Can "learning music" help with emotional expression? New research from Yangming Jiaotong University: There is really a difference in brain neuroplasticity
Can learning music improve “neuroplasticity”? Study: More brain-wide connections in emotional brain areas
“Children who study music will not become bad”? There is no large-scale research evidence to judge the common belief. However, learning music may indeed change the brain structure and even increase the brain’s “neuroplasticity” to help improve emotional expression.
The National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University research team recently published the latest research results in the brain function academic journal “Human Brain Mapping”, confirming that brain neural structure imaging found that college students majoring in piano and vocals have lower levels of emotion-related areas in the brain (such as the amygdala). ) has more connections with the whole brain.
Professor Xie Renjun from the Department of Science, National Yang-Ming University of Science and Technology, said that this study is the first result of a ten-year research project and proves that music students can strengthen and reshape specific brain functions due to long-term training in expressing emotions through sounds. neural network. This study uses “diffusion magnetic resonance spectroscopy” technology to analyze the density of nerve bundles in the brains of vocalists and pianists, and uses non-invasive methods to study macroscopic changes in the brains of different ethnic groups.
The results show that vocalists present music through functional brain areas related to language and speech, while pianists use both hands to control the keys to present music, requiring more fine control of their left hand than vocalists, thus strengthening the connection with the right brain. .
Professor Xie Renjun said that music training has been widely studied and proven to induce neuroplasticity in perception, motor control and cognitive functions. In addition to confirming that different music types strengthen neural networks with different functions, this study also provides the neuroscientific basis for art therapy and music therapy (the so-called art prescription) for patients with neurological injuries or mental trauma. potential for follow-up research.
Music training “comprehensively” activates the brain’s neural and emotional processing capabilities more efficiently
Commenting on the study, Professor Gong Junjia of the Department of Psychology at National Cheng Kung University said that past literature using “MRI” as a research technology has pointed out that the finger-linking area in the brain of pianists is more developed than that of ordinary people. Previous studies have also shown that the volume of the brain area (hippocampus) that processes spatial information in taxi drivers is larger than that of ordinary people. This is evidence that acquired experience affects the “development” of the brain area.
However, this study cannot explain whether the differences in the white matter of musicians’ brains are due to innate genes or acquired experience. Long-term longitudinal studies are needed to provide better answers.
Assistant Professor Li Chengzong from the General Studies Center of Tunghai University pointed out that neuroplasticity is very important to the brain and is related to learning, memory, and adaptation to new environments. Long-term music training is a comprehensive activity for the brain, involving hearing, vision, and movement. , memory, emotion.
This study uses advanced brain imaging technology and mathematical models (Graph Theory) to compare the interactions between different neural networks. For example, piano training requires long-term cooperation between the left and right hands, making the right hemisphere of their left hand more controlled than the average person or It was the vocalists who established a more efficient network, proving that music training will strengthen the connection between the amygdala (Amygdala), which is responsible for emotions, and other brain areas. It has also been found that the white matter in the brain areas responsible for language and movement control will be strengthened or pruned due to different types of music training.
A distinguished professor at the Department of Psychology at National Cheng Kung University commented that although this study found that piano and vocal experts had specific changes in the brain connection structure, this should be caused by long-term training. There is no way to deduce how music affects the brain. However, this research can be seen as a change in the structure of the emotional network in the brain, which helps performers express richer emotions or have more efficient emotional processing capabilities.
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