Have you ever listened to a song that felt like it scratched an itch in your brain? A new theory suggests that this feeling may be more literal than metaphorical. This hypothesis posits that our bodies may have a physical reaction to music, effectively synchronizing brain waves with musical structures, like pitch and rhythm.
Considered by many as a universal language, music elicits similar reactions around the world. Some of these reactions seem to be almost instinctual, no matter the culture. So what is it about music that makes it so universal?
The neural resonance theory, proposed in a perspective paper by Caroline Palmer of McGill University and co-authors, suggests that musical patterns are appealing to humans because they are in sync with resonant patterns of the brain. “This theory suggests that music is powerful not just because we hear it, but because our brains and bodies become it,” Palmer says. “That has big implications for therapy, education, and technology.”
The paper reviews literature on musical neuroscience, and formally describes neural resonance theory, or NRT. One of NRT’s key points is that neural oscillations in the brain sync with exterior sounds at differing rates. Using a timescale, different parts of the brain operate at different frequencies. These frequencies also correspond to different musical structures.
For example, neurons in the cortex oscillate at frequencies near the slower end of the timescale. Those frequencies are compatible or comparable to our idea of rhythm, which consist of distinct, repetitive beats. Other oscillations in the cortex operate at a higher frequency. These gamma-frequency oscillations are more compatible with musical pitch, which sits between frequencies of 30 to over 40,000 Hertz. Gamma frequency oscillations in the cortex are generally compatible with the lower end of this range, while the brain stem, cochlea, and auditory nerve resonate with pitches at the higher end of the range.
So, to answer the question of what makes music so universal, the paper’s authors say: “Statistically universal structures may have arisen in music because they correspond to stable states of complex, pattern-forming dynamical systems.”
While there may in fact be a biological explanation for music’s worldwide appeal, there’s still an argument for learned appreciation and discernment. Some of the more complex aspects of music, like meter, may be more culturally determined. The brain is believed to develop a bias towards these learned preferences regarding complex musical structures, which the paper calls “attunement.”
This groundbreaking paper also begins to explain some other fascinating phenomena, like why certain genres may make people want to dance more than others. What the authors characterized as “groove” is linked to nonlinear resonance. Nonlinear resonance is what happens when a beat doesn’t quite follow a predictable or brain-compatible pulse, and the brain has to fill in those blanks.
Just a bit of this disjunction led to “high groove ratings,” whereas too much or too little threw the groove factor out of whack. Unsurprisingly, a genre that struck this balance was pop music. So the next time you can’t get a song out of your head or it feels particularly easy on the ears, you can thank neural resonance theory for tuning your brain just right.
A new theory proposed by scientists explains why some music just hits different in our brains than others.
Neural resonance theory, or NRT, suggests that musical patterns are appealing to humans because they are in sync with resonant patterns of the brain.
Different parts of the brain function at different frequencies. These oscillations are, in turn, compatible with different aspects of music, like rhythm, pitch, and pulse.
Other musical patterns like meter are more complex and likely to be culturally determined, but on some level, the universal affinity for music is, in fact, somewhat biological.
Source: Musical neurodynamics
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