Pay Attention to Music for Political Ads!

I don't know about you, but I am getting so weary of all the political ads we're being inundated with these days. The mud-slinging is getting really bad but there is one ad that I really actually like because of the music played in the background. This is the ad for an Indiana politician...Mitch Daniels. Now I honestly don't know what party he belongs to or what he believes in or has promised us. I do know that his music is ideal for a political ad~
This music is a slow but triumphant sounding march that, to me, seems hopeful, powerful, confident, and...well, like a winner would have! Can music influence the way you vote? Of course it depends on lots of thing, but for people like me, music is important and I think this little snippet of march music is wonderful. Everytime I hear it playing, I walk into the room and watch the ad!
Music is powerful! Listen to this www.mymanmitch.com.

More research on music and the brain

Immunity, too, can benefit. South African researchers have successfully used Bach's Magnificat to benefit mood, boost the immune system and lower stress hormones in people undergoing physiotherapy for infectious lung disease.

Regularly listening can also lower high blood pressure. Patients who listened to 25 minute of music a day for four weeks lowered their blood pressure, while a control group who were played no music saw no change in their condition. After four weeks, the average drop for the music group in systolic blood pressure was 11.8 mmHg and for diastolic, 4.7 mmHg. There were no significant changes in the control group. "Music therapy may be an alternative for hypertension treatment," say the researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Some research suggests that not all music is effective. Tune and tempo have been found to be more important than melody, rhythm, harmony or timbre. Quick, pulsating rhythms and vigorous music have been shown to have a counter effect, triggering negative emotions.

So how exactly does the body derive health benefits from music? At one level, it may work simply as a distraction, taking the mind off the pain. When healthy people are exposed to experimental pain, as they were in research at Glasgow Caledonian University, they had greater tolerance to it when they were listening to their favourite music.

But distraction is not the only way in which symptoms are eased. One Finnish stroke-recovery study found that music is processed and handled in different parts of the brain, and one suggestion is that by holding the patient's attention, it stimulates nerve cells which go on to bypass the region damaged by the stroke.

One theory is that it works through the emotion circuitry of the brain, which has an effect on the production of key hormones, which in turn impact on body functions, from the repair of nerves to pain relief.

Can Some Music Harm the Brain?

One of my mentors, Dr. Joel Elkes, once said that just as music has the power to heal, it also has the power to harm. Last week I was in Miami, South Beach to be exact. Nearly every store and restaurant I walked past had electronic-sounding disco music blaring onto the street. Every coffee shop, every sidewalk cafe, every hotel poolside, everywhere! It was maddening for me because it was so horribly repetitive and tune-less. It was as though all of South Beach is in some kind of techno-trance and they seem to be oblivious of it! I found it actually painful and it kept me from enjoying the beauty of the palms, flowers, shrubs and Art Deco architecture. Wake up South Beach! This is not a good way to promote your beautiful little city!

What makes a piano prodigy?

Have you ever wondered why some children are born with magnificent musical talents and some with devastating physical, mental and emotional handicaps? Much has been written about the latter but not nearly as much about the former. We know that musical talent tends to run in families. The study of genetics has come a long, long way in the past several decades, but some gifts are so staggering that it is hard to imagine these children exist. Mozart was one such wunderkind.
If you haven't seen the movie "Vitus," you must go immediately and rent it. This little boy is a true musical genius and piano prodigy. Enjoy!

Watch Dr. Oliver Sacks discuss music and Parkinson's

This is wonderful video of Dr. Oliver Sacks talking about the power of music with Parkinson's. Hear him say "you don't even need a music therapist if you have a little iPod!" Wow! That is so empowering for all the people who love music and want to use it for healing purposes. Just remember, healing and "curing" are not synonymous! BTW, if you have not signed up for my ezine and blog, please go to www.HealingMusicEnterprises.com and www.HealingMusicEnterprises.com/blog.

Musical Memories of my Father on Father's Day

This year I wanted to do a special Father's Day Issue in memory of my own father, the Rev. Dr. Michael Benjamin Hudnall. Daddy was a United Methodist minister in the S.C. Conference of the United Methodist Church. I was born in Durham, N.C. while he was in seminary at Duke University on the G.I. Bill after World War II.

