Final Essay - Music Psychology PDF

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Effects of Personal Music Use on Cognition and Emotion The University of Melbourne MUSI20149 Word Count: 2095

Part 1: Complete the Healthy-Unhealthy Uses of Music Scale (HUMS). Write a reflective summary of your responses and comment on the health of your use of music. After completing the HUMS (see Appendix 1), I obtained a score of 24 out of 25 for the ‘Healthy’ questions (Questions 3, 5, 6, 9, and 11), and a score of 10 out of 40 for the ‘Unhealthy’ questions (Questions 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12). These scores suggest that I engage in healthy music use. As with many other people, I often use music as an emotional outlet. Listening to, and producing music can have an incredible influence on my emotions, and there are often times where I listen to certain types of music to elicit the feelings I want to experience in that moment. Due to this, I’ve created a variety of musical playlists for each specific moment. When I am exercising, I listen to upbeat, high energy songs that help me in maintaining stamina and will me to continue my workout. During times where I am experiencing high levels of stress or anxiety, such as during exam periods, I find it useful to listen to instrumental music, particularly the piano. Such music helps me in focusing on what I need to do and often calms me down. While music is sometimes used as a way to escape the stresses of every day life, it has also become an integral part of how I connect with many of my peers. In today’s day and age, with the expansion of the internet, music has the incredible ability of bringing people together from all corners of the world. Having a wide taste in music has allowed me to find a point of similarity with many people, and has thus led to many friendships that would never have existed had we not shared that common interest, be it a favourite song or music genre. Therefore, my use of music has not only enabled me to express and deal with my emotions in a healthy way, but has also had a positive contribution to my social health.

Part 2: Explain how your use of music might impact your cognitive function. Draw on the research literature from both the “music and the brain” and “music in schools” lectures to support your ideas. Processing music activates multiple areas of the brain as we need to process different aspects of sound such as rhythm, pitch and melody. When I am playing the piano, although it is often unconscious, I am processing all these aspects of sound and utilising them in order to produce a tangible piece of music. The ability of music to engage multiple brain areas has been displayed through studies of speech functions, in cases of individuals who experience considerable damage to their left cerebral hemisphere (Zatorre, 2005). The left hemisphere is principally responsible for the processing of speech, and when damaged, individuals lose a

large proportion of their functions of speech. However, individuals with damaged left cerebral hemispheres still display a high-level of musical function (Zatorre, 2005), suggesting that musical processing utilises both of the cerebral hemispheres. Furthermore, since music processing is widely distributed across the brain, there is potential for it to involve a number of cognitive functions, such as memory, attention and language (Zatorre, 2005). During my time at school, music classes were compulsory all the way up until the middle of secondary school. It is understandable that music was given this importance as music education has been shown to improve academic, cognitive and social skills (Gill & Rickard, 2011). Musicians display better performance in cognitive tasks in comparison nonmusicians (Schellenberg, 2011), they display superior mental processing (Chin & Rickard, 2011; Gill & Rickard, 2011), as well as enhanced memory functions, in which they create, store and retrieve memories more quickly. Therefore, it can be highly beneficial for schools to place higher importance and dedication towards developing music education programs in order to provide an advantage to all students taking part. Musical processing is also linked to neural plasticity. Producing music can increase the volume and activity of the corpus callosum (Schlaug, Jancke, Huang, Staiger, & Steinmetz, 1995), thus allowing messages to get across the two brain hemispheres more quickly. There are a number of findings that suggest the brain can be moulded through engaging in and producing music (Zatorre, 2005). Furthermore, there have been suggestions that neuroplasticity peaks during certain sensitive periods of development (Merrett & Wilson, 2011), therefore it is possible that exposure to music and musical training during these sensitive periods could have a more profound effect on brain structure and function. However, when considering findings on neuroplasticity and music engagement, there have been limitations as the variable of sex may play a factor in the differences of brain volume. Males and females having brains that are differently proportioned and males also show a greater increase in corpus callosum volume after experiencing musical training (Merret & Wilson, 2011). Therefore, further studies need to be conducted that consider sex as a variable in the processes of neuroplasticity. Multiple areas of the brain are also involved in processing the information needed to play a musical instrument, particularly the visual, auditory and motor cortices. Practicing musical performance may therefore strengthen these brain functions through the concept of neuroplasticity. Research has suggested that musicians display improved motor and somatosensory responses as well as superior visuo-spatial and auditory processing (Merrett & Wilson, 2011). Being trained in music has therefore enabled me to detect and discriminate

between different tones and pitches in notes, falling in line with the findings of Merrett and Wilson (2011) who suggest that music training is related to improvements in auditory function. Playing the piano has been a unique experience as it is an instrument that requires an ability to utilise both of my hands. Enhancements in motor responses may therefore be a reason for why I experienced an improvement in my ability to use my hands equally to play. Being right-handed, when I first began playing the piano it was difficult to control my left hand and move it in the way that I wanted it to. Years later, I am now able to use both hands at an equal ability to play pieces of music. While it is possible that such an ability may simply be a result of hours of practicing to play, it is possible that such practice reinforces the enhancement to my motor cortex through consistent use.

