The Role of Music in Brain Development

Music plays an integral role in so many lives, not just those of professional musicians. It's a method of prescribed therapy, a strategy for students to study and stay focused, and an approach for parents to soothe their children and allow them to explore new emotions. But why does music have such a powerful effect on the brain? And what short- and long-term effects does it provide?

When a baby is born, it already has billions of brain cells called neurons. Over the years, as the baby grows, these neurons create connections with other neurons. These connections are vital to the function of our systems. They send communications from all over the body lightning-fast to the brain, allowing it  to carry out specialized brain functions and relay messages. Children who grow up listening to music, especially classical music, develop stronger music-related connections between their neurons. An article on the University of Georgia Extension website states, “The classical music pathways in our brain are similar to the pathways we use for spatial reasoning…[however] our improved spatial skills, [the capacity to understand, reason, and remember the visual and spatial relations among objects or space], fade within about an hour after we stop listening to the music” (Bales). It is important to note that brain pathways — and even whole networks — are strengthened when used and weakened when not used. Scientists believe that the complexity of the structure of classical music is why it has a more noticeable effect on developing children rather than rock and roll or country music. The complex structure of classical music allows babies up to threemonths to recall selections they may have heard before, regardless of how often it was played. In fact, “researchers think the complexity of classical music is what primes the brain to solve spatial problems more quickly” (Bales). According to multiple studies, researchers believe music, especially classical music, can successfully prepare our brains to think and react in a certain way.

Not only does music promote connections between neurons in our brain, but studies show it accelerates the process of maturing in the brain, “particularly in the areas responsible for processing sound, language development, speech perception, and reading skills, according to initial results of a five-year study by USC neuroscientists” (Gersema). Specifically, this study demonstrated that music instruction speeds up the maturation of the auditory pathway in the brain and increases its efficiency. The study followed thirty seven kids from underprivileged neighborhoods within Los Angeles. Thirteen of these children received  musical instruction starting at the age of 6 or 7 at the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles program at HOLA (Heart of Los Angeles), a nonprofit devoted to helping underprivileged young people. Neuroscientists monitored brain development of these thirteen children and discovered that their auditory systems were maturing faster than in the other children. This fine-tuning of their auditory pathways could potentially accelerate their language and reading development. To further explain the outcome of the study, “the enhanced maturity reflects an increase in neuroplasticity – a physiological change in the brain in response to its environment – in this case, exposure to music and music instruction”(Gersema). Music engages and activates various regions in the brain, creating a multisensory experience that involves not only the areas responsible for processing sound, but also cognitive, emotional, and motor regions. Listening to music activates the auditory cortex in the temporal lobes close to your ears. Additionally, parts of the brain involved in emotion are not only activated during emotional music, but also  synchronized with the auditory region of the brain. According to the National Library of Medicine, “Music also activates a variety of memory regions. And, interestingly, music activates the motor system. It has been theorized that it is the activation of the brain’s motor system that allows us to pick out the beat of the music even before we start tapping our foot to it!” (Trimble). While activating different parts of the brain, music also has benefits for people who suffer from epilepsy: “evidence suggests that music can decrease seizure frequency, stop refractory status epilepticus and decrease electroencephalographic spike frequency in children with epilepsy in awake and sleep states” (Trimble). As seen through the study, listening to music provides healthy stimuli for the human brain.

What I find to be the most interesting about the interaction between our brains and music is the fact that music is solely based on emotion: there is no calculable logic to its creation and flow. As the National Library of Medicine says, “If it is a language, music is a language of feeling. Musical rhythms are life rhythms, and music with tensions, resolutions, crescendos and diminuendos, major and minor keys, delays and silent interludes, with a temporal unfolding of events, does not present us with a logical language” (Trimble). I suppose that explains why we are so attracted to it. Humans are drawn to beautiful and complicated things they don't understand. What is more beautiful than the immeasurable benefits of a mood-altering, alluring symphony of perfectly composed notes and brilliantly metaphorical lyrics strung together to create a song?

As children, the meaning of music came easier to us than the meaning of words did. This brief carried over into our adult years and impacts how we think, as music has the extraordinary ability to articulate emotions and thoughts that often elude verbal expression. It has been proved that music changes how our brain develops and acts since our research has only scratched the surface, who knows how else music affects us?

Works Cited and Consulted:

Bales, Diane W. “The Role of Music in Brain Development.” University of Georgia Extension, 1 Oct. 2006, extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C1053-06&title=the-role-of-music-in-brain-development.

Budson, Andrew. “Why Is Music Good for the Brain?” Harvard Health, 7 Oct. 2020, www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-is-music-good-for-the-brain-2020100721062.

Gersema, Emily. “Children’s Brains Develop Faster with Music Training.” USC Today, 20 Sept. 2023, today.usc.edu/childrens-brains-develop-faster-with-music-training/#:~:text=Music%20instruction%20appears%20to%20accelerate,year%20study%20by%20USC%20neuroscientists. 

Trimble M, Hesdorffer D. Music and the brain: the neuroscience of music and musical appreciation. BJPsych Int. 2017 May 1;14(2):28-31. doi: 10.1192/s2056474000001720. PMID: 29093933; PMCID: PMC5618809.