Think of the last time a song really moved you, or meant something to you. Listening to and playing music stimulates many different sections of the brain, affecting us physically as well. Why are we as humans so connected to music?
Making music is one of our most basic instincts. There's a reason we refer to music as the "universal language"; there has been no known human culture without music. Dancing and music came before agriculture, and possibly even before language. Bone flutes were found in Europe dating back 53,000 years ago. The head of the Biomusic program at the National Academy of the Sciences, Patricia Gray, and her colleagues comment, "The fact that whale and human music have so much in common even though our evolutionary paths have not intersected for 60 million years suggests that music may predate humans-that rather than being the inventors of music, we are latecomers to the musical scene." (Leutwyler)
Music and Childhood
We begin life being affected by music; babies first begin to respond to music while still in the womb. Whether or not it's true, everyone has heard that playing classical music for your baby supposedly helps him or her become smarter. A study done in the United Kingdom concluded that children are able to recognize and even prefer music that they had heard while in the womb up to three months before birth. Although the genera of music made no difference, the babies who were exposed to songs with a faster tempo showed a stronger preference for that song than those who had heard something slower. ("Babies Remember Music Heard in the Womb") Researchers have also found that the playing of soft background music or a mother's humming actually helps premature babies. Those who are subjected to the music tend to gain weight faster and are able to leave hospitals earlier than those who aren't. (Cromie, "Music on the Brain")
However, the study in the UK uncovered no links between babies listening to music and increased intelligence or brain development. Another experiment at the University of California at Irvine compared the puzzle-solving abilities of 3-year-olds who were given piano lessons with the ability of others who sang, used computers, or did nothing. The children studying piano were better at the puzzles. Also, high school students with a musical background seem to do better on their SATs. (Cromie, "How Your Brain Listens to Music") Whether it's natural intelligence that helps the children excel in both music and math, or the music that helps develop other areas, you can't deny the benefits of a musical background.
On the other end of the spectrum, it's possible that some music and/or lyrics could be bad for children and adolescents. The lyrics of today's popular music are increasingly explicit. A study on mass media and adolescents showed that a group of "14- to 16-year olds in 10 different southeastern cities showed that they listened to music an average of 40 hours per week." ("Impact of Music Lyrics...") Obviously, the music they are listening to plays a large part in their lives, especially influencing self-identity. So any bad influences in the music would have a very direct effect on the adolescent.
Several other experiments mentioned in the American Academy of Pediatrics' policy statement on the "Impact of Music Lyrics and Music Videos on Children and Youth" supported this idea. One study from Sweden found that children who developed a preference to rock music were more likely to be influenced by their peers than by their parents. Others showed links between a predilection for heavy metal and detrimental behaviors, including taking drugs, suicide risk, alienation, and other risk-taking habits. The AAP doesn't support the idea of censorship, but strongly encourages parents to monitor what their children are listening to. We have to ask, should we as a society look at the results of these effects on adolescents and call for regulation in the music industry?
Music and the Mind
William J. Cromie, writer for the Harvard Gazette, explains how we our brain listens to music. "Your inner ear contains a spiral sheet that the sounds of music pluck like a guitar string. This plucking triggers the firing of brain cells that make up the hearing parts of your brain. At the highest station, the auditory cortex, just above your ears, these different firing cells create the conscious experience of music. Different patterns...excite other cells, and these associate the sound of music with feelings, thoughts, and past experiences." (Cromie, "How Your Brain Listens to Music") This is just a generalized statement; the actual processes that go on are very complicated, and we don't really know all that much about them.
- Jack