Brain Process Music Essay

Music has become increasingly popular in today’s society. When we are listening to music, our brain does much more than just process the sound. Music has been known to be able to affect human emotions and moods. The brain first categorizes sound into music through interactions between the low-level and high-level processing units (“How Our Brains Process Music”). The whole task begins with the auditory cortex in the brain which first receives a signal from the eardrum which in turn activates the cerebellum (“How Our Brains Process Music”). The cerebellum is the part of the brain that assists in coordination, precision, and timing of movement (“How Our Brains Process Music”). The ear and the cerebellum together as the low-level processing units allow the brain to start analyzing the sounds and break down the auditory stimulus into pitch, amplitude, timing of different notes, etc (“How Our Brains Process Music”).

A signal is passed from the cerebellum to the thalamus to search for signs of danger (“How Our Brains Process Music”). The thalamus works with the hippocampus, the memory center of the brain to find connections between the sound compared to archived sounds or danger associations (“How Our Brains Process Music”). The thalamus connects the the amygdala which results in an emotional response allowing for the “fight or flight” response to be engaged (“How Our Brains Process Music”). Next the brain processes the music into neural codes. When neurons activate, known as “firing”, it becomes an electrical signal that releases neurotransmitters (“How Our Brains Process Music”). The neurotransmitters then move in to the synapses of the