The Effects Of Relaxation Music On The Brain

When a person is listening to music, the whole brain seems to light up. Not surprisingly, music activates the auditory cortex in the temporal cortex, located above the ears. Such components of music as rhythm, pitch, metre, melody, and timbre are processed in many different areas, including prefrontal, temporal, and temporal cortexes. Although music is mainly processed in the right hemisphere, some of its components such as rhythm and pitch are processed in the left hemisphere. Wherever music is processed, it has a substantial effect on the brains.

Increase in Dopamine

Brain cells use neurotransmitters to communicate with one another. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that has been linked to pleasure and reward. According to ClassicalForums.com, listening to music causes the brain to increase its serotonin release. This neurotransmitter makes a person feel relaxed. On the other hand, a person who does not have enough serotonin can suffer from depression. Thus, music seems to be able to make a person happier, and calmer.

Brainwaves

Brainwaves can be used to study how relaxed, nervous, or tired person is. As stated by Joydeep Bhattachary, Ph.D., and Helmut Pettche, Ph.D., music can have a strong effect on brainwaves. A strong beat can stimulate brainwaves, and cause a more alert state of mind, whereas relaxing music produces more alfa activity and has a meditative effect on a person's state of mind. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London in 2001.

Spatial-Temporal Reasoning

In 1991 F.H. Rauscher, Ph.D., and colleagues published an interesting study. The authors claimed that after listening to complex music, such as Mozart's two-piano concertos for only ten minutes, they saw an improvement is people's spatial-temporal reasoning. This phenomenon--which became known as a "Mozart effect--was published in Volume 365 of the journal Nature in 1993. It has been stated that the Mozart effect is caused by "enjoyment arousal" and no effect on spatial-temporal reasoning could be seen if the person did not enjoy the music. Yet, the same authors reported in Volume 19 of the Neurological Research journal in 1997 that studying music had a long-term effect on the spatial-temporal reasoning abilities of three- to four-year old children.