That’s Music to my… Brain?
By: Hiral M. Chavre
Tags: Growth, Neuroscience, Brain, Music, Workout

That’s Music to my… Brain?

Photo by C D-X on Unsplash

I’m a huge fan of musical TV shows and movies. High School Musical, Glee, you name it. The musical entertainment genre is a combination of music 🎶 and visual content 📺, which are two of my favorite things put together. What’s not to love?

Recently, I’ve watched Julie and the Phantoms, the musical Disney-esque style TV show on Netflix, and man, the soundtrack is on repeat in my mind. (listening to it right now as I write this article haha!)

Me right now as I’m writing this article 😆 — Source: Tenor

Excuse my fangirling, but the songs are just so amazing and have really gotten me through this last week of school with all the tests and quizzes piling up. The music from Julie and the Phantoms kept my mood up and gave me the most positive vibes during a stressful time. This got me thinking, how exactly does music affect our brain? 🤔

We know that if we’re listening to happy songs, it can make us feel happier, and the same can apply to other emotions, but I was curious about what processes actually go on in our brain when we start jamming to some music. Thus, I did what any curious person would do and did some research. Here’s what I found:

Listening to music is a literal brain workout,

and it’s the only type of workout you’ll find me doing. 😂 It engages almost every part of your brain, from the auditory cortex, which is responsible for functions in hearing, to the cerebellum that is involved in voluntary movements. There is no singular path that occurs in the brain when listening to music, with constant interaction between many various parts.

Just casually doing my brain workout for the day! — Source: Giphy

We all have different reactions in our brains when we listen to music.

This makes sense when you consider the fact that each person has their own music taste that can range from country to pop music. Your favorite genres are especially relevant to your past experiences that are associated with each type of music, but here are the basic processes that occur in all of our brains.

The music enters the brain through our ears 👂 and is firstly examined by the auditory cortex for pitch and volume. Then it interacts with the cerebellum to further understand and interpret the music.

While this is happening, the other parts of our brain come in to create those memories and experiences that we attach to music, like shivers or nostalgia. For instance, the amygdala, the emotional center of our brain, is a major aspect of these processes. The amygdala is driven by the mesolimbic system, which is why you feel these strong reactions when listening to powerful music.

Wait, hold up, the meso-what system?

The mesolimbic system is involved in pleasure and the transmission of dopamine, the happy hormone. 😁 When listening to music, especially some of our favorite songs, we can get a dopamine rush that causes those chills or shivers.

In fact, our striatum, which is involved in this system, can also anticipate the emotional climax of a song before it even actually happens with the release of dopamine. We really do know more than we think, heh?

I guess that means you could call us psychic…? — Source: Giphy

Well, this is some pretty cool stuff, but there’s even more beyond that. As I said previously, many other parts of the brain are activated when listening to music.

The Visual Cortex 👁 — Some people claim they can see music, whether that’s imagining performers or seeing colors, the visual cortex plays a huge role in the experience of listening to music.

👁 — Some people claim they can see music, whether that’s imagining performers or seeing colors, the visual cortex plays a huge role in the experience of listening to music. The Motor Cortex 🏃‍♀️ — Dancing all day and night, music influences our motor cortex, causing us to show off some of our hot moves or can be as simple as just tapping our feet. The corticospinal excitability (yep — that’s a mouthful) can even create an overwhelming urge to start dancing to groovy music.

🏃‍♀️ — Dancing all day and night, music influences our motor cortex, causing us to show off some of our hot moves or can be as simple as just tapping our feet. The corticospinal excitability (yep — that’s a mouthful) can even create an overwhelming urge to start dancing to groovy music. Neurological Pathways 🧠- Music has a huge impact on our memory and nostalgia and can even help those with memory conditions remember some of their past.

If music brings us so much joy, how come we can get tired of listening to a song?

As stated earlier, dopamine is released when we listen to our favorite music. As we listen to the same amazing songs over and over again, we get less of that initial rush of dopamine, making the song seem not as appealing as it once was.

So there are so many benefits to just listening to music, how about when you’re making it?

Making music combines many important skills, including sensory, audible, and motor skills, and is a truly great way to strengthen your brain. There are an enormous amount of so benefits. Here’s some, just to name a few:

Playing music can increase your memory and reading skills 📖 since they utilize common brain mechanisms and processes.

📖 since they utilize common brain mechanisms and processes. You can skip on that coffee in the morning because music will give you the burst of energy ⚡ you need by increasing the blood flow to your brain.

you need by increasing the blood flow to your brain. Music has been found to strengthen executive function 💭 in the brain that involves problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

Channel that love for music! — Source: Giphy

So go ahead, start that band in your garage that you’ve been dreaming of since high school. Even if you don’t make your rise to fame, you will have gained so much more than just a pastime.

TL;DR