‘Context is Pre-Grad Thesis’

Music definitely has an effect on the mind of the listener, and can be used to enhance the creative process. A very long time has passed since the Neolithic Age when the initial development of technology started. However nearly every culture or race has some kind of music or singing, some that induces calmness or excitement like effects. Recently I have come to know the strong relationship between creativity, intelligence and music.

Music affects the intellect of humans in various ways. In specific, it affects infants more than any other age group. Music has shown to improve learning, test taking, and concentration skills. With so much research behind the music-mind connection, a lot of research spans across all various areas. An individuals early learning experience determines which parts of the brain (neurons) will connect with each other and which ones will die off. The right hemisphere of the brain process information in a spontaneous way, in contrast the left brain processes information in a linear or sequential way. Subjects such as Math, or English are left brained. Scientists in 1994 conducted research as a byproduct of an experiment using pre-schoolers.

One group was trained for piano and keyboard lessons, another for computer lessons, a third for group received no training at all. After a period of 4 months the students were measured on abstract reasoning tests, and the piano and keyboard students on average scored 34% higher than other children.

In 1993, two scientists Gordon Shaw and Frances Rauscher from the University of California designed an experiment to prove that listening to Mozart’s music had a positive effect on the human brain. This research gave birth to the “Mozart Effect”

Even hypnotists also use a repetitive tone consistently in their practice so that they can induce a state of mind to treat the patient. Currently in the age of Post modernity, the new sort of electronic music such as trance and techno has also shown to produce similar effects. Those who study the human brain say that a sort of brain wave called the Theta Wave is responsible for calmness and relaxation.

According to Norman M. Weinberger a neurobiologist from University of California. Music exists in every culture and even young babies have musical abilities that are not explainable by learning. Mothers around the world sing to their babies to make them calmer and happier. He even explained of the “Mozart Effect” that when college students listened to Mozart they become smarter but the effect only lasted for a few minutes.

In addition, Musicologist Julius Portnoy states that music has the ability to change metabolic rates, effect blood pressure, and even digestion. According to his research classical music was found to have a calming effect on the body and increase feel good hormones such as endorphins. To such an extent that 30 minutes equal to the effect of a single does of Valium.

In contrast music has been also shown to cause sickness and act like a poison to the body. Loud rock music caused plants to die, and soft classical music made them grow faster. In the book “Secret Power of Music “ by David Tame, the author mentions, “music is more than a language, it is the language of languages. It can be said that of all the arts, the is none other that more powerfully moves and changes the consciousness.”

According Academy of Pediatrics, studies indicate that people who prefer heavy metal music have significant higher chances of substance abuse, suicide risk, and risk-taking behavior. Music effects people in different ways or the same person at different times in different ways. For example if a person dislikes Jazz, then it will not make him feel good. A person’s preference for specific kind of music also affects the effect the music will have on that person.

In 1997, in a book written by Don Campbell, “The Mozart Effect:Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit” a theory is discussed that listening to his Piano Concertos may temporarily increase a person’s IQ, and also produce other beneficial effects on the brain. Campbell further states that the music helps to reduce stress, depression, anxiety, and improve memory and awareness.

A further investigation at Department of Psychology at Bellarmine College used complex pencil and paper mazes of different sorts and re-confirmed older research that listening to Mozart’s Music has a beneficial effect on the mind. Their research proved that an average student completed 2.68 mazes in 8 minutes while listening the music, and only 2.2 when completing the maze in silence. Music has such a profound and significant effect on people that scientists have yet to figure out the specifics of the effects it has in detail.

However according to two teams of researchers in 1999, Christopher F. Chabris and Kenneth M.Steele. Chabris states that any cognitive enhancement from music is very small and is simply a neuropsychological explanation call “enjoyment arousal.” Basically meaning their performance of subjects listening to the music improved because they enjoyed what they were listening too. Thus performance does improve but scientists differ in opinion, why exactly it does.

As I further continue my research into music and it’s effect on the mind. I will further look into books, newspaper and magazine articles about what exactly the specific effects are what particular kinds of music, and what the latest research brings forward about the effects of music. Also while I conduct my research on music, I will further try to understand the technicalities of what music really is.