Neuroplasticity

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16 Mar 2015, 1:25 pm

Globe & Mail

I was listening to the radio today and this guy started talking about autism and sound frequency and Mozart. I guess this theory has been around for a while, but it was news to me.

So I found the above article:

Quote:

Rewired: Learning to tame a noisy brain. (Or, how you can use the power of neuroplasticity)
SARAH MACWHIRTER
The Globe and Mail
Last updated Monday, Jan. 26 2015, 10:55 AM EST
...
It was Doidge, a psychiatrist and faculty member of both the University of Toronto and Columbia University’s Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, who introduced the lay reader to the revolutionary idea that the brain is not fixed, that it is neuroplastic with the adaptive ability to reorganize itself, in The Brain That Changes Itself. In its wake, his inbox was flooded with e-mails from people debilitated by disease or injury who weren’t supposed to get better but did...

... The Conditions: Attention deficit disorder, autistic spectrum, sensory integration disorder.

The treatment: Using music and voice with changing frequencies to stimulate dormant brain circuits.
How it works: When we hear a sound, the ear converts the information in the patterns of sound energy into patterns of electrical energy. Our neurons begin firing in sync, and we can thus shape their circuitry. Many children with autism are hypersensitive to sound because the normal ear-to-brain circuit, which has an “auditory zoom” that allows it to hone in on human speech frequencies and screen out low, often threatening sounds, doesn’t work properly. Trapped in a fight-or-flight state, they cover their ears, scream and can’t engage socially. Listening therapy trains that “auditory zoom circuit” so children can hear speech better and socially connect.

I'm skeptical that listening to certain sounds will effect physical change within the ear, but there are worse things than listening to Mozart.

Anybody tried this? Did it have an effect?

kraftiekortie
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16 Mar 2015, 1:33 pm

Classical music does stoke my creativity.

Popular music stifles it--though I like listening to it.

androbot01
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16 Mar 2015, 1:48 pm

I used to listen to Tchaikovsky before writing exams.

kraftiekortie
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16 Mar 2015, 1:52 pm

When I was living on a mattress on the floor in Brooklyn, I used to read about Tchaikovsky's patroness. She was a dowdy, yet passionate woman.

guzzle
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16 Mar 2015, 2:50 pm

Chinese 5-element theory defines an interaction between notes and organs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Xing#Music

Not very scientific but it's been around quite a while...

Quote:

Different types of music have been recorded in historical Chinese documents from the early periods of Chinese civilization which, together with archaeological artifacts discovered, provided evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC – 256 BC). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_music

I'm be skeptical about the Mozart thing though but have no doubt music has a more profound effect on the brain than most would give it credit. Neurons are physical things. If music did not affect our brain there would be none of it playing in supermarkets and the like.

Quote:

People who tend to make unplanned purchases spend even more freely when shopping in the presence of background music, while contemplative shoppers buy slightly less than usual when music is playing. However, when a pleasant citrus smell pervades a store, non-impulsive buyers spend more, while impulsive shoppers spend less, reported Maureen Morrin, PhD, at APA's 2005 Annual Convention. All types of shoppers purchase less than usual when in the presence of both scent and music, perhaps due to sensory overload, Morrin's as-yet-unpublished research indicates. http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov05/music.aspx

Some classical music positively jars my brain. Probably more related to the instruments themselves though. Can't stand violins, they just schreech whereas piano on the whole soothes me.

btbnnyr
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16 Mar 2015, 4:49 pm

I am good at picking out musical melodies through all kinds of environmental noise like parties and driving on the freeway with the window open, but I often can't hear or understand speech even when there is little noise.

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androbot01
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16 Mar 2015, 4:51 pm

In a crowd all I can hear is inhuman roars and shrieks. I can only keep composure so long.

Sweetleaf
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17 Mar 2015, 12:32 am

I just don't buy that I am hyper-sensative to sound because I cannot hear right more like I hear too well...Seems like aside from making some noise much more annoying or headache causing than it is for other people, I can actually hear even better than a lot of people. I can hear sounds most people don't seem to pick up....helps me save energy, because I can easily hear any buzzing as high pitched as it is from my electronics that are left on so It helps me remember to turn them off if I am not using them.

Even florescent lights make noise, its not just that they are typically too bright for me...but the noise is obnoxious. Also though I find music to be very mentally satisfying..unless its annoying high pitched pop music due to the sound, or the kind of rap that just degrades women and encourages what seems to me like a disgusting lifestyle....for the lyrics though I don't dislike the sound of rap beats per say, just would be nice if it came with actual rapping about actual things. And whoever invented that stupid voice equalizer or whatever the hell you would call it that makes hip hop singers sound like those damn Furby toys from the 90's should have invested their time in something better than that cursed thing...I guess some pop singers use it to, but why?

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ConceptuallyCurious
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17 Mar 2015, 6:01 am

Sweetleaf wrote:

Although some sounds you may be able to hear that other people cannot hear at all, many will be sounds that most people could hear if they paid attention to them. I haven't been able to tolerate hearing aids because despite poor hearing I haven't been able to filter out unwanted sounds. I've discovered that despite them being set well below where they should, when I'm wearing them I hear things that the average person has to really concentrate and search for to tell me what they are.

This seems to be what they are aiming to effect - promoting filtering of unwanted sounds to allow better focus (auditory zoom) on speech sounds.

Whether Mozart can effect this, well, that's something else.

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17 Mar 2015, 9:09 am

Youngsters hear frequencies older people don't hear

Quote:

The sound can typically only be heard by people below 25 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito

http://theoatmeal.com/quizzes/sound/
I can't hear that coz I'm too old :mrgreen:

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