This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
By Daniel J. Levitin
336 pp, Penguin Group, New York, New York, 2007
What if there was a free drug, with no threat of addiction, that could make students learn to read and write faster? What if the drug’s side effects were an increase in IQ, reduced stress, a stronger immune system, improved memory and an overall boost in intellectual, emotional and physical well-being? If such a drug exists, I think we’d all be scrambling to get it for our children and our students, not to mention buying up as many shares as possible.
McGill University neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin writes of these “side effects“ in his book This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. The book provides a neurological analysis of music, and how our brains and bodies interpret and process music. Levitin peers inside the brain using the latest fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) technology. Along with the work of other scientists in this burgeoning field, he is able to draw a clear line to link music to increased mental capacity and improved efficiency in learning.
The final chapters challenge well-known cognitive scientist Steven Pinker’s theory that music evolved as a happy by-product of linguistic ability. “Music may be the activity that prepared our pre-human ancestors for speech communication and for the very cognitive, representational flexibility necessary to become humans,“ Levitin argues.
Levitin presents his research in a way that may well make educators and parents rethink music’s role in education. Given the body of evidence that supports the role of music in cognitive and social development and the strong emotional connection children have to music, it seems a shame that music is not exploited more broadly in the education system as a legitimate learning tool. Levitin’s work seems like a subtle challenge to all educators: how are we going to incorporate the new neurological evidence into the curriculum? This Is Your Brain on Music should be required reading for every teacher.
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