It is remarkable how children, especially infants are able to perceive, analyze and distinguish various elements in music. They are not passively listeners to music, music is not just washing over them. Now that effective scientific methods of investigation have been innovated, we can see that infants are “active listeners and adept learners” (Trehub, 2010, p. 79).
Read MoreAnecdotally, parents and therapists have long reported a ‘magical’ response to music by children diagnosed on the spectrum. These responses, even as infants contrast the ways in which they seem to ignore speech and environmental sounds, subsequently children on the spectrum have frequently been confused or misdiagnosed as deaf or hard-of-hearing. Pamela Heaton, a noted researcher in autism reported that, “data from empirical studies show that many autistic children possess musical potential that can and should be developed” (2009).
Read MoreIt was long thought that music was a by-product of our evolutionary history. Some bit of a tag along to the magnificence of language and cognition. What neuroscience is now looking at is the essence of music in tuning the brain to perceive, identify and analyze sounds in preparation for learning language.
Read MoreThe current incidence of dyslexia is 1:5. Parents of children who have a family history of dyslexia, may want to enroll their children in early childhood music education classes starting in infancy. Research from Children’s Hospital in Boston shows that 3 year olds who can’t distinguish patterns of sound as being the same or different, have a higher probability of becoming dyslexic. This cutting edge, progressive research again shows us the import of music, especially in the 0-7 year age range (see the review for music in infancy) to train the brain for listening.
Read MoreOxytocin is the drug that floods a new mother following the birth of her child. It is this hormone that binds us one to another and thus is often called the ‘cuddle hormone.’ It establishes and reinforces our bonding with another. It is an outcome of singing together as well.
Read MoreIn neuroscience, we can teach the primary locations and systems for visual processing, voluntary movement, language, speech production, emotions and memory formation. We cannot do that for music, and herein lies the beauty and its power. Music is diffusely activated throughout the brain—right, left, cortical, subcortical, anterior and posterior. It owns no particular ‘real estate.’ Much of the brain is involved in detection of even the simplest musical patterns.
Read MoreI began to contemplate why Karen’s abilities in music were so very advanced and how this affiliation with music could interfere with her self-injurious gouging behaviors. After seeing many people for whom this was true, I set up an experiment to move beyond observation to investigation. The experiment was an intra-subject design meaning that the same person served as both a subject in the control condition (without music) and the experimental condition (with music). The study began with the psychology team evaluating the frequency and types of self-injurious behaviors for the eight participants. In pilot sessions and then the actual sessions, we played music groups for periods of 20 minutes. Two psychologists rated whether the subjects were self-stimulating or not (binary assess) every thirty seconds.
Read MoreI know, strange title, eh? It refers to the past and possibly present status of music in society. Let’s start with the past.
Read MoreI recently picked up Thomas Fleming’s book Duel at a kiosk in Boston’s historic Fanueil Hall. As I read its account of the parallel lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, I found that I already knew many of the details of their lives and their relationship. That’s because my husband, daughter and I have been listening to the soundtrack of the smash Broadway production Hamilton (and also yearning to see it live). With its compelling rhythms, lush melodies and clever rhymes, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical makes the facts of Hamilton’s life easy to remember:
Read MoreIn 1993, an article in the prestigious academic journal Nature created massive public interest in the power of music on the brain. The study reported that college students who listened to a Mozart piano concerto before taking a test that measured visual-spatial abilities did better than those who received relaxation instructions or silence.
Read MoreDr. Kathleen Howland is a neurologic music therapist, speech and language pathologist, educator and advocate. She teaches at Berklee College of Music and The Boston Conservatory. She lectures internationally on how the power of music can heal the brain and the heart.
