The+Biology+of+Music

By Ross O'Brien =__**A Biological Explanation of Musical Perception**__=

It is rather astonishing how sound is physically perceived by the human body and according Mark Jude Tramo, it may have something to do with the human perception of tonality. Tramo explains that the basilar membrane is much like a the string of an instrument as groups of microscopic hair cells across the membrane vibrate at variable rates depending the frequency of the sound be heard. Experiments have shown that when a person hears a major triad or even inversions of that triad stimulate specific hair cells in the basilar membrane. It is thought that the neuron activity between this membrane and the brainstem, carries information that tells the brain what octave the note is heard in, its pitch, and its consonance. Tramo argues that the hair cells that receive the sound are so sensitive that "differences in the timing of successive action potentials that are smaller than one-thousandth of a second may determine whether the triad sounds consonant or dissonant " ([|BIOLOGY AND MUSIC: Enhanced: Music of the Hemispheres]). Is it possible then that certain people could have a more sensitive basilar membrane than others? If Tramo's findings are accurate, I wonder what effect slight biological variations have on each individual's perception of sound. Children as young as 4 months old have alread expressed a preference for major thirds and distaste for more dissonant note combinations. If consonance is recognized at such a young age then it is quite possible that human beings are born into this world with a predisposition for certain tonal combinations-- those we deem consonant.

=__**Tone and Mood**__=

With the advent of MRI technology, scientists have been able to map brain activity as it corresponds to our musical perception. A part of the brain known as the right auditory cortex (See image below) controls how we perceive pitch, melodies, and rhythm. It is thought that when the information received by the basilar membrane encodes a dissonant tone, the certain part of the brain responsible for emotional pain, is triggered by this neural message. This means that tonality can potentially have a profound impact on our emotional state of being. Amusia is a condition in which a person cannot recognize the difference between two pitches, nor can they remember specific melodies. This means that a certain biological difference in these people's brain controls the way they perceive music and yet also makes them "immune" to music's emotional impact. Does a "condition" exist as a foil of Amusia, one in which a person is hypersensitive to pitch differerences and is more emotionally affected by music than the average person? Furthermore, does that mean that biological variation in terms of a person's basilar membrane, has an effect on how emotionall sensitive a person is to music? ( [|Read More])



=__**Internal Rhythm**__=

The brain is unbelievable tool for perceiving rhythm. Studies of brain activity show that when a person listening to a particular rhythm being played, the actually brain spikes in activity on each succesive beat. This brain function is so powerful and so innate that even when a beat is muted within a rhythm, the brain acts in the same way as if the beat had been played in the regular phase. Again I am forced to asks if biological variation of this ability occur across all people? How would these biological differences impact the way each person perceive rhythm within music and do those who are musically inclined possess a keener mind for music? ( [|Read More] )

Rhythm not only effects the mind but the heart as well. New studies have shown that different types of music can actually increase or decrease your heart rate. ( [|Music makes your heart beat faster - Reuters]) The faster in tempo the music is that is being played, the quicker the rate of the listener's heart rate and respiration. Also, those who are trained musicians have been found to be more impacted by variations in tempo. The medulla in the brain is responsible for how fast the human heart beats. It is possible, but still undetermined, that the right auditory cortex could have some connection with the medulla. This would be extremely interesting if the two were in some way connected. It could mean that auditory signals as perceived by each individuals basilar membrane, could have a profound impact not only a person's mood but the rate in which we breathe and how fast our heart is beating. Biology could never holistically explain the musical realm, yet it is worth considering that maybe a natural musical ability does exist. Furthermore, it is possible that this ability is determined by how deeply our bodies and minds are impacted by how we each individually perceive music.