Neuroscience and Music--Pierce Howard, The Owner's Manual for the Brain

Pierce Howard's Owner's Manual for the Brain, 3rd Edition, concisely summarizes several important points about music and the brain:

• Music doesn't activate a distinct part of the brain, but rather is a "by-product of other evolved areas for audio discrimination, muscular coordination, rhythmic sensitivity.  While there's some genetically-evolved basis for music, we know that people who aren't able to detect pitch changes in melody can in languages that are tonal, e.g. Chinese.
• Music is processed in the auditory cortex and extension to the thalamus, but doesn't possess unique processing areas.  In fact, some areas of the brain share overlapping functions for both music and language.  However, there's probably some separation of functions, as evidenced by the fact that people can lose linguistic, but not musical abilities, and vice versa.
• In regard to plasticity, individuals' brains are more aroused by sounds associated with their particular instrument specialties.  There are more pronounced electrical responses that're instrument-specific in individuals who received musical training prior to the age of 10.
• The much touted Mozart Effect, reported by Rauscher and Wright (1994) is bogus: any benefits of listening to music disappear after 10-15 minutes.  Chabris (1999) analyzed 16 musical effect studies and documented negative effects based on measurements of total traditional IQ.  But before you toss the Baby Mozart CDs, music may "warm up" the neural circuitry of the brain associated with spatial reasoning.  While research findings are mixed regarding the benefits of listening to music, there's more conclusive evidence that actively playing an instrument has a positive effect on cognition.
• There may be a possible sensitive period for high musical skill achievement, e.g. mapping of sound frequencies in the auditory cortex requires normal experience.  Harmonic structure is easier to acquire before the age of 8.
• Pitch perception is more easily learned, and absolute pitch more common in people who have tonal first languages (L1s), e.g. Mandarin Chinese.
• There are anatomical differences between professional musicians and non-musicians, but this may be attributable to genetic differences, vs. environmental exposure.
• There's a difference between passively listening to music and active music instruction/learning to play instruments.  Rauscher (1993) noted that second graders who received four months of piano keyboard training had a 27% score increase on math tests dealing with fractions and proportions.  A similar study with 5-6 year old subjects, where the experimental group played songs, learned to read music, and received training in understanding pitch and rhythm, yielded "marked improvement in abstract and spatial reasoning."
• Music does not necessarily have a positive impact on cognition.  In fact, listening to music interferes with complex tasks, especially verbal tasks, in comparison to verbal+spatial tasks.  In Germany, Wagner and Tilney (1983) studied a language learning method called "Accelerated Learning" where music is integrated into instruction.  The experimental group who learned language via Accelerated Learning ironically learned 50% less than the control group.  Bush, of the Monterey Institute studied learners in a 10 week Accelerated Learning Russian program vs. students in a 15 week traditional language-learning program, and found the so-called Accelerated Learners learned 40% less information than students in the traditional program.
• Music competes with other tasks for attentional focus.  Crawford and Strapp (1994) studied music listening on verbal and visual-spatial performance.  Their research noted the following:

1. Those who choose to listen to music while studying were generally much more extraverted.
2. Extraverts self-report being less bothered by noise.
3. Self-perceptions of what's bothersome are notoriously unreliable: music had a negative effect on attention.
4. Vocal music interferes more with attention than instrumental music.  Regular patterns of sound are less disruptive than irregular ones.  Also, playing the same piece over and over again is less distracting, as "well-established schema are less likely to interfere with learning."
5. Music interferes more with complex cognitive tasks, as opposed to simpler verbal tasks, with visual-spatial tasks being the least affected. 
6. Quiet is best for study/academic learning environments.  Music should be limited to "transitional uses", otherwise, it's competing for cognitive attention.  It isn't merely "white noise." 

• Gardiner (1996) conducted a seven-month study of Gr. 1 and Gr. 2 students who received Kodaly structured, sequential music instruction.  25% more students scored at grade level or higher in mathematical aptitude.  Sequential methodology seems to spur advancement, not merely exposure to art.
• Music has therapeutic value.  In an NIH Office of Alternative Medicine study led by Rohrbacher, music aided brain-injured patients by increasing emotional empathy, luicidity, and improving recovery and rehabilitation.  Mellow music seems to enhance immune function, by boosting production of immuglobulin A (IgA).
• Music can improve mood and spur positive emotions.  Generally, higher pitches have more beneficial effects.  Minor keys and slow tempi warm the brain, fostering cortical and limbic awareness.  Major keys and faster tempi cool the brain, fostering better moods.
• Across the world, regardless of culture and musical exposure, humans have the ability to distinguish music that conveys specific human moods and emotions.  See table below for common qualities that characterize joy, sadness, and excitement:

Musical Trait	JOY	SADNESS	EXCITEMENT
Frequency	High	Low	Variable
Melodic variation	Strong	Slight	Strong
Tonal course	Moderate: up then down	Down	Strong up, then down
Tonal color	Many overtones	Less	Barely any
Tempo	Rapid	Slow	Medium
Volume	Loud	Soft	Highly variable
Rhythm	Irregular	Regular	Very irregular

• Wilson (1994) found that repetitive rhythms induce a trance-like state in humans.  The body's rhythms also can adapt to music. 
• The Allegro Foundation did a year-long study where special needs students were provided weekly 30-minute dance and music workouts.  The workouts improved compliance with directions, increased participation, helped regulate emotional outbursts, and notably improved handwriting.