August 13, 2009
Human brain can turn off the vision center in order to simultaneously increase activity of audio center, said the experts on the basis of results of research conducted on 20 professional musicians and 20 persons who are not working with music…
Research has shown that professional conductors, but also those who are not, exclude the activity of visual center in the brain to reinforce activity of audio center, which is recognized by scanning.
Respondents were asked to hear two different musical tones played in intervals of several thousands of seconds, and then identify which of them was played first.
Scientists used functional magnetic resonance to measure changes in brain activity based on blood pressure in different areas of brain and by scanning they found that the increasing activity of listening in the center of the brain expected for playing is followed by simultaneously decreasing activity in the vision center.
But how the tasks became more complex and harder, the changes have become less and less notable for the professional musicians, and were clearly seen at ordinary people were are trying to concentrate, more and more restarting the activity of the visual center and the more powerfully including audio center. Conductors did not go to that extent of restarting the brain because their years of training procured a considerable advantage in their brain.
It has been previously established that different parts of the brain are involved in viewing and listening, said the study leader dr. Jonathan Burdette and described it like this: “Imagine listening to someone who speaks in a quiet room, and then imagine that same speech in active noisy room and you will notice that you have not seen much of what was going on in active noisy room. ”
“This is like closing our eyes while listening to music,” recalled Burdette.
The survey was conducted at the University of North Carolina (Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center) on a group of 40 people in the age of 28 to 40 years, and the results were presented by the Neurologist association at the conference.
Taken from: http://www.ekapija.ba