Medical Mysteries of Music

Ongoing History Daily: How your body and brain sync to music

A new international medical study started at McGill University in Montreal adds more credence to the idea of Neural Resonance Theory or NRT. It suggests that our enjoyment of music is rooted in “natural brain and body oscillations that sync with rhythm, melody, and harmony.”

Our brains somehow physically resonate with music. It gives us pleasure, shapes our sense of timing, and triggers an instinct to move with it. This reaction to music involves the brain, the spinal cord, and other parts of the body.

It also appears that this neural resonance is universal across all listeners from all over the world. In other words, this is more evidence that we are all hardwired for music in some fashion. This new study could help patients with Parkinson’s and stroke victims. It might even help with the development of AI.

Research continues.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 40177 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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