RelationDigest: [New post] Musical Magic

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Musical Magic

by Prajakta Ishwar Patil

I want to start off talking about music and spirituality by discussing the psychology of music.

Music acts like a food for the soul. Music have significant effects on our psychology and behavior. A type of audible, sound wave, music can be vocal or instrumental in origin. Sound waves of music have a characteristic harmony, certain patterns of frequencies and amplitude that our mind finds pleasant. Our choice of music is a reflection of our mentality, behavior, motives and emotions that explain the difference in your track-lists at workout place.

I feel that, if we look at both sides, we could truly have a better understanding of the big picture. It all started in 1982, when research began in supermarkets with different tempos of music. As you can already guess, faster tempo music cause people to move faster, slower music subconsciously, cause people to walk up and down the passage at a slower pace. This gave shoppers, more time to be captivated by the displays and marketing in return. Spending more money in the same way high volume restaurants play fast tempo music to make you eat faster and get you in and out in less time.

As this research has been used to manipulate us, we can utilize it. To learn how to use music as a positive tool, as you may already listen to fast tempo music to workout or run, you can do the same when cleaning at home. Slower tempo music should be used when studying or reading.

Now we've all been there when you're sad and you just want to listen to sad music. Sad music, however, will only be bringing negativity on top of negativity. Instead, if we listen to more happy and uplifting music, we can use it as an audio antidepressant of sorts. Initially, it will take time to adjust but after some time it will start lightening your mood and will eventually make you happy.

Music is deeply interrelated to various human behaviors. These behaviors include listening, performing, composing, reading, writing, various supporting activities, or even simply the tapping of feet. Musical training has been shown to support memory. Research have shown that we listen to same music/songs over and over due to musical nostalgia. One major study found that music enables the mind to evoke memories of the past. Music form different types of memories in different regions of brain. That's why a person with Alzheimer's disease who forgot the notes can still play a complex piano.

Let's see what music does to our brain

It has been found that musicians have more developed front part of the corpus callosum. There is a strong correlation of musical exposure before the age of seven, and a great increase in the size of the corpus callosum. The fibers of corpus callosum joined together left and right hemispheres which indicate an increased relaying. Between both sides of the brain, this large relaying across many different areas of the brain contribute towards music's ability to aid in memory function. When pleasant note are played, cerebral blood flow increases in brain regions such as the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, ventral striatum, midbrain, and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

According to the National Institute of Health, children and adults who are suffering from emotional trauma have been able to benefit from the use of music in a variety of ways.

I leave you with this the next time you want to listen to a particular song that your memory has brought up. Ask yourself, will this keep me where I am or bring me closer towards where I want to be? Use music, don't let music use you.