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resembling that of contemporary humans, which means that their voice boxes were descended enough to allow speech and singing. This implies that singing conferred some sort of evolutionary advantage, the nature of which has been hotly contested. One promising theory, advanced by Leslie Aiello and Robin Dunbar, is that primitive song mediated the transmission of emo- tional states at a larger scale than physical grooming of insects, a more rudimentary form of social bonding, would accomplish. However, even more plausible is that


the versatility of the voice evolved in order to facilitate motherese, an early form of baby-talk that allowed prehistoric mothers to console their babies from a distance while they engaged in other activities. Scientist Dean Falk, a proponent of this theory, advocates that this motherese be- came the precursor to proto-language and proto-music. Therefore, our brains are literally wired from birth to receive musical tones. In fact, neural circuits originally serving another function may have been repurposed in evolutionary history for the processing of music. This may be why anthropological and ethnomusicological studies reveal that contemporary hunter-gatherer cultures use music therapeutically, which provides us insight as to the ways in which our prede- cessors may have incorporated music into their healing arts. That many people in fast-paced industrialized societies lead lives devoid of music is a testament to the evolutionary mismatch of modern times which has divorced us from our very na-


ture. Music Rewires The Brain


In one study, researchers examined the brains of individuals using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a technique that tracks cerebral blood flow. They found that when subjects listened to songs from their preferred musical genres, they exhibited enhanced levels of brain connectivity. Most pronounced was con- nectivity in the brain region called the default mode or resting-state network, which is implicated in internal mentation, or “the introspective and adaptive mental activities in which humans spontaneously and deliberately engage in every day”. This brain area, which may be com-


promised in neurological disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease, is correlated with internally fo- cused thoughts such as daydreaming, past recall, empathy, and self-awareness, which illuminates why music has been shown to trigger self-referential thoughts and mem- ories. “Described as functioning somewhat like a toggle switch between outwardly focused mind states and the internal or subjective sense of self, this network ap- pears to include mind-wandering experi- ences such as imagining the future, the discovering of new possibilities (hopes), and the affective significance of aspirations or dreams”. (Wilkins, R.W. et al. (2014). Network Science and the Effects of Music


Preference on Functional Brain Connectiv- ity: From Beethoven to Eminem. Science Reports, 4, 6130.) Activation of the default mode net-


work (DMN) is also crucial for processing psychosocial interactions and more ad- vanced cognitive abilities such as reading comprehension, creativity, moral evalua- tions, and divergent thinking. In addition, stimulating the DMN may recruit previ- ously encoded memories and support cognitive processes within domains that are compromised in neurodegenerative diseases, such as the processing of auto- biographical, episodic, and socio-emo- tional memories as well as self-reflective thought.


In the fMRI experiment, the hippo-


campus was another brain region where connectivity between nerve cells was al- tered when subjects heard their favorite song, regardless of its acoustic character- istics. The hippocampus is essential for the acquisition of emotional and social memories, a process which may be dis- turbed in neurodegenerative disease.


Music Therapy Elicits Neuroregeneration


Music has been demonstrated to affect the cerebral nerves in humans spanning the age gamut from fetus to adult (Abbott, 2002), perhaps suggesting that music acts as a tonic for the brain. Researchers are in fact proposing that music modulates the secretion of steroid hormones, which ulti- mately incites repair and regeneration of cerebral nerves.


MARCH 2018


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