Classical music affects the brain’s organisation and abilities through melody and rhythm. It is classical music’s more complex structure, instrumentation and harmony that will prime your brain with the pathways needed for cognitive tasks.
Rhythm, along with musical structure, instrumentation and harmony, raises the brain’s levels of serotonin neurotransmitters which are involved in the transmission of nerve impulses. Not only does this enhance critical thinking, it also assists in maintaining and maximising pleasant feelings, therefore easing tension. It stimulates natural rhythms of the body, like our heartbeat, brainwaves, body movements and breathing.
The music can have a powerful effect on your energy levels, memory and mood, and is one of the most effective ways to induce good moods. When you need to ‘amp’ up your performance, classical music can speed up your brain waves, arouse your body, and fill you with the electric energy of sound.
Find a genre of classical music that you enjoy, and make it the backdrop of your daily activities – play it in the car while driving, the kitchen while cooking, the office while working, and the study while studying – it induces a mood of concentration, filters out distractions, prolongs attention span, and encodes information in memory and improves its recall.
Claire Brown is a natural remedy expert based in Northcliff.
