Why Your Brain Will Thank You For Being a Musician

Your Brain Will Thank You For Being a Musician

My saviour during the Corona Pandemic has been music (although my dog has also been pretty good). In the absence of being able to meet with my musical friends for a regular session, which ticks so many boxes for me in terms of stress reduction, social connection and just downright fun, I have been playing, learning, writing and recording music like I have not done for about twenty five years. It has made the anxiety and grief that has accompanied this pandemic in which I lost my Father and nearly lost my Mother so much more tolerable and dare I say it even fun. When absorbed in music making I find I very often enter that state of “flow” that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has so often referred to, and it’s a good thing because mostly the only other times I find this experience is during training delivery and there has not been much of that going on lately.

All of this said it made it all the more worth it to come across the article, “Your Brain Will Thank You for Being a Musician” (Izbicki 2020) in the most recent issue of Scientific American Mind. The five main benefits that Izbicki mentions are listed below but if you want to read the full article you can go here,

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/your-brain-will-thank-you-for-being-a-musician/

 

1. Music training promotes neuroplasticity. …. What is unique about music training is its capacity to induce neuroplastic changes in all areas of the brain. You use your occipital lobe to read and interpret pitches and rhythm; your temporal lobe to process sound; your frontal lobe to attend to the music, inhibit irrelevant distractions and remember what you just played; and your parietal lobe to integrate all of the incoming sensory information.

2. Music training improves cognitive abilities. Studies have shown that music training improves cognitive abilities (e.g., working memory, attention and inhibition) across our life span. This has been shown with both short-term and long-term music training. 

3. Music training may promote healthy aging of the brain. Studies show that musicians have an advantage in maintaining their cognitive abilities during the aging process. This includes tasks that involve executive functioning and short-term memory. Older musicians have other advantages as well. One study showed that ability to filter out irrelevant environmental stimuli (i.e., focus) was more intact in older musicians, and their brain activity reflected this advantage.

4. Music training is beneficial for overall health. A recent study has shown that group musical activities are potential ways to maintain physical and psychological health. For example, a lowered risk of dementia has been associated with playing musical instruments. Other studies have shown that playing keyboard and drums could improve fine and gross motor skills in stroke patients. ……..A recent study has even shown that recreational music making (RMM) has been shown to be effective at altering gene expression involved in the stress response. 

5. Music training is a rewarding activity. Most importantly, making music is something most people enjoy. Your brain is more apt to learn if an activity is inherently rewarding and motivating. Studies have shown that listening to music is a rewarding experience in and of itself, activating brain structures involved in reward processing, including the nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, hypothalamus and insula. Scientists have even begin modulating music reward sensitivity in the brain with using transcranial magnetic stimulation. Sensitizing or desensitizing these brain areas shows causal evidence that these circuits are involved in the enjoyment and motivation of music. Furthermore, a recent study has even shown that exposing rats to melodic music increases dopamine and serotonin in the forebrain, which is linked to reward.

In short, making music is truly a whole-brain workout.

 

So what are you waiting for whip out that dulcimer, saz, udu, djembe, guzheng, sitar, dutar  or whatever your chosen axe may be and start  getting to shredding.

Further reading: 

Your Brain Will Thank You for Being a Musician

Author: 

Patricia Izbicki

Publication: 

Scientific American

Date: 

Apr 9, 2020