Some of my earliest musical memories took place, not surprisingly in church and as a tiny girl I loved singing songs in Sunday School and hymns in church. My father always sang hymns lustily and made me want to do so as well. He always seemed so happy up there at the pulpit singing hymns and listening to the choir and would always turn around approvingly when they finished their anthems.
As a little girl, Daddy would come into my sister's and my bedroom and teach us songs he learned as a child and some that he learned in the Army. We loved singing these songs and I especially remember singing "My Grandfather's Clock," "Oh My Pa-pa," "Do Your Ears Hang Low," and "A Capital Ship." If you'd like to see a performance of "My Grandfather's Clock" and "A Capital Ship," you can click below. Even though this isn't my father, sister and me, you can imagine what fun we had singing these songs.








When I started taking piano lessons at age 8, Daddy was always my biggest fan and I remember him telling me at one point that he could just lie on the living room couch, listening to me playing the piano and "float right up to Heaven!" Needless to say, that made me very happy! I always knew that even if my recitals didn't go perfectly, Daddy would be first in line to congratulate me on a beautiful performance.

My father told me that he wished he could have taken piano lessons as a child but that his family didn't have the money during the Great Depression and so he and his family enjoyed singing and making music other ways. Music is a gift from God and I never take it for granted. As I grew up and became a parent and a professional musician I wanted to give my own children the love and appreciation for music that my father gave me. He was also extremely proud of my children's musical ability and encouraged them as he did me. A few years ago, my oldest daughter played her violin in Carnegie Hall and I knew that Daddy was there with us in spirit. He passed away in 1999 and was a very beloved human being. At his funeral, three different ministers gave tributes to him. If you'd like to read what the newspapers said about him, go HERE. I miss my father very much today but I have all of this sermons and a few tapes of him preaching and singing the hymns of Charles Wesley that he loved so much.

Birthday Music and the Brain

Well, tomorrow's my birthday!! And it's one of the big ones. I'll let you guess: One late May afternoon, at Duke University Hospital (Watts Hospital) a baby girl was born to Benjamin and Alice Adelaide ("Tumpy") Hudnall. The year was 1948 and I was their firstborn. My father was just about to get his Master's of Divinity degree so that he could be an ordained Methodist minister. Have you figured out how old I'll be? Now to the musical part. Every year on our birthdays, there's a song we hear, pretty much all over the Western World! Just the sound of that famous song releases endorphins in ths brain and makes people feel excited anticipation about the day and the moment. Often it brings floods of images of the past year and years. Hopefully it brings a sense of deep love and appreciation from family and friends. These things are definitely true for me. Want to help me celebrate my birthday tomorrow (May 22)? I'd like to know what music you associate with your birthday and what your favorite music is this year and this moment. I will compile some lists and get back to you with what music my readers like.
The cake in the picture is a lime-coconut cake that friends of mine made at my home tonight. It's my favorite and will be garnished tomorrow with a lime twist. Thanks for all the cards, letters, balloons and flowers! Love to all!
Alice

Oliver Sacks, renowned neurologist speaks about music's power

Oliver Sacks, professor at Columbia University, studies people with neurological conditions ranging from Tourette's syndrome to autism. In a presentation, he described the unique connection between human cognition and music.
Sacks spoke on his experience working with patients who suffered from sleeping sickness, aphasias and Alzheimer's disease. Music "survives amnesia, dementia and much else," Sacks contended. It plays a part in their therapy and can even help patients with advanced Alzheimer's.
According to Sacks, aphasia patients can partially recover through "music intonation therapy" because the parts of the brain responsible for musical perception reside in close proximity to those responsible for memory.
Sacks quoted an Alzheimer's suffering patient's relative: "Music is one of the only things that keeps him grounded in the world."

Important Research on the Brain and Music

The news has been hard to miss: in study after study, scientists are finding correlations between music making and some of the deepest workings of the human brain.
Research has linked active music making with better language and math ability, improved school grades, better-adjusted social behavior, and improvements in "spatial-temporal reasoning," which is the foundation of engineering and science. Physicists mapping brain activity have even identified patterns that resemble musical notes.
Take a look at some of the exciting findings linked below, and check back often for new developments in this exciting field.

