Objective Summary- Section 1 of "Music and the Brain: How Music changes the Brain"

Summary- Section 1 of Music and the Brain: How Music Changes the Brain



         In Section 1 of Music and the Brain, C.D. Shelton explores the benefits of learning to play music and the positive effects of music on brain development. Shelton incorporates the research of multiple studies displaying how music can be very helpful and therapeutic. For example, Shelton addresses music's ability to aid the sleep of those suffering from insomnia, calm or focus people in different situations, and can even enlarge the brain up to 25% if you take music lessons as a child. Shelton highlights the fact that learning to play a musical instrument while young improves the mathematical and linguistic centers of the brain, as well as sharpening motor skills. While analyzing a study on music and its effects on the brain development of children, Shelton notes that there is a "sensitive period" between six and eight in which musical training interacts with the normal brain development of kids. He informs that this sensitive period is the most likely time for a person's sensory neurons to strengthen and become more efficient than the average person. Straying from the factual data on how music benefits the overall population, Shelton emphasizes the significance of music as a form of self- expression and a way to understand yourself as a human being. In a study on patients recovering from strokes, Shelton concludes that even though some patients suffered from damage to their brain and were inable to speak, some were able to sing because the music centers of their brain were functioning well. Throughout the section, Shelton stresses the importance of music on an individual's ability to control their mood, focus, and release stress. He also demonstrates the benefits of learning music at a young age and how it improves the brain's capabilities.

Shelton, C.D. Music and the Brain: How Music Changes the Brain. N.p.: Amazon Digital Services, 2013. Web.