Fourth Day: Primary Auditory Cortex

Today I investigated the primary auditory cortex.  From several medical encyclopedias I've found online, I've learned quite a bit about this part of the brain which deals with all types of sounds.  Thus, it plays a huge role in our ability to listen to music and speech (as I found out previously, these two are interrelated) and gives us a sense of rhythm.

Also, there is a part of the auditory cortex, called Wernicke's area, that is involved in even processing WRITTEN language.  Actually, this is the subelement of the auditory cortex that allows us to understand language.  The orientation of Wernicke's area, depending on whether it is on the left or right hemisphere of the brain, also makes us right or left handed!

Interestingly, the neurons, or nerve cells, in this area of the brain are arranged in a specific manner.  Certain nerve cells only respond when a particular signal arrives from the ears, corresponding to a specific frequency.  That is really cool, because that means that different neurons activate when I hear different sounds.  It's quite similar to what goes on in the ear, actually!  If you lose part of your auditory cortex, then it just means you've lost the ability to listen to a particular range of pitches.

The primary auditory cortex is responsible for handling simpler elements in sound, such as pitch.  The secondary auditory cortex, which I might cover later, handles complex rhythmic patterns and gives us the ability to enjoy music.

This was an interesting day investigating the first step in how our brains perceive music.  It is really much more complex than I ever thought, and it is even related to our ability to use written language!  Who knew?!

Third Day: Tonal Languages and the Library

Today is the third to we have had to work on this project.  From now on, I shall be devoting time outside of class to researching music's effects on the brain, such as doing some supplementary reading.

That said, a Scientific American article titled "Music and the Brain" from September 2004 piqued my attention.  Along with other reading I have done so far, I have discovered that the brain processes speech and music in the same centers, meaning our minds deal with these two things in similar ways.  In a sense, speech and music are the same to us.  This discovery has led to new perspectives on how we perceive languages and music because of their similarities.  Some languages, like European languages, rely on the meaning of words.  Others, especially the East Asian languages like Chinese and Korean, heavily depend on tone to get the meaning across.  As a Chinese speaker myself, I use four distinct tones while speaking.  A specific sound in Chinese will have four tones that accompany it, meaning one sound (perhaps one combination of letters that represents a word in English) may actually have four meanings, or even more.  Thus, such languages almost bridge the gap between music and language, further blurring the line that separates these two.  The same Scientific American article also mentioned the properties of religious chanting and the cries of street vendors: both are tonal in nature, yet carry the meaning associated with a developed language.  Just another thing to consider when one thinks about what exactly music is, as opposed to language.  Increasingly, I am believing that these two are one and the same, based on evidence from the article that says humans have been innately connected to music for millenia.

That said, it is my ongoing task to investigate how music influences our language and music perception centers of the brain.  I have seen a promising book at the Lake Oswego Public Library titled The Power of Music : Pioneering Discoveries in the New Science of Song, by Elena Mannes.  I will place this book on hold and read it at a later date, which will possibly give me a new perspective on how music influences us.

For the time being, that is all for now.  I have unearthed other resources on the Internet and at the library, and this weekend I shall read more deeply into them, thereby allowing me to focus my research a little more.

Second Day, and a Good Start

Today is the second Google day at band.  It is an opportunity for me to get started on my research concerning music and the brain.  I have decided to investigate how exactly music affects brain function.

I have also taken the opportunity to set some concrete goals and expectations for myself.  I will be able to put time into this project outside of school.  It will certainly be a welcome break from all the other schoolwork.

So far, I have read some scientific studies by Scientific American and the federal government.  For example, I read a July 2010 article by the aforementioned magazine on the connections between music and language.  The effects of language have been studied extensively, but music has not been investigated as thoroughly.  With the realization that music and language are processed similarly in the same areas of the brain, it leads to the possibility of researching music's effects on our brains through an entirely new perspective.  This article can be found at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=speaking-in-tones-jul10.

More posts are coming soon, as I discover new ways of looking at music.  I have always played music, but never looked at it in the scientific perspective that I scrutinize the rest of the world with.  Seeing as it is only the second day, upcoming discoveries are sure to be interesting and very surprising!