The effect of music on the brain

Scientists at American northwestern University, led by neurologist Nina Kraus, conducted an interesting experiment that proves the direct effect of music on the brain.

While reading this article, I suggest you listen to songs online and enjoy your favorite music.

The main task of the experiment is to study the influence of music on a person’s ability to concentrate.

The experiment involved two dozen volunteers who were asked to view a film of their choice.In the process of viewing, the word from the Mandarin dialect “mi” sounded as a background. It has musicality, changing its meaning depending on the key. On a high tone, it means “embarrass”, on a low tone – “rice”, on a normal tone – “look askance”. Interestingly, half of the subjects had previously studied music, but there were no professional musicians among them. All subjects knew only the English language, none of them were familiar with the Mandarin dialect. The experiment showed that those people who were related to music understood the actor’s speech much better than others.

Patrick Wong, the University’s chief scientist, said that the brain activity of the volunteers was under particularly close surveillance, given that all attention was focused on the film itself.

Interestingly, the areas that are responsible for the most important functions of the body – breathing and heartbeat, also perceive music. The biggest effect on them is improvisation or live music.

Scientists say that people do not yet understand how deeply music is perceived by our body. Nina Kraus stressed that it is not necessary to skip music classes at school, because it helps our brain to start working and focus attention.