How It Modulates Nervous System Activity and Affects Emotion
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Skidmore College Creative Matter MALS Final Projects, 1995-2019 MALS 5-19-2007 The Process of Listening to Music: How it Modulates Nervous System Activity and Affects Emotion MaryAnn H. Gulyas Skidmore College Follow this and additional works at: https://creativematter.skidmore.edu/mals_stu_schol Part of the Integrative Biology Commons Recommended Citation Gulyas, MaryAnn H., "The Process of Listening to Music: How it Modulates Nervous System Activity and Affects Emotion" (2007). MALS Final Projects, 1995-2019. 45. https://creativematter.skidmore.edu/mals_stu_schol/45 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the MALS at Creative Matter. It has been accepted for inclusion in MALS Final Projects, 1995-2019 by an authorized administrator of Creative Matter. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Process of Listening to Music: How it Modulates Nervous System Activity and Affects Emotion By MaryAnn H Gulyas FINAL PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN LIBERAL STUDIES Skidmore College April 2007 Advisors: Thomas Denny, Ph D. Denise Evert, Ph.D. Sandy Welter Table of Contents I - Introduction II - Sound as an Exterior Element a) Vibration b) Sound waves III - Sound as it is Received by the Body a) Structures of the Ear Figure 17-9 Lateral View of right ear Figure 17-11 Physiology of Hearing b) The Auditory cortex Figure 9-7 Auditory Pathway IV - Sound as it is Processed by the Brain a) Right and Left Hemispheres of the Brain b) Amygdala c) Hypothalamus d) Other brain structures involved in music processing V - Chemical Reactions in Response to Musical Stimuli a) Neurological pathway b) Neurotransmitters, Neuropeptides c) Endorphin and other Brain Chemicals VI - Music as a Tool for Communication a) Rhythm b) Tempo c) Melody d) Harmony e) Tonality/ Atonality f) Dynamics g) Timbre VII - Physical and Emotional Manifestations of Sound a) Why is it we respond to music the way we do? b) Where does the meaning lie? b) How does music affect us emotionally and physically? c) How is music used to manipulate and motivate us? Conclusion 2 Abstract Music as a force, affects us from within us and can arouse us emotionally and physically. Music has been an important element in our culture since the beginning of time. Its power has been documented back to primitive times and has continued through early civilization, biblical times and now, to the twenty-first century. Recently, an emphasis on the music of Mozart has prompted researchers to look more closely at the power of music and examine its effect on human learning. Also, ongoing research is done on exactly how we hear and how we react to this powerful force. Energy becomes vibration, and vibration produces sound waves. These waves travel through the air and enter our ears. In the process of organizing these waves, tones and overtones into music, composers use a varied collection of musical tools which mold the raw materials of sound into the beauty of music. The elements of melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics and tempo combine to comprise a musical tapestry for the ear. The human ear is an intricate collection of delicate organelles that all work in concert in order for us to perceive and process sounds traveling through the air. Sounds become nerve impulses that travel via the cranial nerves and are processed in distinct sections of the brain. Several sections of the brain have to collaborate for music to be properly understood. Several of these areas are also associated with speech and memory. As music stimulates sections of the brain, neurotransmitters are released in response. These chemicals flood our brain causing an emotional reaction; an effect. They cause us to respond emotionally to what we hear. We may experience happiness, sadness, nostalgia or excitement. These strong feelings affectour 3 immune systems, our psyche and our overall wellbeing. Music is a strong motivator and pervades all aspects of our lives. The impact influences all races, cultures and religions. 4 CHAPTER ONE Music has been a powerful force within our culture since humans began to walk the earth. Researchers have not uncovered a single human culture that is without some form of music, and all human beings respond to musical stimuli, rhythm, tone and harmony. (Wallin, 11) Social anthropologists state that only the behaviors that aid in survivability will continue as a civilization evolves and so it is no surprise that music affects us today in the same way it did our ancestors. (Dissanyake, xvii) Ellen Dissanyake, the author of Homo Aestheticus, would go so far as to consider music to be biologically necessary. Dowling and Harwood, who wrote Music Cognition, state that music has a "biological adaptive value" (Radocy, 21). If it did not, the behavior of