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How Can Humans Utilise Music

How music is perceived and how it can be utilised for enjoyment and wellbeing

Date : 24/11/2015

Author Information

Holly

Uploaded by : Holly
Uploaded on : 24/11/2015
Subject : Music

In 1993, Rauscher, Shaw and Ky published an influential report which demonstrated enhanced spatial ability of college students after listening to the allegro con spirito movement of Mozart's KV 448. The mass media responded by positing that listening to Mozart would improve the IQ ratings of young children, which led to the merchandising of Mozart products aimed at mothers. For instance 'The Mozart Effect Resource Centre' which sells Mozart albums with accompanying books promises to offer: '...a blueprint to spark the creativity and intellectual potential of children.' How true are these claims? A meta-analysis of all published studies on the 'Mozart effect' spanning nearly twenty years, found that although there were small, significant observable improvements in spatial ability on subjects who were exposed to Mozartian music compared to subjects who were exposed to non-musical stimuli, the amount of improvement was very similar to the effect that any musical stimuli compared to no musical stimuli evoked. Does this mean that music can have beneficial effects on development and can any music prove useful? Recent research certainly implies that music processing in humans is a unique biological experience and has neurological bases. This discourse objectively examines how music is utilised from the beginning of an individual's lifespan and beyond and presents findings on how it can be used to benefit humans via novel and innovative methods. How do we hear? In order for a vehicle to receive and interpret sounds, it is fundamental for it to possess mechanical equipment which is able to facilitate this. In humans, hearing starts with the most salient feature, the outer ear. This directs sound into the external auditory meatus; a tunnel-like feature which leads to the tympanum (the eardrum). The alternating pressure of sound waves vibrate the tympanum and these vibrations reach a spiral cavity called the cochlea via three miniscule connective bones (the ossicles) known, in order, as the malleus, incus and stapes. These structural features of the auditory system are in formation within twenty weeks of conception. Within the cochlea resides the organ of Corti, where sound vibrations are converted into neural signals. The apex of minute hair cells within the organ of Corti literally vibrates upon the reception of sound, initiating the transmission of nerve signals through a collection of nerve cells called the spiral ganglia into the auditory cortex of the brain. These neurological mechanisms of hearing are developed between twenty and twenty-five weeks of gestation, leading to fully functioning hearing capability after twenty-five weeks inside the womb. From this point up to five or six months of infancy, exists the critical period of auditory development. It is vital during this period that the tiny hair cells within the cochlea and their associated nerve cells leading to the auditory cortex receive a variety of auditory stimulation, including speech, music and environmental sounds. Appropriate auditory stimulation during the critical period ensures the tuning of the hair cells within the cochlea as well as the full development of features within the auditory cortex, including the tonotopic columns which are responsible for the identification of incoming frequencies. Tuning of hair cells is extremely specific and adjacent hair cells differ in tuning by one thirtieth of a semitone. The tuning of a hair cell determines the frequency at which it will fully respond. When outside the womb, neural activity in the auditory cortex can spark off activity in the hippocampus which is responsible for memory. This allows the listener to make sense of sound by searching their memory to find matching past examples. However, it has been shown that foetuses can create auditory memories too, limited to their mother's voice and specific tunes. In multiple experiments with newborns, amount of sucking increased and heart rate decreased exclusively upon hearing their mother's voice as compared to other female voices. Similarly, regular prenatal exposure to a maternal lullaby or theme songs of television shows watched daily by the mother induced the same soothed reactions as the maternal voice when replayed after birth. These abilities are dependent on the foetus being awake during auditory experiences, auditory experiences being repeated and the foetus obtaining sufficient sleep. When a foetus is in a rapid eye movement (REM) state during the fifth stage of sleep, the brain waves associated with this stage produce synapses in the auditory cortex that manifest into auditory memories. As long as the correct conditions for auditory development are provided to a foetus, they will have formed connections between simple sounds and their relevant emotional implications by thirty-four to thirty-six weeks of gestation. For instance, their mother's utterances and familiar pieces of music will not only be acknowledged by the auditory cortex; the limbic system which stores memories of emotion will attribute the relevant feeling to the experience. Whilst recent literature on the effects of music during infancy frequently cites the ability of prenates to learn particular sounds and attach appropriate emotional labels to them, the usage of this phenomena has been restricted up to now in reducing infant crying and modifying sucking behaviour rather than advancing intelligence. Lullabies are used, often effectively, as a soothing tool. In studies where lullabies accompanied desired behaviour in infants, be it intermitting breaks during crying or times of increased frequency of sucking in poor feeders, future presentation of the lullaby to the infants evoked the same desired response. Importantly these findings mean that lullabies, which are cheap, non-invasive and accessible, could be used to aid the transition of premature babies from tubal feeding to normal feeding. More generally, lullabies can be utilised by parents to set meal times and reduce distress in infants. These results may also imply an innate magnetism towards lullabies, considering that few effective and appropriate reinforcers for modifying infant behaviour have been shown to work, other than food or approval. The widespread use of lullabies as an aid for infant rest may also support the possibility of their adaptive significance. Lullabies like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the Cradle Song by Brahms are well-known examples amongst the Western world, but the practice of singing lullabies to infants can be found also in indigenous cultures of the South Pacific, West Africa and Afghanistan. Lullabies and playsongs have been observed to evoke distinct and homogenous behaviours in infants, exemplifying the ability of infants to distinguish musical genres and attribute appropriate emotional labels to musical experiences. Playsongs, which are relatively fast and centre on the higher pitch range, have been shown to increase arousal in child audients, characterised by increased engagement with caregivers and increased outward behaviour. Contrastingly, the slow tempo and lower pitch focus of lullabies seems to be conducive for more introverted behaviour. The discernible performance styles for different musical genres like lullabies and playsongs is thought to facilitate communication when verbal communication is not possible and support infants' initial identification and learning of non-linguistic communicative cues. Much research has identified that the easily distinguishable non-linguistic features of speech and song besides tempo and rhythm, are pitch and pitch contours and that they may convey significant meaning to infants. In speech and melody, rising contours have been observed to evoke captivation, 'bell-shaped' contours starting on a high-pitched tonic seem to be perceived as encouraging and falling motifs within a small range and low pitch centre evoke comfort. Not only do infants prefer speech with these type of exaggerated and discernible pitch contours like music, this type of speech is often automatically adopted when engaging with infants; again supporting the possibility of the adaptive function of infant-directed songs.

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