Josh Bates & Kristin M. Barton
soothe tension. Although neuroscientists do not yet have complete and
ultimately satisfying answers for the mystery of the universal bond between
humans and music, research has provided ample proof of the neurological and
psychological effects of the brain’s interaction with music. Music engages not
just one region of the brain, but almost every neural system and subsystem; the
areas of activation can differ based upon the individual’s personal experiences
and musical aptitude or instruction. During a series of profound operations,
the mind processes music through functional segregation (Levitin), placing
distinct musical elements across a neurological map in order to analyze and
dissect the signals as they come together to form the representation that
results in our comprehension of what has been heard. The varying degrees
complicated reactions that interact with a variety of brain structures, including
the subcortical structures (cochlear nuclei, the brain stem, the cerebellum),
the auditory cortices, the hippocampus, the frontal lobe, and the Broca’s and
Wernicke’s areas. Moving further into the mystery of experiential listening, the
primitive structures of the cerebellar vermis and the amygdala are involved in
the emotions that are felt when processing music (Levitin).
Simon Frith says that labeling music as “bad” or “good” is rather
pointless, unless for the sake of an argument, since preferences that result
in these adjectives are mostly subjective. This is not to say that arguments
are simply a matter of taste, but without knowing an individual’s musical
inclinations or how she makes sense of her listening pleasures, it can be
preferred music. Studies show that musical preferences are largely “sown
in the womb” (Levitin 227), and an extended period of acculturation after
birth allows time for an infant to absorb the musical culture in which she is
born into. Of course, the human brain is constantly developing throughout
infancy, so it can be expected that the evolution of an individual’