How Sounds Change Our Brain
Music is far more than just a pleasant sequence of sounds - it's a universal language deeply rooted in our biological makeup that acts as a powerful neurostimulator.
Historically, music was often regarded as something divine due to its enormous impact on human emotions 1 . Today, neuroscience is beginning to decipher what lies behind this phenomenon: music acts as a powerful neurostimulator that activates numerous brain regions simultaneously and can even cause lasting structural changes .
"From manipulating our purchasing behavior through background music to supporting neurological rehabilitation - targeted stimulation through music proves to be a form of psychotherapy that often takes place subconsciously." 1 6
Music activates multiple brain regions simultaneously, creating complex neural networks.
Music directly influences our emotional centers, triggering powerful responses.
The journey of music through our nervous system begins with simple sound waves that reach our ear via air. These mechanical vibrations are transmitted via the eardrum and auditory ossicles - hammer, anvil, and stirrup - to the cochlea in the inner ear 8 .
Sound waves enter the ear and cause the eardrum to vibrate.
Ossicles amplify and transmit vibrations to the cochlea.
Hair cells in the cochlea convert mechanical vibrations into electrical signals 8 .
Signals travel to various brain regions for processing and interpretation.
Contrary to popular belief, our brain has no single "music center" 8 . Instead, music activates a distributed network of brain regions:
Recognizes basic tone characteristics like volume and frequency 8
Responsible for decision-making and thinking - stimulated by music 5
Processes musical patterns like pitch, melody, and rhythm 5
Processes emotional components of music along with Nucleus Accumbens and Hippocampus 8
Coordinates movements and stores motor memories that often remain intact even in people with dementia 5
The old notion that the left brain hemisphere is responsible for language and the right for music is now considered outdated 8 . Although research shows that the right secondary auditory cortex has finer pitch resolution than the left 2 , and that damage to the right hemisphere more likely leads to music processing problems while left-sided lesions cause speech disorders 8 , modern views consider music and language as closely intertwined networks involving both hemispheres 8 .
"One can imagine it this way: language is essentially a kind of fast music, and music a kind of melodic language," explains psychologist and musicologist Prof. Stefan Kölsch 8 .
A groundbreaking experiment by Brattico, Tervaniemi, Naatanen and Peretz (2006) investigated how our brain automatically responds to anomalies in melodies 2 . The researchers wanted to find out whether people recognize inconsistencies in melodies even when they are not actively paying attention to the music.
The scientists presented non-musical test subjects with unknown melodies while measuring their brain waves using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) 2 . In the melodies, they placed two types of errors:
The test subjects heard these melodies under two conditions: once while they were distracted from the sounds, and once while they actively paid attention to the melodies 2 .
The study showed that our brains process melodic properties automatically and rapidly - even with unknown melodies 2 . An early error-related negativity occurred regardless of attention direction and originated in the secondary auditory cortex, with stronger activity in the right hemisphere 2 .
Interestingly, the negativity response was stronger for out-of-tune than for out-of-key tones, which was also reflected in higher ratings of musical incongruity for out-of-tune melodies 2 .
| ERP Component | Time Window | Brain Region | Response to Anomalies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Frontal Negativity | Early | Secondary Auditory Cortex | Automatic for both anomaly types, stronger for out-of-tune pitches |
| Late Parietal Positivity | Late | Parietal Lobe | Only when attention is directed to melodies |
| Experimental Condition | Anomaly Type | Attention | Main Finding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distracted | Out-of-tune pitches | Divided | Early frontal negativity |
| Distracted | Out-of-key pitches | Divided | Early frontal negativity (weaker) |
| Focused | Both types | Directed | Additional late parietal positivity |
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Measures brain activity through blood flow changes
Positron Emission Tomography
Records cerebral blood flow (CBF)
Event-Related Potentials
Measures electrical brain activity with millisecond precision
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Shows anatomical brain structures
Electroencephalography
Measures oscillatory brain activity
The findings of music neuroscience are increasingly finding their way into clinical applications. Neurological music therapy is a research-based treatment methodology based on scientific knowledge about music perception and production and their impact on non-musical brain and behavioral functions 3 .
In neurological rehabilitation, music is used specifically to train cognitive disorders of attention, perception and memory 3 . Since music therapy provides not only visual but also tactile and auditory stimuli, it requires higher and greater activation in the brain, which can support the rehabilitation process 3 .
An example from the Fachklinik Fürstenhof shows how patients with attention disorders after brain damage play instruments such as piano or xylophone: "The instruments are positioned so that the patient must direct their attention from the perceived side to the non-perceived side" 3 .
In the treatment of dementia, music therapy has proven to be a promising approach. Two forms are distinguished:
Both forms show positive clinical effects on affective symptoms and promote positive emotional experiences that persist even after completion of interventions 5 .
The neuroscience of music has provided amazing insights into the effect of music on our brain in recent years. Music proves to be not only a complex stimulus that activates numerous brain regions simultaneously, but also a powerful tool for promoting neuroplasticity - the brain's ability to restructure itself throughout life .
From the automatic recognition of melodic anomalies, as demonstrated in the Brattico experiment, to supporting neurological rehabilitation, it becomes clear: music is far more than just entertainment. It is a force deeply rooted in our biology that can promote cognitive, emotional, physical and social well-being .
As one researcher aptly put it: "People have a deep need to belong, to experience community - and music enables this immediately" 8 . The synchronizing power of music, which can align our activities, emotions and attention with other people, makes us part of a larger whole - while simultaneously stimulating our brains in a unique way.