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Colin Jones
Professor Campbell
English 1103
7 December 2015
Music and the Mind
Plato once said: Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything. It is the essence of
order and leads to all that is good, just and beautiful of which it is the invisible but never less
dazzling, passionate and eternal form. Have you ever realized how much music is around you?
Music is everywhere. It is in the stores that we go to shop. It is in the restaurants where we eat.
It is even in the car when we travel. It does not matter if it is day or night, there is always music
somewhere. This music can affect how you feel and think. It can make your dark days feel a lot
brighter and can remind you of some of your favorite memories. Music can shape who you are
and who you will become. It can determine who your friends are. It can be both a distraction
and something that keeps you focused. From early music making and listening to the different
ways our brains respond to music and even to what kind of mood we are in, music can affect all
aspects of our life.
Music is something that can be found in every corner of the world. Whether they are
singing or dancing or just beating on drums, it is a universal language. So, why is it that music
appeals so much to us, and why does it affect our emotions as much as it does? Music can be
thought of as a type of perceptual illusion, much the same way in which a collage is perceived.
The brain imposes structure and order on a sequence of sounds that, in effect, creates an entirely
new system of meaning. The appreciation of music is tied to the ability to process its underlying

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structure the ability to predict what will occur next in the song. But this structure has to
involve some level of the unexpected, or it becomes emotionally devoid (Mohana). Music isnt
something you hear and understand. It has different layers of understanding that have to be put
into it. The artist has to work through the notes, the rhythms, the pitches and the tonality of the
instrument. They have to figure out lyrics that fit the mood and melody if the piece has lyrics.
The more you look into music the more you will find, and that is one of the greatest things about
music; Right when we think we know exactly how the song goes, we hear something new. This
something new causes us to reimagine the whole song and then fit this new piece into the puzzle
and that fascinates us. At the same time however, there is beauty in the simplicity of a new song.
We do not quite understand the song but we can hear the basic melodies and rhythms. This
understanding that there is more to music than the surface excites us and makes us want to listen
to that new song on repeat. That is the only way we can truly understand what the author is
trying to portray.
While we know a lot more about how a human sees things visually, we do know some of
how humans hear. In a humans inner ear is a membrane in the form of a spiral called the
cochlea. The cochlea looks similar to a snail and starts really thick in the center and then
gradually gets thinner the farther out it goes. On the cochlea are a bunch of hairs that vibrate
when certain wave lengths pass by them. Lower frequencies cause the hairs on the thicker part
of the membrane to vibrate while the higher frequencies cause the hairs on the thinner parts to
vibrate. This is done very much like a xylophone because when you hit a smaller xylophone
tone bar, a higher frequency is emitted while when you hit a longer tone bar, a lower frequency is
emitted. When these hairs vibrate, they stimulate nerve cells to send electrical signals to the
brain. The brain then receives the signals in the auditory cortex. The auditory cortex is located

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in the temporal lobe at the base of the brain. This part of the brain has many connections to the
other parts of the brain that generate emotions. This is why many scientists believe humans
associate music with emotions and feelings (Cromie).
A question that has begun being asked is whether or not music is inborn (Dess).
Essentially this question is just asking whether or not humans are born musically inclined or
whether it has to be taught. According to urban dictionary, a musically inclined person has a
natural gift for learning how to play and interpret music easily. Mothers sing to their babies, and
even play music for them in utero. Infants may not understand what their mother is saying, but
they can process the pleasantness of the sound and enjoy the singing even though they are not
old enough to understand the spoken words, let alone the depth of the music. This cannot be
explained by saying that the babies have had prior musical training when they have not. Music
appreciation is definitely a culture-related phenomenon, says Tramo, but there are universals
that characterize it across the globe. All musics are structured around the octave, all cultures
sing, and all have songs they associate with certain meanings and emotions. All children love to
be sung to. Perhaps, thats why people refer to music as the universal language.
Scientists have discovered that children who start music lessons early perform better with
math and problem solving. These children are more spatially aware as well as quicker to answer
problems that pop up on an IQ test. This is believed to be because of generalization.
Generalization is the principal that by studying one subject, one becomes better at other subjects.
Plato puts it best: I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly
MUSIC, for in the patterns of music and all the arts are the keys to learning. In this case it
would mean that students who participate in music studies would also perform better in
mathematics courses. While this isnt always the case, it seems to be a pretty big trend. Of

