Music and the Brain
The Neuroscience of Communication and Music
Have you ever wondered how we communicate with each other, or why music has such a powerful effect on our emotions? The fields of neuroscience and psychology are shedding light on these fascinating topics, and the results are surprising.
Semantic Communication vs. Effective Communication
Semantic communication is the transfer of semantic information without regard to its reception or emotional response. This type of communication is managed largely by the left brain, where thoughts are dissected into parts from which meaning can be extracted. Effective communication, on the other hand, is the method of communicating emotion and meaning. It goes beyond the actual exchange of information and involves interpretation and complexity. Most human communication is a mix of both semantic and effective communication, and it can take various forms, including speech, music, lyricism, dance, and other forms of art. While all species have a method for effective communication, few have semantic communication. Humans, dolphins, and other vocal learning species are among the few that have developed this ability.
Vocal Learning and its Connection to Dance
Vocal learning is the ability of some species to modify and produce new sounds via complex vocal organs like a mammalian larynx or avian syrinx. Only eight animal groups have been found to exhibit vocal learning, including humans, bats, cetaceans, pinnipeds, elephants, songbirds, parrots, and hummingbirds. Vocal learning pathways are deeply embedded within circuits for movement. When speech evolved, it required a tight integration between the brain regions that hear sound and the regions that control your muscles for moving your larynx, tongue, and producing sound. The theory connecting this to dance is that, as speech developed, it contaminated other areas of the brain such that movement (like dance and singing) was also associated with the emotion that was trying to be conveyed. Therefore, vocal learning and dance are closely connected.
The Disconnect between Creation and Interpretation of Dance/Music/Art
While all people have an innate ability to interpret effective communication via dance, music, and other art forms, fewer people have innate “talent” in creating it. Many people can hear music/sound in their head, know what they want it to sound like, and just cannot get it to sound like that. Artistic talent is a genetic disposition just as athletic talent is. There are genetic linkages to fast twitch muscles in high-performance athletes just as there are genetic linkages to, for example, being able to find pitch without assistance — i.e., perfect pitch. The study of the interpretation and creation of effective communication is young, so there is still much to be explored from this field. In fact, the study of dance through the lens of neuroscience is only 5 years old.
The Whole Brain Response to Music
Music stimulates the whole brain, including the auditory cortex, visual cortex, motor cortex, cerebellum, and hippocampus. Music also causes structural changes in the brain. The brains of children who have studied music have stronger connections between the left and right hemispheres, manifested in a physical sense by a higher density of fibers connecting the two regions.
Emotional/Physical Responses to Music
Frisson is the tingly good feeling you can get from music, and not everyone gets it. The connection between the auditory cortex and the region of the brain that processes emotion is stronger (more fibers/connections) in people that can experience frisson. The type of music also affects the physical response. Think classical music vs. rock ‘n roll, and the emotions brought along by each. The more someone connects emotionally to music, the more likely they will exhibit a type of physical response.
During musical performance, many areas of the brain light up (audio, visual, motor, etc.). However, during improvisation, the prefrontal cortex gets significantly less active, as if the prefrontal cortex (which controls focus, understanding, and control) is “letting go” to allow for creativity. This letting go is interestingly still a survival response, not just an artistic response. Humans cannot just do rote memorization tasks and survive. We need to be able to improvise situations to learn and evolve. Music is the universal language, and people can experience, learn, and understand music without understanding the language or format itself. This also points back to the evolutionary idea that effective communication existed before semantic communication.
In conclusion, the fields of neuroscience and psychology are making significant strides in understanding how we communicate with each other and how music affects our emotions and physical responses. These findings have implications for various fields, including education, therapy, and even marketing. As we continue to explore these topics, we may gain a better understanding of what it means to be human and how we can improve our communication with each other.
