Music and the Brain

[gvans]

Three new studies presented here in San Diego at a neurosciences meeting show early music training to be helpful to brain development and recovery from stroke. The last study implies that improvisation (awesome_o!) is especially good for intellectual development:

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/814540#1

[faulty_damper]

You have to log in to read.  But I can summarize the article(s) based solely on your description.
Here's my summary based on what I've read prior:

Recent brain imaging scans show that the brains of children with and without musical training differ noticeably.  With musical training, the parts of the brain are better connected, particularly with the frontal lobe, an area associated with long-term planning and decision-making, as well as emotional regulation.  Musicians tend to excel at these three things compared to the average person.

Improvisation appears to activate significant portions of the brain.  Any activity that uses large portions of the brain appear to be beneficial, however, and not limited to musical improvisation.  Social dancing probably activates significant portions of the brain as it requires interpreting visual cues of other dancers, auditory cues of the music, and motor planning and execution.

[faulty_damper]

Also, I refuse to believe that 15 people read this thread and didn't mention that you have to log in to read.  SPEAK UP, PEOPLE and stop being a lurker!

[j_menz]

long-term planning and decision-making, as well as emotional regulation.  Musicians tend to excel at these three things compared to the average person.

Allowing that this forum generally represents "musicians", the "average person" must really suck at these.

Also, I refuse to believe that 15 people read this thread and didn't mention that you have to log in to read.  SPEAK UP, PEOPLE and stop being a lurker!

Sir! Yes, Sir! 

[outin]

Also, I refuse to believe that 15 people read this thread and didn't mention that you have to log in to read.  SPEAK UP, PEOPLE and stop being a lurker!

Sorry! My excuse is that I did not bother to click on the link because I am already familiar with the research 

[hfmadopter]

Also, I refuse to believe that 15 people read this thread and didn't mention that you have to log in to read.  SPEAK UP, PEOPLE and stop being a lurker!

I already knew about this this, heard of something similar years ago. In other words, I knew that piano and music is good for the brain. Good enough.

[faulty_damper]

I don't really get why these conferences exist.  I mean, the intended audience are supposedly experts in their field who have already read the research.  Why would they take the time to travel to some sunny location only to be holed up in a hotel building and listen to someone summarize the aforementioned research when they've already read it?

[j_menz]

I don't really get why these conferences exist.  I mean, the intended audience are supposedly experts in their field who have already read the research.  Why would they take the time to travel to some sunny location only to be holed up in a hotel building and listen to someone summarize the aforementioned research when they've already read it?

It's tax deductible, and if you already know what's being "revealed" I'm guessing it's easy to skip a lot of the conference and enjoy more of the "sunny location".

[faulty_damper]

It's tax deductible, and if you already know what's being "revealed" I'm guessing it's easy to skip a lot of the conference and enjoy more of the "sunny location".

OmG, you are a genius!  No wonder it's in San Diego and not Anchorage, Alaska.  San Diego, here I come!

[gvans]

Sorry about the log-in issue. My computer got me on without having to log in. She's a smart girl that way...sometimes. Yeah, who knows about these studies. I will say I've been improvising more these days, and I find I can remember all two dozen of my computer passwords better. Also, I haven't lost my glasses for two weeks. I did lose my dentures and my hearing aid, though.

Just so you know--coastal San Diego is wonderful in the fall/winter/spring. But it's cloudy and foggy all f%^$ing summer. I know, I know, I won't get much sympathy. Did I mention that the ocean is cold now until July? You need a 4mm wetsuit to surf, an activity that also improves connectivity in the brain. Here, for example, I am strengthening synapses between cold feet (note the booties) and temporal lobe (where Debussy's La Mer is playing). The water is 56 F.

[outin]

I don't really get why these conferences exist.  I mean, the intended audience are supposedly experts in their field who have already read the research.  Why would they take the time to travel to some sunny location only to be holed up in a hotel building and listen to someone summarize the aforementioned research when they've already read it?

It's a break from the research work, that is often quite lonely. The idea of course is to exchange ideas, to hear about other people's ongoing research and to talk about one's own. But really, most people go because of the fun and games

[j_menz]

I know, I know, I won't get much sympathy.

Apropos nothing, why would these guys have just started looking to buy one of these:

[gvans]

Sorry, j, can't open the attachment. Got to the boring tourist website, yeech.

[j_menz]

Sorry, j, can't open the attachment.

Me bad! Neglected ot actually put in the link. 

[hfmadopter]

Apropos nothing, why would these guys have just started looking to buy one of these:

Ah, those things are why I do my salt water fishing out in Buzzards Bay ( New England) for Sea bass in late May ( well that and the sea bass spawn in about any 28 ft deep section of water out there in May). By early July the Great Whites have moved in around here too.

Then we have Wright Whales on the bay side of the Cape, something the size of a tractor trailer coming up next to my boat isn't a thrilling thought to me. Two Augusts ago we had Orcha's off the Beach up near Plymouth.

