigy in the land of Violins. I am tone deaf and Val knows and understands.
Five children all love musice none of them anygood.
Val and I both love Classical music.
A friend of ours has had three major Operations in three weeks. Three weeks later she is leading an orchestra.
Great Hub
I know nothing about music Patty but my son wants to learn keyboard.I just read music increases memory so I thought I'll put him in music class.Do you think it can be learnt easily at any age?I would like you to answer this because I want to know what would be the best instrument for him to learn.He is almost 10.
Great hub. When I was a boy I used to draw all the time. I was told by an old man once who had seen my drawings to draw several pictures every day for as much of my life as possible as it would increase my IQ.
I hope that is sort of relative, the hub just brought it to mind.
This is truly a fascinating topic. I was going to write a hub on it. I'm glad somebody did, and I'm glad it was you, Patty.
Abhinaya - - I have seen senior citizems in their 70s learn piano, so I would let your child do keyboards. Keyborads exercise both sides of the brain very well!
Music stores that sell musical instruments often have teachers on staff that would let him try several instruements, just to see what he would like best, You would not even have to buy anything, if they are like the instructors in our city's shops.
Sharon, if you have links to associated websites, I would be glad for you to post them here!
Garry - yes, art and music work hand in hand, veru much related.
Mr. Marlade - a delightful comment from you! My father played violin, but never after high school. An ancestor played accordion as well. Myself, brass wind instruments (comment open for joking, I'm afraid).
Peter - thank you for your nice comment!
Awsome hub! I gre up in a very musical family (and still, today). When I was in school, I had a problem with memorizing things. My 2 greatest loves have always been writing poetry and music. So I would take what I was trying to learn and make either a song or poem out of it to help me remember it. It also makes learning more fun and interesting. I never did, however, make my Mama understand that I COULD concentrate on my homework with music going lol. Wish I would have had this hub then! Great job!
Bonnie
Thanks Bonnie!
Our inner city schools teach math and science to younger elementary school students with poetry and music, and their standardized test scores are rising without dull, opressive memorization! It works! Yippeeeee! I am SO glad you shared your experience here with us.
I've read about listening to Baroque music enhancing learning ability. It's a fascinating subject, as is this Hub.
Thank you Angela! I am glad you stopped by. Music is fasincating by itself and so is briain research, but together the combination it is inspiring.
Great hub, I couldn't agree more. Fascinating that even people who are deaf can benefit. I wonder if they've done studies on parents who have played music to their children who were still in the womb--we have a picture of my mom with headphones on her belly!
I have not read the latest summary of all studies, but the studies I have read are kind of split - many think it does some good, others do not. It does seem, though that after 23 weeks after conception, generally, the brain is developed enough in the baby to possibly benefit from music in that the brain cells can begin to make the conenctions discussed above. I'll have to read the latest summaries. I don't think music can hurt, though.
Patti, great hub. You are so right about the power of music develop brain power. I need to listen to a lot more music lol. Have you ever seen the opensource gnaural software? Works in much the same way, I use it a lot while I'm working at the computer you can find it at -- gnaural dot sourceforge dot net -- It's pretty cool. Thanks for the great hub.
Thanks for the tip jboland; I'll certainly check it out.
love your hub, thanks for sharing those important information.
Thank you for your interesting post.i've already bookmarked it .
Dear Patty,
Thank you for your article. While we recognize that music can be wonderfully therapeutic, we are interested in a critical analysis of which music is recommended and why one type rather than another. You cite Baroque, but what about "rock" or "rap". For instance, why Bach -- and not the Beastie Boys. Or, why Vivaldi -- instead of Van Halen. We believe such a distinction is important in studies of the therapeutic benefits of music.
Daily Decibel - Thanks for mentioning this work on your blog. Of the extensive body of materials that you and other are reading and reporting, notice this short 2006 piece from Rutgers University
http://ur.rutgers.edu/focus/article/Music%20helps%
Harvard and the Kennedy Center for the Arts Foundation have collected much more.
Evidence also exists that rap interferes with human heartbeat, but then, so does syncopated beat, in these studies.
Thank you Patty for the Rutgers link - that is useful info. We're really fascinated by this neuromusicology, if that's the proper term. One important facet, we think, of the Rutgers study, is that it contained a control group, enhancing its validity. "The faculty members studied two groups of classes at Essex County College. In the first group, the instructor played baroque-style music in the background during the first month of the semester. The second group, taught by the same instructors, was not exposed to music during class time." Thank you very much! And thank you once again for your posts!
Many additional controlled studies exist inorder to form the body of literature, dating to the mid-1980s that I am aware... Search MEDLINE, ERIC, and neurological databases and journal archives; as well as Harvard and Kennedy Center.
I am enjoying your blog and also advocate for more quiet and quieter music more often.
Cheers!
Lovely Hub. I don't think I could live without music.
Patty, is it possible for us to obtain full texts without any budget, with the understanding that we are an entity primarily engaged in research? We approached Taylor & Francis Corporation, for example, but they only offer a 30-day trial. We just don't have the budget to spend on journals.
Thanks for your nice comments on our blog.
Daily Decibel - If you have a nearby University with a music college, that is your best chance for free materials. The research should be archived. Best success to you!
Thank you for an interesting and well-developed read. I love music and the environment it creates and can change for that matter. I think schools should have music playing softly in the background during the entire classroom experience. It would not be a distraction, quite the contrary, I think, chosen correctly, it could enhance the learning environment as you have pointed out here Thanks for sharing this info! WB
music=mathematics !!!
Great!
Excellent hub! I did a lot of research when I was in college about the affect of music on baby's brains and found it fascinating. Then I discovered the affects of music and language first-hand through my nephews: my first nephew was born when his parents were young and not exactly the most responsible people. He had speech and learning delays that were overcome once he joined a child care program and interacted with other children and adults. Then when my baby nephew was born, his parents, being older and more responsible, talked to him, played with him, and at the age of 10 months, he's an absolute genius.
The interaction greatly affects language input and output processing, more so than music. Quite a difference you saw!
Interesting and informative article.
I think it's such a shame that Art/Music is always the first thing to be cut from school budgets. They should read your article!!
Thanks for that link!
This is an interesting article. I didn't read all of it yet; I'll finish it later. I think listening to more complex music such as jazz and classical would help even more.
These days unfortunately young people are distorting the effects of music with drugs, it's rather sad.
I started playing the organ at the age of 7, my mum always says it was the ONLY thing I didn't break! After that I moved on to the piano.
Being able to play a musical instrument is something I highly recommend.
I wish schools in my local area would see the connection between music and learning, my kids regularly come home from school saying this and that was boring.
Institute for Advanced Psychiatry is a leading depression center in central Texasproviding NeuroStar Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation TMS Therapy
Fantastic article. It has always seemed like common sense that a well-balanced education proves to be a better education. I am glad to see the science behind it. If only our political representatives and policy makers were well-informed and truly had the interests of our nation's children at heart.
stephhicks68 Level 7 Commenter 4 years ago
Super Hub! I can't agree with you more!