Did You Know? Every Part of the Brain is Affected By Music

A growing body of research has demonstrated how music affects the brain in unexpected ways, actually reversing the course of neurogenic diseases.

Since 2006, two University of Central Florida professors — neuroscientist Kiminobu Sugaya and violinist Ayako Yonetani — have been teaching the popular course “Music and the Brain”. This course explores how music impacts brain function and behavior, by reducing stress, pain and symptoms of depression, as well as improving cognition, motor skills, and spatial-temporal learning.

In the late stages, Alzheimer’s patients can be unresponsive, “but once you put in the headphones that play [their favorite] music, their eyes light up,” says Sugaya. “They start moving and sometimes singing. The effect lasts maybe 10 minutes or so even after you turn off the music.” This can be seen on an MRI, where “lots of different parts of the brain light up.”

The Temporal Lobe (nicknamed the God Lobe) helps us to appreciate music. The Cerebellum stores muscle memory, which allows patients who can’t remember their closest relatives to play pieces of music they learned as children. Music actually stimulates the Hippocampus (the brain’s central processing unit) to produce more neurons, which can improve memory.

To find out more about music and the brain visit:
https://www.ucf.edu/pegasus/your-brain-on-music/?fbclid=IwAR3n1a_Re6AkQN57KDX_NIVnSw80EjE8ADwdr5FBhzhCx63-Bc7km3a1tbA