HISTORY OF MUSIC-BRAIN AND WELLNESS RESEARCH

The connection between active music making and the functioning of the brain and the body has been the subject of intense scientific investigation – some of it supported directly by the American Music Conference, all of it exciting. Researchers have uncovered evidence that making music helps young people develop their brains, helps students perform better in a variety of academic areas and promotes wellness in older people. Now, the study from the Mind-Body Wellness Center adds the prospect of disease-fighting to the mix. Here is a summary of some of the most important music-brain research.

In 1985, Gordon Shaw, Dennis Silverman and John Pearson presented the trion model of the brain’s neuronal structure (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 82 [1985]: 2364-2368).

In 1989, experiments in which musicians performed mental rehearsals of music indicated that music and other creative skills, such as mathematics and chess, may involve extremely precise firing patterns by billions of brain neurons (Leslie Brothers and Gordon Shaw, Models of Brain Function, edited by R. Cotterill. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989).

In 1990, computer experiments revealed that trion firing patterns could be mapped onto pitches and instrument timbres to produce music. This suggested that the trion model is a viable model for the coding of certain aspects of musical structure in human composition and perception, and that the trion model is relevant for examining creativity in higher cognitive functions, such as mathematics and chess, that are similar to music (Xiaodan Leng, Gordon Shaw and Eric Wright, Music Perception, Vol. 8, No.1 [Fall 1990]: 49-62).

In 1991, Xiaodan Leng and Gordon Shaw proposed that music may be considered a "pre- language," and that early music training may be useful in "exercising" the brain for certain higher cognitive functions (Concepts in Neuroscience, Vol. 2, No. 2 [1991]: 229-258).

In 1993, a pilot study found that preschool children given music training displayed significant improvement in spatial reasoning ability. (Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw) An experiment with college students found that, after listening to a Mozart sonata, they experienced a significant although temporary gain in spatial reasoning skills (Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw and Katherine Ky, Nature, Vol. 365 [1993]: 611).

In 1994, a Stage II follow-up to the pilot study again found that music training improved spatial reasoning in preschool children. This gain did not occur in those without music training (Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw, Linda Levine and Katherine Ky, Paper presented at the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles [August 1994]).

In 1995, a follow up to the first Mozart study confirmed that listening to Mozart improved spatial reasoning, and that this effect can increase with repeated testing over days. However, the effect may not occur when music lacks sufficient complexity. (Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw and Katherine Ky, Neuroscience Letters, Vol. 185 [1995]: 44-47.)

In 1997, a study found that keyboard training caused long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial-temporal reasoning (Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw, Linda Levine et al, Neurological Research, Volume 19 [1997], 2-8).

In 1999, a field experiment supported the earlier finding by demonstrating that classroom keyboard instruction improved kindergarten children's spatial-temporal performance (Frances Rauscher, Mary Anne Zupan, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 1999).

Also in 1999, a research group led by Dr. Frederick Tims, Chair of Music Therapy at Michigan State University, found that group keyboard lessons given to older Americans reduced stress, loneliness and anxiety while increasing levels of human growth hormone (hGH). Human growth hormone is implicated in such aging phenomena as osteoporosis, energy levels, wrinkling, sexual function, muscle mass, and aches and pains (Frederick Tims, Alicia Ann Clair, Donna Cohen, Carl Eisdorfer, Midori Koga, Adarsh Kumar, Mahendra Kumar, Cathy McKinney, Áke Seiger, presented at symposium Music Medicine: Enhancing Health Through Music, April 23, 1999, Miami, FL).

A second 1999 study led by Dr. Tims quantified a link between structured music therapy and subjects’ levels of melatonin, a neurohormone linked with sleep regulation and believed to influence the immune system (Adarsh Kumar, David Lowenstein, J. B. Fernandez, Gail Ironson, Carl Eisdorfer, Dean G. Cruess, Michael J. Mintzer, Rogelio Cattan, Alternative Therapies, vol. 5 no. 6, Nov. 1999).

Later in 1999, a study examined enhanced learning of proportional math through music training and spatial-temporal training. Children given piano keyboard training along with a specially designed Math Video Game training scored significantly higher on proportional math and fractions than children given a control training along with the same video game (Amy Graziano, Matthew Peterson and Gordon Shaw, Neurological Research, Volume 21 [1999], pp. 139-152).

In early 2000, a study found that a curriculum combining piano lessons, educational math software and fun math problems helped second graders achieve scores on advanced math concepts and Stanford 9 math scores comparable to those of fourth graders (Matthew Peterson, Mark Bodner, Stephen Cook, Tina Earl, Jill Hansen, Michael Martinez, Linda Rodgers, Sydni Vuong, Gordon Shaw, 2000, submitted for publication).

In Fall 2000, a team led by Dr. Barry Bittman of the Mind-Body Wellness Center finds that a particular type of group drumming activity appears to boost the function of Natural Killer cells that seek out and destroy cancer cells and virally-infected cells in normal subjects. (Barry Bittman, Lee S. Berk, David L. Felten, O. Carl Simonton, James Pappas, Melissa Ninehouser, Alternative Therapies, January 2001, accepted for publication).

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