Part 3: Explain how your use of music might impact your emotions. Draw on the research literature from both the “music and emotions” and “music and adolescents” lectures to support your ideas. As a young adult, I am still very much in the process of self-discovery. During times where I am questioning who I am, music often plays a vital role in helping to define my identity. When I was a young teenager I listened to a wide variety of music, each genre presenting me with a new aspect of my self to explore. There was a period of time where the music I listened to featured a lot of angst, and my choice in music during this period could be seen as a reflection of the emotional turmoil I was experiencing at the time, as described by Gold et al., 2011. At this point in my life, I was using music as a way to handle my emotions, as I often used music to validate the emotions of sadness and anger that I was feeling. Using such music as an outlet helped me to manage negative emotions (McFerran, 2011) and thus contributed to the development of a healthier mindset. As I grew older and started to gain a greater sense of my identity, my taste in music also shifted and I began to find preferences for certain genres, this falls in line with the suggestion that musical taste becomes fixed in late adolescence and early adulthood (McFerran, 2011). Music has an amazing ability to induce numerous emotions in listeners, and I often use it as a means to reduce stress and uplift my mood. Listening to music can cause physiological changes in the body, in terms or heart rate, blood pressure and hormone levels, and it has been proposed that music can have a relaxing effect due to its impact on the autonomic nervous system (Bradt, Dileo & Potvin, 2013). It is thought that music can decrease neuromuscular activity as well activity of the adrenergic receptors by supressing activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Furthermore, music can trigger the release of

endorphins in the brain, which can consequently lead to improvement in mood and emotion (Bradt, Dileo & Potvin, 2013). The BRECVEM model ( J u s l i n ,Ha r ma t& Fe r ol a ,2 01 4 ) ,o ffe r sa no ut l i n eo nt he me c h a ni s mst ha tma yb ei n v o l v e di ni n d u c i n ge mo t i o n .I ti nc l u d e st h ebr a i ns t e mr e fle x , wh i c hi n v ol v e st heb a s i ca c o us t i c a lc h a r a c t e r i s t i c so fmu s i cs i g na l l i n ga ni mp o r t a nte v e n t ,t h u s r e s u l t i n gi nt h el i s t e ne rr e s p o nd i n gq ui c kl ya nda ut o ma t i c a l l y .Th es e c o ndme c ha n i s mi s r h yt h me n t r a i n me nt ,wh e r ea ne xt e r n a lr h y t hm i nmu s i ce l i c i t sagr a d ua la d j u s t me nto f i n t e r n a lb od i l yr h yt h ma n dc a nc o n s e q u e nt l yp r o d u c ea ni n c r e a s e dl e v e lofa r o u s a li nt he l i s t e n e r .Th i sp a r t i c ul a rme c h a ni s m ma yb ea ne xp l a na t i o nf orwh yl i s t e ni n gt omu s i ch e l p s mei nk e e pi n gmys t a mi n aa nde n e r g ywhi l ee x e r c i s i n g .Si nc eIt e ndt ol i s t e nt of a s t ,up b e a t mus i cwh i l ewo r k i n go u t ,ar h yt h mo fb o d i l ymo v e me n ti sc r e a t e dt oma t c ht h a to ft h emu s i cI a ml i s t e n i n gt o .An o t he rme c h a ni s mi se v a l u a t i v ec o n di t i on i n g ,i nwh i c ht h emu s i ci sp a i r e d wi t he i t h e rap o s i t i v eo rn e g a t i v es t i mu l i .Co nt a g i o ni same c h a ni s m wh e r eapi e c eofmu s i c i n d u c e se mo t i o n a lmi mi c r yi nt h el i s t e ne ra st he yp e r c e i v et h ee mo t i o na le x p r e s s i ono ft h e mus i c .Thi sma ye xp l a i nwh yc e r t a i ne mo t i o nsa r ee v o k e dwi t h i nmewh e ne v e rIl i s t e nt on e w p i e c e so fmu s i c ,a sIf e e lt h ee mo t i o nst h a tt h emu s i ci st r y i n gt oc o n v e y .Vi s ua li ma g e r y i n v o l v e st h el i s t e ne rc r e a t i n gme nt a li ma g e so fal a n d s c a p e ,wh i c hi nt u r ni n du c e sp a r t i c u l a r e mo t i on s .Nos t a l gi ao n eoft hemo s tc ommo ne mo t i o n a lr e s p o n s e st omus i c( J u s l i ne ta l . , 2 0 16 )a ndt hi smi g htb ee x p l a i n e db yt h eme c ha n i s mo fe pi s o d i cme mor y ,i nwh i c ha n e mo t i oni si n d u c e db e c a u s et hemu s i ce v ok e st h eme mo r yo fapa s te v e nti nt h el i s t e ne r ’ sl i f e . Th i sme c ha n i s mi st h o u g h tt ob et hemo s tc ommo ns o u r c eofe mo t i o n a lr e s p on s e st omus i c .I t c o u l dbet h er e a s o nf o rwh yl i s t e n i n gt oo l d e rp i e c e sofmus i cf r o mt h epa s te v ok eas e ns eo f n o s t a l g i aa ndr e mi n i s c e n c ea bo u tt h ee mo t i o nsIwa se x p e r i e n c edu r i n gat ha tp a s te v e n t .The l a s tme c h a ni s m,wh i c hi smu s i c a le x pe c t a nc y ,i n v o l v e se v o ki n ge mo t i o nwh e nas p e c i fic f e a t ur ei nt h emu s i cc o n fir ms ,d e l a y s ,o rv i o l a t e st h ee xp e c t a t i o n sal i s t e ne rh a sa bo u tt he mus i c .Thi sme c ha n i s mi so f t e na tp l a ywhe nIa m wa t c h i n gh o r r o rfil ms ,t h emu s i cu t i l i s e di n s u c hfil mspl a y so nt h el i s t e ne r ’ sa n t i c i p a t i o na ndi so f t e nu s e dt ob ui l das e n s eo fd r e a do r f e a r .

