MUSIC & THE BRAIN

The Purpose of This?

I am here to educate the students on how greatly music affects peoples’ lives, a little more in depth than just listening to it to be happy.

Personal Relevance

Simply, everyone listens to music. One can’t go a day without coming in contact with music

This topic is important to me because music is a very special thing in my life

It helps me get through hard times

Tony Cicoria

42 years of age Orthopedic Surgeon Very little musical experience Struck by lightning Musical intervention occurs

Salimah M.

Chemist Early 40’s “Periods” lasting a minute or two Large tumor in her right temporal lobe Surgery may cause ‘personality changes’

Woman remains nameless

Intractable temporal lobe seizures with right temporal lobe focus

Brought under control by the drug LTG Before the drugs, she was never really

into music Often found it annoying, and did her best

to separate herself from it

A Little Extra Something

Albert Einstein, regarded as one of the smartest men to ever live

Was bought a Violin at a young age Improvising on his Violin helped him with

his equations Einstein himself says Violin is why he was

so smart

Body Responses to Music

Can be easily detected in the body Music from the Baroque period is found to

slow heart rate and decrease blood pressure, enhancing the ability to learn

It also affects the amplitude & frequency of brain waves, as measured by an electro-encephalogram

Electrical resistance of the skin becomes greater, and pupils can dilate

Music on Memory & Learning

60 BPM music activate the left and right hemispheres of the brain

The brain is most efficient when both halves are being used

When they are both being used, according to The Center for New Discoveries in Learning, potential to learn increases a minimum of 5 times

George Lozanov

Bulgarian Psychologist Designed a special way to teach a foreign

language Used slow (60 BPM) Baroque period

music Taught up to ½ vocab&phrases in 1 day 92% retention rate Learned with 85-100% efficiency using

Baroque music

Test Taking

3 groups of people took identical tests Group 1 was read the words with music

and was asked to imagine the words Group 2 had the same music, but wasn’t

asked to imagine the words Group 3 had no music, and wasn’t asked

to imagine the words

Test Taking Cont’d

The same test was taken a week later, and group 1 did much better than groups 2&3

Music doesn’t absolutely allow one to recall but can improve it

Information is recalled with the music that was being played when the information was being given

King George I of England

Problems with memory loss and stress management

George observed that King Saul from the bible had similar problems, and solved them with special music

So, King George asked George Frederick Handel to write him special music, which was called “Water Music”

Same & Different

Brain works by looking at difference pieces repetition

Done in Baroque/Classical music by repeating a theme no more than once

Any more, the mind goes into a sub-conscience state or anger

“The human mind shuts down after three or four repetitions of a rhythm, or a melody, or a harmonic progression.”- Dr. Ballam

Muscle Strength and Music

All muscles go weak when subjected to the “stopped anapestic beat” of hard rock

“Switching of the brain.”- Dr. Diamond Actual symmetry between both of the cerebral

hemispheres is destroyed, causing all sorts of problems, such as a weaker work performance, learning and behavior problems in children