How Music Affects Brain Connectivity
- Voices of Brain Injury
- Jun 14
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 12
Overview
Music has several effects on our brain; From therapy for mental illnesses, to just triggering certain physical or emotional reactions. We listen to music because the tunes get stuck in our head, or maybe because the lyrics mean something to us. Either way they affect us in a way that stimulates our brain to engage with other parts of our bodies.
We will take a look at some effects music has on the brain, and how connectivity all throughout the brain is shown. Along with that how the different parts of the brain work together for a common function.
Auditory Processing
Noises that come into our ear have processes in our brain in order for us to actually hear it. Imagine what sort of processes that happen when you are listening to music, the bigger vibrations and sound waves have a more complex process in your brain than regular sounds, because of the other effects music has on our brain.There must be so many things happening within our brain. The brain collaborates to create the right sound for you to hear.
● Rhythm : The belt and parabelt are responsible for identifying the song’s rhythm. These two parts are within the auditory cortex. The belt being the primary auditory cortex, the area surrounds the core of the auditory cortex, and the parabelt is next to the lateral side of the belt. When identified in order to create the sound motor cortex and cerebellum get involved.
● Pitch and Tone: Identification and understanding of the pitch and tone comes from the auditory cortex, it also handles the melody and harmony of a song. Some studies also show that the cerebellum and prefrontal cortex also assist with identifying these factors.
Evokes Memories and Emotions
We connect with songs because they resonate with our emotions or experiences. For example, we may feel a connection to a slow, somber song when we're feeling sad, or relate to lyrics that echo our past experiences, evoking nostalgia—an emotional longing for happy times from the past. This connection
triggers emotional responses in the brain, involving areas like the amygdala and thalamus. The thalamus processes sensory input and memory, while the amygdala is responsible for emotions. These areas show how our brain's connectivity changes in response to the emotional and memory triggers music brings.
● Memories : Memories coming back to us can be linked to the hippocampus, or even when we remember music that we liked.
● Emotions: When music triggers emotions within us the parts that are responsible for triggering emotional responses are the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and cerebellum
Increased communication between the hemispheres
The other sections only associate with listening to music, but what about playing a musical instrument? Playing a musical instrument has positive consequences for musicians. Just performing music itself involves all regions of the brain to come together with their functions, so you are able to perform properly. Regions like visual, auditory, motor, sensory and prefrontal cortices, the cerebellum, corpus
callosum, and hippocampus all help with the process. We can infer that it is probably a rigorous process, which can strengthen the brain further. This is why performing music also speeds up communication between the hemispheres.
Some other positives of being able to play an instrument is that with the complexity of the processes of your brain when you perform it also strengthens general areas in your brain , such as an area linked to linguistics, and processing ability. It also increases motor, auditory, and visual-spatial regions in the brain.
Music has many positive effects on our brain. We can see how our brain works together once an
outside factor is involved, but it still easily adapts, and can be a good way to strengthen your brain in
different ways.
Sources
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Jäncke, L. (2008). Music, memory and emotion. Journal of Biology, 7(6), 21.
McCollum, Sean. “Your Brain on Music: The Sound System between Your Ears.” Kennedy-Center.org, 5 Sept. 2019,
your-ears/.
Speranza, L., Pulcrano, S., Perrone-Capano, C., di Porzio, U., & Volpicelli, F. (2022). Music affects functional brain connectivity and is effective in the treatment of neurological disorders. Reviews in the Neurosciences, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1515/revneuro-2021-0135