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course some kids are just smarter than others and usually kids whose parents can afford private
tutors on an instrument can afford to pay for a tutor for their other classes, but these are just other
explanations.
If children who practice musical activities are more likely to succeed, is this because of
an increase in intelligence or just they have a better attitude about things? New studies have
shown that shown that music has a direct correlation with a persons personality. Research
shows that people who have had some form of musical study are more open to new experiences,
intellectually curious, and have an active imagination. E. Glenn Schellenberg, a Professor in the
Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto, and his colleagues tested around 150
adults and 150 children by asking them questions about themselves. This evidence is what
suggested that there is a link between musical training and these traits. Surprising, Shellenberg
also discovered that people who engaged in musical activities had higher organization skills and
were able to concentrate better. Associations between music training and personality may be
stronger than associations with cognition, said Schellenberg. The role played by personality in
associations between music and cognition deserves more careful consideration in future
research.(Jaffe) This shows that while people who practice musical activities may not
necessarily get smarter from practicing music, it does make them more likely to succeed due to a
better ability to adapt.
There is also evidence to suggest that listening to or performing music over long periods
of time can have a long term effect on the brain. This evidence suggests that cognitive rewards
such as language skills, reasoning, and creativity come from long-term musical interactions.
Long-term musical interactions have also been found to boost social adjustment. Being a
musician also helps shape the brain. Playing an instrument, for instance, involves vision,

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hearing, touch, motor planning, emotion, symbol interpretationall of which activate different
brain systems (Dess). All of these different things shape the brain in different ways.
Everybody loves to listen to their favorite song while they work, but is this really a
productive way to work? There have been many studies done on this and they all prove the same
thing: listening to your preferred choice of music causes you to be unable to concentrate on the
task at hand. In a study done in 1977, they scientists addressed whether or not student perform
better listening to sedative music, stimulative music, and no music at all. The study focused on
the anxiety, performance, and concentration of the subjects. The participants were required to
list their favorite genres of music and then repeat a set of numbers backward while listening to
sedative, stimulative, or no music. The results showed that participants who listened to their
preferred genre of music had a much harder time concentrating and therefore were unable to
perform the task as well as the other groups. More surprising is the fact that people who listened
to no music at all were the ones who performed the best. If we dont perform as well while
listening to music, then why is our immediate reaction when we have to work to turn on the
music? Big workloads mean tons of stress and tons of stress leads to sadness and even
depression. Maybe we just instinctively know that our favorite music calms us down. In fact,
Leah Sharman from the University of Queenslands School of Psychology is researching just
this. She did a study of 39 adults who were aged between 18 and 34 and found that they were
calmer and more inspired when they were listening to heavy metal music. She also said that the
participants level of hostility, irritability, and stress decreased while and after they listened to
heavy metal music. "When you're angry and you listen to something that's highly arousing, it's
going to match your emotional state." (Watson) This not only shows that humans instinctively
know that listening to our favorite music calms us down, but it refutes the earlier beliefs that

