Sep

Music for concentration

A large number of studies have been made about the relation between the effect of music on the human brain in an article about the biology of music William J Crommie wrote :

Some brain circuits respond specifically to music; but, as you would expect, parts of these circuits participate in other forms of sound processing. For example, the region of the brain dedicated to perfect pitch is also involved in speech perception.

Music and other sounds entering the ears go to the auditory cortex, assemblages of cells just above both ears. The right side of the cortex is crucial for perceiving pitch as well as certain aspects of melody, harmony, timbre, and rhythm. (All the people tested were right-handed, so brain preferences may differ in lefties.)

The left side of the brain in most people excels at processing rapid changes in frequency and intensity, both in music and words. Such rapid changes occur when someone plucks a violin string versus running a bow across it.

Both left and right sides are necessary for complete perception of rhythm. For example, both hemispheres need to be working to tell the difference between three-quarter and four-quarter time.
The front part of your brain (frontal cortex), where working memories are stored, also plays a role in rhythm and melody perception.

Music can be used for healing, relaxation, concentration and they are certainly other applications.

“Some hospitals play soft background music in intensive care units for premature babies. Researchers have found that such music, as well as a nurse’s or mother’s humming, helps babies to gain weight faster and to leave the unit earlier than premies who don’t hear these sounds.” wrote William J Crommie.

There is a new CD by Advanced Brain Techno using some classical music to help with concentration and learning , the pieces played are Baroque music from Vilvadi , Bach and Albinoni .
I don’t know how this CD compare to Immrama Focus CD , I don’t use much the Focus CD I don’t like to have a headphone on me when I study or work but some people told me, Focus CD helped them to improve their concentration. The customers review for that new concentration CD are excellent so it might be worth a try at $10 it is cheaper than the Focus CD ($19,95)

Note: if you have the Concentration CD by Advanced Brain Techno or the Immrama Focus CD I’m interested to hear from you, it is always interesting to me to read opinions from other people about these products.