Week 6 "Music of the hemispheres"

"Perfectly intelligent capable people can do fine in life without cracking a book or strumming a tune. But both can make the mind sing"(33).    


    For week 6, aside from finishing the first draft of our research essay, we were assigned to read three journal articles. One that I was particularly interested in, mainly because it had something to do with the research project I was planning to do, was called "Music of the hemispheres" by Rachel Ehrenberg.
     This article explains that according to research she has done, just listening to Mozart sonatas does not actually stimulate the brain as the Mozart Effect suggests; she makes it a recurring point to say that unless the person is trained in playing some musical instrument, they will not benefit from listening to Mozart's music. According to Ehrenberg's research, playing a musical instrument was originally thought only to stimulate the right, artistic, part of the brain; but contrary to that, playing a musical instrument enhances the left part of the brain as well, overall stimulating every part of the brain: "Music processing is distributed throughout the brain ... it involves paying attention thinking ahead, remembering, coordinating movement and interpreting constant feedback to the ears, fingers, and in some cases, lips"(31).
      Halfway through the article, she gives examples of music and how it can cure traumatic injuries or even diseases; giving examples on how it helps cure Alzheimer's disease, stroke, respiratory disease, etc.
    In the end of the article, Ehrenberg quotes Kraus, a researcher she used to make this article, "Music has the power to transform our nervous system in substantial, enormous, unambiguous ways"(33), which is the basis for everything she has said thus far in her article.