Part 4: Write a final reflection on how your uses of music might change across your lifespan, drawing on the research literature from any of the lectures this semester.

Our musical brains are moulded by the auditory environment around us (Ullal-Gupta, Vanden Bosch der Nederlanden, Tichko, Lahav and Hannon, 2013). The brain’s exposure to sound does not begin at birth, but rather while infants are still in-utero. Having musical parents meant that I was exposed to music before I was even born, and the exposure continued as an infant and into adolescence. My father has played the guitar and sung for as long as I can remember, and it is possible that this early and continuous exposure to music may have had an influence on the development of my musical preference (Illal-Gupta et al., 2013) as well as an impact on how healthily I use music. Music remains an important aspect of life as people age, however, as the years pass it is likely that tastes in a person’s music may change, particularly during the first few decades of an individual’s life. During adolescence, teenagers often use music as a form of self expression as well as a means of self-growth (McFerran, 2011). In the search for my identity as a teenager, music often helped me to explore different identities. Since I was older, I gained control over the kinds of music I could listen to and began to explore a variety of genres. This exploration eventually helped me to develop personal preferences for different kinds of music that play a role in defining who I am today. My brain will be changing continuously across my lifespan, and as I age, it is likely that I will experience a decline in working memory, long term memory and the speed at which I process information (Barber, 2011). In order to prevent a large decline in such processes, I plan to continue playing a musical instrument and engaging in music as I grow older since music training has been shown to improve mental processing (Gill & Rickard, 2011; Chin & Rickard, 2011) with musicians showing greater performance on cognitive tasks in comparison to non-musicians. Therefore, I hope to continue a healthy relationship with music in the future for the purposes of maintaining my cognitive, emotional and social wellbeing.

References Barber, J. B. (2011). Music for dementia and Parkinson’s disease in the elderly. In Rickard & McFerran (Eds) Lifelong Engagement with Music. pp.253-274. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Bradt, J., Dileo, C., Potvin, N. (2013). Music for stress and anxiety reduction in coronary heart disease patients. Cochrane Heart Group. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006577.pub3 Chin, T., Rickard, N. (2011) Reconceptualizing ‘musicianship’: music performance and training through to music reception and engagement. In Rickard & McFerran (Eds) Lifelong Engagement with Music, pp. 57-73. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Gill, A., Rickard, N. (2011). Non-musical benefits of school-based music education and training. In Rickard & McFerran (Eds) Lifelong Engagement with Music, pp. 57-73. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Gold, C., Saarikallio, S., & McFerran, K. (2011). Music Therapy. In R. J. R. Levesque (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Adolescence. New York: Springer. Juslin, P. N., Harmat, L., & Eerola, T. (2014). What makes music emotionally significant?: Exploring the underlying mechanisms. Psychology of Music, 42, 599-623. DOI: 10.1177/0305735613484548 Juslin, P. N., et al. (2016). Prevalence of Emotions, Mechanisms, and Motives in Music Listening: A Comparison of Individualist and Collectivist Cultures. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, 26, 293-326. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000161 McFerran, K. (2011). Music and adolescents. In Rickard & McFerran (Eds) Lifelong Engagement with Music, pp. 95-106. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Merret, D.L., Wilson, S.J. (2011) Music and Neural Plasticity. In Rickard & McFerran (Eds) Lifelong Engagement with Music, pp. 119-159. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Schellenberg, G. (2011). Examining the association between music lessons and intelligence. British Journal of Psychology, 102, 283-302. Schlaug, G., Jancke, L., Huang, Y. X., Staiger, J. F., & Steinmetz, H. (1995). Increased corpus-callosum size in musicians. Neuropsychologia, 33(8), 1047-1055. Ullal-Gupta, S., Vanden Bosch der Nederlanden, C. M., Tichko, P., Lahav, A., & Hannon, E. E. (2013). Linking prenatal experience to the emerging musical mind. doi:10.3389/fnsys.2013.00048

Zatorre, R. (2005). Music, the food of neuroscience? Nature, 434, 312 – 315.

Appendix 1...