My latest article response for my composition class responding to this interesting article I happened upon earlier today; Music and the Brain - Laurence O'Donnell. What are your thoughts on this subject or article?
Anna Lofgren
10/11/13
As a boy Albert Einstein’s grades in school were terrible and his teachers sent him home,
telling his parents that he was too stupid to learn. But instead of giving up on him, his parents
bought him a violin and Einstein used music as a learning aid becoming one of the smartest men
in history. Playing music or singing uses both the left and the right side of the brain, exercising
and strengthening it, making learning and memorizing easier and more effective. Music also has
the power to influence our physical and emotional state.
In the article “Music and the Brain” by Laurence O’Donnell, he addresses the issue of the
effects of classical and jazz music versus rock and acid rock on living organisms and the power
music, rhythm and beats have on our brains. Studies have been done on people that have proven
that the rhythm of music either strengthens or weakens the brain’s capacity to take things in
and to memorize. In the studies, a group of postgraduate students were read a list of vocabulary
words. The first group was asked to visualize the words while Handel’s Water music was being
played in the background, the second group was read the same words with the same music
playing but were not asked to visualize the words and finally, the third group was read the
vocabulary words with no music playing and also were not asked to visualize. Results showed
that the first and second groups had better results remembering the words than the third group
and in the end the first group who had been asked to visualize the words had the best results of
all.
Studies have also been done on animals and crops. A psychologist tested rats put into two
boxes with free access to both, rock is played in one of the boxes and musical pieces by Bach
in the second. The rats will choose to move to the box where Bach’s music is being played
over the box where rock is being played, even when the music in the boxes is switched around.
Cows produce more milk when certain pieces of music are played and hens will lay more eggs.
Researchers from Canada also found that wheat crops will grow faster when exposed to certain
ultrasonic and musical sounds.
In 1968 a college student, Dorthy Retallac focused on the different sounds of music instead
of the beat and found that plants grew well for almost every kind of music besides rock and acid
rock. The plants exposed to these types of music withered and died.
I’ve noticed the influence that different types of music have on me. Some will put me into
a good mood where other music will make me feel blue. Also I’ve noticed that listening to
certain types of music either relaxes or riles me, helps me to concentrate or makes my brain feel
cluttered and my thoughts short.
O’Donnel uses a lot of examples of studies to support his point that different types of music,
rhythm and beats affect our brain and body as well as other living organisms in either positive
or negative ways. He has a sound and organized argument that gets his point across persuasively
and effectively. This article is written informatively but an underlying persuasiveness comes
through as he uses valid facts and research to make his point obvious for him without having to
state a personal opinion. Reading this piece by O’Donnell really made me think about the effects
that music has on us and the importance of listening to music that will have positive effects
instead of negative.
Anna Lofgren
10/11/13
The Effects of Music on Our Brain
As a boy Albert Einstein’s grades in school were terrible and his teachers sent him home,
telling his parents that he was too stupid to learn. But instead of giving up on him, his parents
bought him a violin and Einstein used music as a learning aid becoming one of the smartest men
in history. Playing music or singing uses both the left and the right side of the brain, exercising
and strengthening it, making learning and memorizing easier and more effective. Music also has
the power to influence our physical and emotional state.
In the article “Music and the Brain” by Laurence O’Donnell, he addresses the issue of the
effects of classical and jazz music versus rock and acid rock on living organisms and the power
music, rhythm and beats have on our brains. Studies have been done on people that have proven
that the rhythm of music either strengthens or weakens the brain’s capacity to take things in
and to memorize. In the studies, a group of postgraduate students were read a list of vocabulary
words. The first group was asked to visualize the words while Handel’s Water music was being
played in the background, the second group was read the same words with the same music
playing but were not asked to visualize the words and finally, the third group was read the
vocabulary words with no music playing and also were not asked to visualize. Results showed
that the first and second groups had better results remembering the words than the third group
and in the end the first group who had been asked to visualize the words had the best results of
all.
Studies have also been done on animals and crops. A psychologist tested rats put into two
boxes with free access to both, rock is played in one of the boxes and musical pieces by Bach
in the second. The rats will choose to move to the box where Bach’s music is being played
over the box where rock is being played, even when the music in the boxes is switched around.
Cows produce more milk when certain pieces of music are played and hens will lay more eggs.
Researchers from Canada also found that wheat crops will grow faster when exposed to certain
ultrasonic and musical sounds.
In 1968 a college student, Dorthy Retallac focused on the different sounds of music instead
of the beat and found that plants grew well for almost every kind of music besides rock and acid
rock. The plants exposed to these types of music withered and died.
I’ve noticed the influence that different types of music have on me. Some will put me into
a good mood where other music will make me feel blue. Also I’ve noticed that listening to
certain types of music either relaxes or riles me, helps me to concentrate or makes my brain feel
cluttered and my thoughts short.
O’Donnel uses a lot of examples of studies to support his point that different types of music,
rhythm and beats affect our brain and body as well as other living organisms in either positive
or negative ways. He has a sound and organized argument that gets his point across persuasively
and effectively. This article is written informatively but an underlying persuasiveness comes
through as he uses valid facts and research to make his point obvious for him without having to
state a personal opinion. Reading this piece by O’Donnell really made me think about the effects
that music has on us and the importance of listening to music that will have positive effects
instead of negative.
Yeah! I really like the article. It made me think of the verse in Job where God talks about the stars singing - God is asking Job questions
ReplyDelete4“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
5Who determined its dimensions
and stretched out the surveying line?
6What supports its foundations,
and who laid its cornerstone
7as the morning stars sang together
and all the angelsa shouted for joy?
Maybe in some way everything sings we just can't hear all the frequencies with our human ears. Light is a frequency and life is always in motion of some sort - where there is no motion there is no life. Maybe all of creation is a song in some way. It is interesting to me that some kinds of music are beneficial or life giving and some destroy life. Seems appropriate that music that tends to focus on words of death (rock) that the music itself is also destructive. I also read another article that said that music like rock that tends to numb or separate the two halves of the brain works for brain washing - we'd sure want to be careful of that sort of influence as the words flow in without inspection. This type of music also tends to be repetitive pounding the idea deep into our soul. Not to be critical but I think this would also be true of some Christian praise music - it is so repetitive that the brain shuts off - I suppose this wouldn't be harmful as the words are worthy, but it maybe isn't the highest form or worship as it begins to bypass our mind. God wants us to love him with all our heart, all our mind and all our strength (spirit, soul, and body). Ideally then, worship would include all three. It struck me that playing an instrument yourself has such a profound effect on thinking and learning. Seems like it would be valuable then for all children to learn an instrument. This article confirms my own thinking about Baroque classical music - it is wonderful, a special gift to be enjoyed and shared. Thanks for sharing, Anna! Love you! Mom
I Like this article! It makes a lot of sense. Tiana used to play some sort of classical music that just made me feel awful. I don't know what it was, but when she played it I would just feel draggy and depressed. In the same way, I noticed that when I listen to one of my favorite songs it tends to make me happy and cheerful. Once, I found an old Celtic Woman CD of Melisa's. I put it on and the wave of memories was crazy. It kinda made me want to cry. :-) I love music! ~Lavina
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