Brain Facts:
Music

Alzheimer’s—Music

Daniel J. Levitin pointed out in his 2007 book, This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, that victims of Alzheimer’s disease can lose massive amounts of memory and still remember songs, especially songs of their younger years. According to Levitin, the emotional centers of the brain work together with neurotransmitters to “tab” our memories of the music we find to be emotionally charged, That explains why each generation grows nostalgic about its music and why “oldies but goodies” radio formats are easy to find on the dial. Teenage years are emotionally charged—if not to say volatile—and connections to that music are etched deeply.

Music—Activation

Subjects who imagined hearing music showed activation of a major hearing area in their brains, the auditory cortex, almost as powerful as the activation in subjects who actually heard the music performed.
Saks explains that the activities of hearing, composing, and performing music activate that auditory cortex, plus the motor cortex, plus other brain regions involved in choosing and planning. The fact that these regions can kick into musical gear even in the absence of sound explains one of the most amazing facts in the history of are—Beethoven could still compose music even after becoming deaf.

Pro vs. Amateur Musician

Professional musicians use more neurons in brain areas related to music when compared to the brains of nonmusicians. Even when they’re just listening to music, musicians activate more neurons than nonmusicians.