Week 8

"More Than a Feeling: Emotiuonally Evocative, yes, but Music Goes Much Deeper"
by, Susan Gaidos

We all know that same feeling of happiness when your favorite song comes on the radio. This article explores why we feel certain ways when we listen to music and the benefits and effect of music on ourselves. It can bring back memories, bond us together, or just give us a sense of happiness and euphoria.

The author discusses how music "stimulates numerous regions of the brain all at once, " and that is "exerts its most profound effect in the brain's emotional core." Music has such a strong impact on our brains that is different from any other experience. It engages many parts of the brain, creating a profound experience even if we are not concious of it.

I know that certain songs have an instant effect on me. I flash back to a past experience and relive it almost. Listening to Tiesto now has such a greater impact because it connects to my memory of seeing him live. Feelings of euphoria and happiness just rush through me when I hear his songs. Music strongly affects my emotion by the style of the somg and the tempo.

Music can be used for therapy among autistic children. These children have a hard time determining people's emotions from the expression on their faces, but these same autistic children were able to pick up the emotion of a certain song very easily. This is really interesting and beneficail because scientists can see what parts of the brain are not firing off when autistic children look at faces vs. when they listen to music.

Music is such a social device. It brings people together. It can be in a pleasant manner, like at a concert, or it can be at a somber occasion, like a funeral. Music is such a bonding experience because people can enjoy the same emotions and feelings with other individuals and create a new understanding of the music and the connection between them. Music can "engage various social functions," according to neuroscientist Stefan Koelsch.

Through music you can feel loved one's pain. For example, hearing "Taps" beignplayed will make me cry to this day after seeing my aunt cry to it at my uncle's funeral in Arlington Cemetary. That song will hold such a stong and profound memory for me now. And that is the power of music, it ties together so many different aspects of your brain and experiences that you feel a special connection to music. Music can make you feel a certain way, act a certain way, or even bring you closer to people around you.