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heavy metal music and other extreme forms of music cause the listener to feel more depressed
(Watson).
If music can be used to decrease hostility and depression, does it have other medical
uses? Music has actually been used to help Alzheimers patients. Music can be used to shift the
mood or calm people down or even to stimulate positive interactions. This happens because
rhythmic and other well-rehearsed responses require little to no cognitive or mental processing.
They are influenced by the motor center of the brain that responds directly to auditory rhythmic
cues. A persons ability to engage in music, particularly rhythm playing and singing, remains
intact late into the disease process because, again, these activities do not mandate cognitive
functioning for success(Clair). In the early stages of the disease, listening to music helps to
remind the patients of previous times. Times where the patient was happy and free and could be
and do whatever they wanted can be remembered through music. Toward the middle stages of
the disease, when the patients start becoming agitated and having behavioral issues, music helps
them calm down and helps to alleviate some of the behavioral issues. In the late stages, even
after communication has been difficult, alzheimers patients can be given a chance to
communicate through the tapping of a hand or foot at a beat from a song they loved growing up.
Even in the late stages, music is still helpful and will continue to be so. So what kind of music
should they listen to? The best option would be to find out the patients top 10 picks of their
favorite songs from the time they were about 18 to 25. However, sometimes unfamiliar music is
a fantastic option. Unfamiliar music has no emotional attachments and the patient can listen to
and just enjoy the beat without having to remember painful memories or the longing for a time
back when they were young(Clair). Music can help out these patients in a time when they have
nothing else to turn to.

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Can music be used for other medical purposes? Scientists are discovering that there are
other actual medical uses for music. A study was done where researchers studied patients who
were about to undergo a surgical procedure. The participants were randomly assigned to take
anti-anxiety drugs or listening to music before their surgery. The scientists then tracked how the
patients rated their own anxiety and their levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. What the
researchers found was that the patients who listened to music before their surgery had less
anxiety and their cortisol levels were lower than those of the other group that took anti-anxiety
drugs. There is also evidence leading to suggest that music is associated with immunoglobin A
(Landau). Immunoglobin A is an antibody that is linked with immunity from diseases. This
indicates that people who listen to music may have a better immune system than those who do
not.
How do different types of music affect people? Do different genres of music change the
way people think? Do different types of music have different effects on the brain? Many
different types of music affect the brain differently. For example, when listening to rock and
punk, a person can experience a boost in adrenaline and essentially give them an energy boost.
Another cool example is Reggae music. Reggae music is based on the rhythm of a human heart
so it can naturally calm a person down and keep them mellowed down. Rap causes an
interesting reaction in our brain too. Depending on the lyrics of the rap song, you can get hype
and happy or you can get anry and upset. This is because rap songs generally promote feelings
of anger and violence. Some people however say that rap calms them down, so it may all just
depend on the lyrics. Another type of music that we have an interesting response to is blues
music. Believe it or not, blues music is fantastic to listen to if you are feeling anxious. This is
because the blues have such a bcalm and relaing rhythm. So calm and relaing that it can actually

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slow your heart rate down and calm you down as well. The most ironic response we have to a
particular genre of music is our response to country music. The interesting thing about country
music is that it has actually been linked to depression and even suicide. So music can truly affect
you in ways that you do not even realize. So why is it that music can make us so happy?
According to research published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, people can successfully
improve their moods and boost their overall happiness in just two weeks, simply by listening to
specific mood-boosting music. Researchers from McGill University in Montreal said the
response to music comes from the chemical dopamine. Correlating increased levels of dopamine
in the brain to corresponding music proves that humans obtain pleasure from listening to music
(Mamiverse).
Music has a huge impact on the way that people act and think. Due to how surrounded
by music we are, it is important that we learn and understand how our bodies respond to different
forms of music. These responses include how listening to our favorite music may not be
beneficial while we are trying to do a difficult task. They also include how children who
participate in music are more intellectually curious, have a more active imagination, and are
more open to new experiences. Understanding why babies enjoy listening to music is another
key that is important to understanding music. Other impacts include less stress being felt while
listening to your favorite music, or even connecting on a level that only you and your music can.
In the 2007 movie, August Rush, Robin Williams has this to say about music: You know what
music is? Gods little reminder that theres something else besides us in this universe; harmonic
connection between all living beings, everywhere, even the stars. So how does music affect
your life? It affects life in every way imaginable.

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