Playing drums is fun, and we all know it. Really, the only reason anyone needs to do anything is that it brings them joy. It’s because of that joy that I’ve continued this practice as long as I have.
But beyond that, you may wonder what measurable improvements to our wellbeing we find in music. As it turns out, there are many studied and documented benefits to participating in music. Along with our typical enjoyment is a long list of positive physiological, psychological, and neurological effects.
Let’s take a look at how this translates to the center of everything we do: the brain.
What parts?
It’s important to recognize that everything we perceive is actually created in our mind. We interact with various forms of energy from the outside world which our body takes as signals. These signals are sent via electricity through the nervous system to the brain. The brain then creates the sensations and images that we call our experience. So, everything you experience is not the outside world, but a projection of your mind. Weird, eh?
Many different parts of the brain work in concert (ha) to create our perception of sounds as music. Sound waves are received by the ear and sent via the VIII Cranial nerve to the auditory cortex and many other areas. When we hear music, it activates many parts of the brain including the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, hippocampus, and others. Needless to say, it’s a very stimulating thing.
What Improvements?
You can exercise your brain through stimulation and use. If you practice doing puzzles, solving problems, reading, etc. you will strengthen the areas of the brain that are used for those things. Music is no exception. It stimulates many different areas of the brain, so by practicing music–any instrument–you’re exercising them all. Studies have shown that this “workout” strengthens things like spatial reasoning, communication, verbal comprehension, and math skills.
I’m not a neurologist, so I won’t pretend to have deep knowledge of what each area of the brain does. However, it’s important to point out that the Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area are both involved in understanding and producing language, spoken and written. These are both strengthened when someone participates in musical activities. Involvement in music also helps us make more dopamine, which drives our motivation, pleasure, and many other functions.
What about the drums?
If we look specifically at playing the drums, which takes a lot more limb coordination than other instruments, we find something pretty fascinating. There is a part of the brain called the corpus callosum that deals directly with motor planning. In a study on drummers’ brains (Neuroscience and Music: Insights from Drummers’ Brains | Psychology Today) it was shown that the corpus callosum was thicker with fewer strands and had greater connectivity between the left and right hemispheres. Granted, this benefit also comes from playing other instruments; but drummers apparently get this one a bit more. After all, not many instruments require active participation from all 4 limbs.
What should I do?
Knowing that music can help our reasoning, coordination, and wellbeing, we can feel encouraged to dive deeper into our practice. The joy it brings to us is expressed in the health it brings. If you’ve chosen to play music, then give it all the energy have so you can enjoy the fruits of it.
Playing a musical instrument can make you smarter! So keep on drumming!
Thank you for reading. Leave a comment telling me what you want to know more about.
Kommentare