Quote of the day . 1/12/12

The apple falls far from the tree, but the bird flies further - Khael Bellony

The Dana Foundation Design a Brain Ideas

I have been brainstorming ideas for me to participate in The Dana Foundation Design a Brain Experiment. The idea that was most intruiging to me, was the following :

Do the different types of music genres, alter one's pulse ? Does the music of choice make a difference ? Volume ? 

Did you ever feel a rush when your favorite song comes on ? We're going to study the science behind the music ! 

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Question
I am doing a big science fair project where we have a question and we have to answer it. I am doing an experiment to answer my question my question is Does gender influence the way music affects your pulse rate?....my experiment has a fast beat song and i was goign to see if being male or female affects that and it does but i need to consult an expert and  it would be great if you could just send something back to me like some good infronmation before march 24th thank you very much.....

Answer
good question
As the music goes it might influence by the type of music but gender do not differ on the rythm as the music goes.
it might be a little bit of heart beat difference between a male and a female caused by the estrogen and testosterone , but overall the difference is not thsat great.
The pulse is an indirect sign of blood pressure and heart beating, which is controlled by autonomic nervous system including heart-sympathetic nerve from thoracic spinal cord and heart-parasympathetic nerve from brain stem, also named vagus nerve. The exciting of sympathetic nerve realeases a chemical Norepinephrine (Noradrenaline) which makes the heart beating faster while the exciting of parasympathetic nerve releases Acetylcholine which makes the heart slower. The autonomic nervous system is connected with other parts of CNS like cerebral cortex, limbic system and hypothalamus. The hearing of music is a higher neural activity related with learning and memory and its mechanism is not clear yet. However, the basic primary neural pathway is similar with that of sounds. External musical sound stimulates the receptor cell in the inner ear, and the electrical signals transmit in the brain by cochlear nerves, then by several relays, they excite the neurons in temporal lobe of cortex, which associate with other parts of the brain, send out signals to effectors and other systems of the body including autonomic nervous system. They may excite the sympathetic or parasympathetic nerves and make the heart beating faster or slower, and the pulse increased or decreased.

The effect of music on heart and blood pressure has been a favourite theme throughout history. In an early edition of the medical journal Lancet (Vincent and Thompson 1929) an attempt was made to discover the influence of listening to gramophone, and radio, music on blood pressure. The effects of music were influenced by how much the subjects appreciated music. Differing groups of musical competence respond in relation to volume, melody, rhythm, pitch and type of music. Interest in the music was an important factor influencing response. Melody produced the most apprent effects in the moderatly musical group. In general, listening to music was accompanied by a slight rise in blood pressure in the listener.

The physiology of music perception has been investigated by different methods such as neuropsychological testing, neuroimaging EEG, PET and Doppler ultrasound. Cardiovascular and endocrine responses to musical perception which have been studied largely show different changes depending on the situation of the subject (musical experience, handedness, gender, age) and the type of musical stimulus (sedative, harmony music or rhythmic rock music detailing in simple musical elements like intervals, chords, pitch, timbre; or complex musical structures). For example, In Evers^Ò research in 1999, They use Doppler sonography to investigate the music perception by musicians and non-musicians and found that pulse rates were significantly decreased in non-musicians during harmony perception. In another trial, heart rate was found to decrease after listening to classical and New Age music but not to change after listening to popular music (Mornhinweg 1992). The heart rate was found to increase if the music contains a fast beat (Harer 1982) or slow down if the music encourages physical and mental relaxation (Kneutgen 1970, Guzetta 1989). Although changes of heart rate and blood pressure as related to listening to music have been reported by many investigators, the complicated problem is still obscure and need deep investigation to clarify its mechanism.

Also, if it is not enough, you can find by yourself, the key word is music, brain, pulse, and you can find refernces on Medline, books on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or some concise introduction of autonomic nervous system on Neurosicence for Kids.

Happy New Years !

Happy New Years my loyal readers. Stay tuned for some science fun facts ! :)

Why are Hydrothermal Vents so Amazingly Vital to our Society ?

Hydrothermal Vents prove that we only live on a very small layer of Earth. That at the depths that they are located, they are so close to the center of magma, whether there is a volcano or not, that they are able to produce unimagineable heat! And what is even more unique about the vents is that they provide a healthy environment for lots of underwater organisms that where believed to be unable to live at such depths.
I hope that helps!

The Teenage Brain. Simplified

Beatriz Luna. Psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh

Dr.Beatriz Luna is a Psychologist working at the University of Pittsburgh. Luna's research interests include the brain basis of the development of cognitive and affective processes such as working memory, response inhibition, object processing and motivation through adolescence in healthy and clinical populations. She is based at the laboratory of Nuerocognitive Development at the psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She has published multiple articles including: The Immaturity of Adolesensce, and White Matter Development in Adolesence. She has been Published in the National Geographic Magazine, as well as Time Magazine.
Luna, has won an award for WPIC Emerging Mentor Award (2010) and another for the Presedential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering. You can contact Dr. Luna at (412) - 383 - 8178 or Lunab@upmc.edu . Now you, as the readers can comment with any other questions you have regarding Dr. Beatriz Luna, and maybe she will drop by herself !