creating it would have been weeded out via natural selection. In The Descent of Man, Charles Darwin wrote "I conclude that musical notes and rhythm were first acquired by the male or femaleprogenitors of mankind for the sake of charming the opposite sex. Thus musical tones became firmly associated with some of the strongest passions an animal is capable of feeling, and are consequently used instinctively ..." (Levitin, 245) Darwin's statement underscores the strong influence that music has over both humans and animals. It is clear then, that music has a powerful function as part of human evolution and our development as a species. It also has had a large impact on how humans function as part of groups and societal communities, as has been documented for thousands of years. In China, music was an extremely important part of all ritual ceremonies. Chinese emperors made great efforts to insure that the music of the day was in keeping with the order of the universe. The universe represents order, constancy and a communal 5 connection to nature. It was important that their music should be consistent with these concepts. They believed that if it was not, there would be revolution and chaos. (Dossey, 276) In the bible there are stories about David playing the harp to cure Saul frommental turmoil. (Crussi, 38) Homer wrote that he would often tell his waITiors to sing in order to fight off the plague. Swiss regiments, while serving the French King were forbidden to play "Ranz Des Vaches" forfear that it would stir up homesickness and cause entire ranks to desert. (Gonzalez- Crussi, 38) Clearly, the impact of music on us, as human beings, is age-old. More recently the music of Mozart has been credited with increasing IQ, helping students achieve higher scores on exams and healing the sick. In 2001, Don Campbell published The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind and Unlock the Creative Spirit. In this book, Campbell claims that music (and in certain chapters he specifies the music of Mozart) increases learning ability. He also states that music aids patients suffering fromstro kes, dementia, head injuries and chronic pain, reduces seizure activity, helps to lower hypertension, treats symptoms of autism, ADHD, migraines, anxiety and dyslexia, and increases creativity and the ability to concentrate. (Campbell, 1) As a musician, I wanted to believe that such things were possible. I was excited to be able to provide music for my students which would enable them to be more successful in school. The theory that music can affect our ability to learn has attracted much attention. There was a study published by a research group at the University of California. Dr. Frances Raucher and Dr. Gordon L. Shaw concluded that students have increased spatial reasoning ability after listening to Mozart. They, too, refer to "The 6 Mozart Effect" as the vehicle for this change. Seventy-nine students were given a task to perform after hearing Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos, K448. The task they were given to do involved visualizing the cuts that would have to be made in a piece of paper to create a specific pattern. The students were broken into three groups. Before being asked to perform the task, one third of the students listened to Mozart, another third listened to varied selections of music and talking, and the final third were exposed to silence. The students were given the test on five consecutive days. The data showed an increase in spatial reasoning ability. The students who listened to Mozart improved "significantly" from the first day to the second and the second to the third. There was also improvement in the group that listened to silence but only from the second day to the third. The researchers credited Mozart's music for the improvement in the Mozart group, while the improvement in the silent group was attributed to "a learning curve"; in other words, the more you practice a skill the better you will get at it. After the release of Campbell's book and the publishing of the California studies, the claim that drew national attention was that listening to Mozart could make kids smarter and guarantee scholastic success. Parents ran to the stores for CDs and the Governor of Georgia, Governor Zell, asked the state to allocate $105,000 toward the purchase of classical CDs for the newborns of his state. (Demorest, 34) Steven Demorest, the author of the article "Does Music Make you Smarter" refers to studies that specifically show the benefit of musical instruction on overall school performance. Studies show that young students who study the piano perform better on spatial reasoning tests and overall SAT scores are higher in students who were involved in music programs. (Demorest, 36) However, the theory that listening to Mozart for ten minutes 7 would have a profound, long lasting effect on reasoning or IQ remains unsubstantiated.