The tuned brain

Abstract

The tuned brain Although music is not restrained to the human species and a number of nonhuman creatures produce music, especially birds and cetaceans, music appears as a unique characteristic of human beings, as language and speech. Indeed, music is probably older than speech and more universal. Music has played a central role in human culture since the beginning of humanity, subserving an important correlate to stimulate imagination, understanding, social bonds. Music, both performed and perceived, stimulates a wide range of sensory, cognitive and emotional neural processes. Emotions are a central feature of the enjoyment of music, with a great variety of emotional states in people while listening or performing. Complex cognitive abilities and cortical processes integrate with fundamental subcortical reward and motivation systems in the brain to give rise to musical pleasure. The universality of music, apparently regardless of cultures or geography, makes it a possible vehicle to explore commonalities amongst cultures and to evaluate the therapeutic impact of music in modern time.

Keywords

• brain
• language
• music