Introduction

Ever wonder how people would say that hearing music makes it much easier to work? How others stay more focused finishing tasks in school , work etc. Ever wonder how the brain works that way , well it’s called cognitive neuroscience. Meaning that it checks how the brain thinks and learns. And how music helps the brain’s performance by paying attention and remembering things. In a more depth explanation in the scholarly article in Nature Reviews Neuroscience

“ When the brain plays music auditory -motor interactions in music perception and production.” Mentioning that “ the premotor and supplementary motor cortices cerebellum and basal ganglia are all implicated in these motor processes but their precise contribution varies according to the demands of the task” In short words the supplementary help plan movements while the cerebellum keeps things in sync and the basal ganglia control how the body moves. So once thereis any source of music like rhythm , melody and harmony it allows the listener to enhance their focus in various settings. In some other cases it also depends on one’s own mood. Listening to music that makes you feel good can boost moods which increases motivation and help with memory recall. Now with the information gathered to know how music works. How one functions with it , how does music help remember things in our task. For example, ever heard that when listening to music while studying , then listening to the same music it recalls what was being learned? Well according in this scholarly article “ Music synchronizes brain waves across listeners with strong effects of repetition, familiarity and training” Written by Jens , Madison , and Margulis supposedly that “ the study suggests that listeners engagement tends to decrease across repeated exposures of familiar music, but that unfamiliar musical styles can sustain an audience’s interest, in particular in individuals with some musical training”. Basically what it’s informing the reader is that when studying it’s recommended to music that’s new. That ‘ll help improve the learning experience , allowing to lock in tasks. But compared to listening to familiar music, meaning songs that are on repeat , won’t really help with studies. Which can lead to a decrease in engagement. It shows signs of “repeated exposure to music will affect engagement and thus inter-subject correlation”

Following along with this article an ISE ( Inter-Subject Correlation) experiment was conducted on fellow participants. ISE meaning its a model-free statistical analysis that measures how consistently individuals respond to stimuli in the brain. In this experiment participants were given9 excerpts of instrument music to be heard. Each had to be heard 3 times but randomized while doing that it was asked to pay attention very closely to the music while looking at a fixation crosson a screen to minimize eye movements and ensure a maximum of alertness with eyes open.ISC is measured with highest being the most engagement in the task and the lowest engagement being less engaging in task. As shown the ISC drops as soon the repeated exposure of music is introduced being the black dots ( each dot is an indicated participant) In Experiment 1, ISC values for each participant were higher for excerpts in a familiar style compared to those in an unfamiliar style. For familiar style excerpts, ISC decreased after the second and third presentations, while for unfamiliar style excerpts, ISC remained steady across repetitions.

This pattern was tested using two-way repeated measures called ANOVA which assessed the effects of stimulus repetition and the familiarity of the style. Which confirms what the article pointed out stating “ Tis confirms our main hypothesis that ISC drops with repeated exposure to music in a familiar style, but not for music in an unfamiliar style. Tis is consistent with our interpretation of ISC as a correlate of music engagement—familiar music starts of as more engaging, but might quickly become boring, whereas unfamiliar music might remain interesting across repetitions”.

Another advantage of music is learning music , as in using an instrument like guitar , saxophone , cello , double bass etc. Meaning the process of learning musical notes , the time and dedication can enhance the brain even more. In the article Nature Reviews Neuroscience “ Music in the brain” explained that “ changes in networks for auditory processing, motor representations, emotion, visual perception and mental imagery. Thus, the study of how musicians’ brains evolve through daily training is an effective way of gaining insight into the brain’s remarkable potential for change during development and training”. In short words they explain how there is a major difference in the cognitive skills between musicians and non musicians in the brain structure and brain function. A change in having a “morphological” difference in some things like in the fibre bundle in the corpus callosum as well as increases in cerebellar volume and gray matter volume increases in primary motor including the somatosensory areas in the left precentral gyrus, premotor areas and left cerebellum. All of these parts of the cerebral are benefitting for the learning of music , its an increase or making the brain stronger in one’s life span.

In other cases music and remembrance is a major beneficial impact to the elderly. Usually when an older person experiences significant forgetfulness. Often referred to as dementia; a medical term describing a decline in cognitive abilities, including memory, that impacts daily life, and can be caused by various brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. In this article from BMC Geriatrics “Train the brain with music (TBM): brain plasticity and cognitive benefits induced by musical training in elderly people in Germany and Switzerland, a study protocol for an RCT comparing musical instrumental practice to sensitization to music” analyze that music training with elderly is exceptional with there brain remembrance. Explaining that “We expect positive transfer effects from intensive piano training (intervention group) – as compared to listening and learning about music without practice Associated functional and structural brain plasticity may show in gray and white matter in temporal (medial and lateral), prefrontal and parietal areas. We specifically anticipate – in connection with these cognitive changes – less decline or increase of gray matter volume and activation in the hippocampus, and improved functional networking in frontal areas during working memory tasks”. This example demonstrates the change in both structural and functional skills that can help with memory and thinking skills. Some of the benefits target white matter (processing information) , white matter (thinking) , and prefrontal cortex ( planning , decision making and remembrance). All of this enhance with the learning of music take the time and dedication learning an musical instrument 

At the end of the day music’s impact on the brain is undeniable. Its ability to change or influence everything from memory , learning and health. Even through boosting work memory it proves to be a powerful tool for brain health. As science continues to learn ways how music can change the brain’s function but demonstrates how music isn’t just for entertainment but an essence to the human experience and development.