Last week, I discovered that listening to music has been shown to stimulate the area of the brain responsible for evaluating our desire to communicate (AKA the limbic system) thus making it an excellent motivational tool for second-language teachers (Paradis, 2004). All of the studies I could find investigated the effects of listening to music, however, they did not explain what happens in the limbic system when someone is playing music. Unfortunately, after scouring countless academic papers, I was unable to fully answer this question. Nevertheless, I did come across some research that suggests that playing music stimulates the brain notably more than simply listening to music, so I figure that's a pretty good place to start!
According to Anita Collins from TedEd, researchers used fMRI and PET scanners to monitor the brain activity of people as they listened to music. Afterwards, they used the same tools to monitor the brain activity of musicians as they played an instrument. What neuroscientists observed was greater engagement in those playing an instrument. Although both activities were shown to stimulate multiple areas of the brain, one could say that playing an instrument is analogous to a full body workout while listening to music is similar to skipping leg day.
As Collins explains, the neuroscientists observed the musicians brains “simultaneously processing different information in intricate, interrelated, and astonishingly fast sequences” (2014). Scientists believe that this is because playing an instrument requires visual, auditory, and fine motor skills, as well as linguistic and mathematical precision, and a healthy dose of creativity, all of which are controlled by different areas of the brain on both hemispheres. As musicians practice, their proficiency in these areas improve and they can then apply these learned skills to many different disciplines (like learning a language). Furthermore, because playing an instrument engages various parts of the brain on both hemispheres, the corpus callosum, the part of the brain that connects the two sides, has been shown to grow and become more active with musical training (as discussed in my previous blog entry Music, language, and the brain!). Likewise, as information travels across the brain and back again, it creates a diverse network of pathways that can be used at any given time. This is akin to having a variety of routes at your disposal as you travel from one destination to another throughout your day. Collins explains that “this may allow musicians to solve problems more effectively and creatively, in both academic and social settings” (2014). Moreover, due to the fact that playing music is also an interpretive exercise through which certain emotions and messages are communicated, neuroscientists have found that it increases levels of executive function (interconnected tasks that involve “planning, strategizing, and attention to detail and (implicate the) simultaneous analysis of both cognitive and emotional aspects” (Collins, 2004)). If that weren’t enough, improving executive function also seems to boost memory functions!
The way I see it, studying music and/or including music in language classes could better prepare students’ brains to make connections and find creative solutions when they encounter a gap in their knowledge. This could include (but is not limited to) making connections between the spoken/sung language and its meaning, the spoken/sung language and its written forms, the context of a situation and the meaning of the words being used, the tone of voice and the emotion behind the message, the differences and similarities between their native language and the language they are learning etc. Additionally, as musical training boosts memory functions, it could also help students better remember difficult grammar points, sentence structures, vocabulary words, and content learned in that language. Truly, the possibilities are endless! Until next time music and language lovers!
Collins, Anita. (2014). How playing an instrument benefits your brain [video]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/anita_collins_how_playing_an_instrument_benefits_your_brain
Don. (Uploader). (2014). Skipping Leg Day [digital image]. Retrieved from https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/710741-skipping-leg-day