[gvans]

You can't let a few whiteys keep you on shore (preferred scientific nomenclature now, FYI, is simply "white shark," sans the "Great"). I've been surfing for 40 years, never been eaten once. Their presence does give one a certain amount of humility. One popped up with a harbor seal in its mouth the other day at our prime break--another reminder that wilderness is wilderness, even a few feet from a big city.

A secret: because of improved connections betwixt my toes and temporal lobes, strengthened through long sessions of Beethoven, Faure, and Jimi Hendrix, I automatically hear the theme from "Jaws" whenever a whitey is nearby. That tells me it's time to go in and practice piano.

And ain't she cute?

[hfmadopter]

You can't let a few whiteys keep you on shore (preferred scientific nomenclature now, FYI, is simply "white shark," sans the "Great").

you're just still around to talk like that. Explain it to the harbor seal! Then visualize yourself in the jaws. You haven't been "close" enough yet that's all. No sir, not me and my little boat will you find out there among the sharks. I don't care about any movies, been too close for comfort. So I fixed that problem.

[gvans]

I always wonder why fishermen like yourself are so fearful of the ocean and its creatures. I've been damn close to whiteys--that's my photo of the shark, dude, not some Internet grab. I've got more pix from closer. Yeah, they bite, but so do pit bulls, lions, grizzly bears, and inner city hoodlums, all of whom I've also been damn close to.

Interestingly, Rodney Fox, after surviving a near-fatal shark attack, has become a vocal advocate of shark conservation. These fish are apex predators, they are threatened by long-lining, drift nets, and finning operations, and the oceanic community needs 'em. If they snag a human now and then (gee, there are only seven billion of us), I don't think that is such a big loss.

Back to fishermen and their fears: I suspect it's the bad karma you guys collect killing so many fish. Also, going out to sea in a boat is not the same as diving and surfing, where you are in the water. You're taking a bit of land out with you by standing in the boat. You're still, in a sense, on shore.

Try immersing yourself sometime. You might like it.

[hfmadopter]

I always wonder why fishermen like yourself are so fearful of the ocean and its creatures. I've been damn close to whiteys--that's my photo of the shark, dude, not some Internet grab. I've got more pix from closer. Yeah, they bite, but so do pit bulls, lions, grizzly bears, and inner city hoodlums, all of whom I've also been damn close to.

Interestingly, Rodney Fox, after surviving a near-fatal shark attack, has become a vocal advocate of shark conservation. These fish are apex predators, they are threatened by long-lining, drift nets, and finning operations, and the oceanic community needs 'em. If they snag a human now and then (gee, there are only seven billion of us), I don't think that is such a big loss.

Back to fishermen and their fears: I suspect it's the bad karma you guys collect killing so many fish. Also, going out to sea in a boat is not the same as diving and surfing, where you are in the water. You're taking a bit of land out with you by standing in the boat. You're still, in a sense, on shore.

Try immersing yourself sometime. You might like it.

I think you mistake me for a commercial fisherman and a different type of man than who I am. My wife and I go out if there are some nice days in May and catch a few sea bass for ourselves and freeze a dozen fillets or so.  My dad when I was a young boy back in the 1950's instilled into me to have a huge respect for the sea and in fact Mother Nature, it's power and it's powerful creatures. New England waters and the fast changing currents of the canal out here that feed some 7 miles out to sea can be a treacherous place. I have heeded his words and maybe added a few of my own over time as well. I've been around the ocean a long time and I've seen some wonders and some misery too. At least enough to know that it is  more than my match. I error on the side of caution.

I wish you well swimming amongst the sharks. I wish you no ill fate nor accuse you of any kind of wrong doing. I do just one thing and that is to suggest you be careful. The ocean and it's creatures are far more powerful than you are. The ocean really is not a playground, it's might can be furious and so can it's creatures. Some day perhaps you will remember this crazy guy in the piano forum and these words after a close encounter. If that never happens then wonderful. If it does, it may well be that from that day on you will have a different kind of respect than you do at the moment. It can not be explained to someone, only witnessed and then you change.

[gvans]

Some day perhaps you will remember this crazy guy in the piano forum and these words after a close encounter. If that never happens then wonderful. If it does, it may well be that from that day on you will have a different kind of respect than you do at the moment. It can not be explained to someone, only witnessed and then you change.

Thanks for the warning. If you think I have no respect for the ocean, you are incorrect. In fact, I wrote a book on my (considerable) experiences with the sea, published by Oxford in 2003. Give it a read, and we can talk more.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Saltwater-Wilderness-Glenn-Vanstrum/dp/0195159373

[hfmadopter]

Thanks for the warning.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Saltwater-Wilderness-Glenn-Vanstrum/dp/0195159373

Congratulations on your book, that's great, seriously !!