The Royal Institution Presents New Research At First Public Conference on "The Musical Brain"
Biological Connection to Musical Activities Uncovered
Rauscher's Research Points to Link between Intelligence and Music
University of Munster Research: Exposure to Music Is Instrumental to the Brain Piano and Computer Training Boost Student Math Achievement, UC Irvine Study Shows
Study Explains Why Music Can Help Stroke Victims Regain Language Capabilities
Enhanced Learning Of Proportional Math Through Music Training And Spatial-Temporal Training
Keeping Mozart In Mind: Shaw Book Sets the Record Straight on the Mozart Effect
Gordon Shaw's M.I.N.D. Institute Promotes Music-Brain Research

source: Copyright © 2007 American Music Conference

An Excerpt from "Your Brain on Music" by Daniel Levitin

This is an excerpt from the introduction to the wonderful book "Your Brain on Music" by Daniel Levitin. I highly recommend it!!

"Many people who love music profess to know nothing about it. I've found that many of my colleagues who study difficult, intricate topics such as neurochemistry or psychopharmacology feel unprepared to deal with research in the neuroscience of music. And who can blame them? Music theorists have an arcane, rarified set of terms and rules that are as obscure as some of the most esoteric domains of mathematics. To the nonmusician, the blobs of ink on a page that we call music notation might just as well be the notations of mathematical set theory. Talk of keys, cadences, modulation, and transposition can be baffling.

Yet every one of my colleagues who feel intimidated by such jargon can tell me the music that he or she likes. My friend Norman White is a world authority on the hippocampus in rats, and how they remember different places they've visited. He is a huge jazz fan, and can talk expertly about his favorite artists. He can instantly tell the difference between Duke Ellington and Count Basie by the sound of the music, and can even tell early from late Louis Armstrong. Norm doesn't have any knowledge about music in the technical sense - he can tell me that he likes a certain song, but he can't tell me what the names of the chords are. He is, however, an expert in knowing what he likes. This is not at all unusual, of course. Many of us have a practical knowledge of things we like, and can communicate our preferences without possessing the technical knowledge of the true expert. I know that I prefer the chocolate cake at one restaurant I often go to over the chocolate cake at my neighborhood coffee shop. But only a chef would be able to analyze the cake - to decompose the taste experience into its elements - by describing the differences in the kind of flour, or the shortening, or the type of chocolate used."

Your Brain on Music

Ever wonder why a particular song can automatically put you in a great mood, while another can move you to tears? Why certain songs get stuck in our heads? And how these reactions are created by the composer?
Some explanations can be found in "This Is Your Brain On Music--The Science Of A Human Obsession." It's by Daniel J. Levitin, Ph.D. a former record producer, sound engineer, and A&R agent for Columbia Records. He now runs the Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition and Expertise at McGill University in Montreal. Levitin says through studies of music and the brain, we've learned to map out specific areas involved in emotion, timing and perception -- and production of sequences. "They've told us how the brain deals with patterns and how it completes them when there's misinformation," says Levitin."What we're learning about the part in the frontal lobe called BA47 is the most exciting. Music suggests that it's a region that helps us predict what comes next in a sequence."Levitin says we've learned a lot about music perception from people with brain disorders or injuries."We've learned that musical ability is actually not one ability but a set of abilities, a dozen or more. Through brain damage, you can lose one component and not necessarily lose the others. You can lose rhythm and retain pitch, for example, that kind of thing. We see equivalents in the visual domain: People lose color perception or shape perception."Levitin says he thinks of the brain as a computational device. "It has a bunch of little components that perform calculations on some small aspect of the problem, and another part of the brain has to stitch it all together, like a tapestry or a quilt."Levitin has also looked at this from an evolutionary perspective, to answer the question: Why did humans develop music in the first place? "There are a number of different theories. One theory is that music is an evolutionary accident, piggybacking on language: We exploited language to create music just for our own pleasure. A competing view, one that Darwin held, is that music was selected by evolution because it signals certain kinds of intellectual, physical and sexual fitness to a potential mate."So how does that play out in rock 'n' roll?"(Research has shown that) if women could choose who they'd like to be impregnated by, they'd choose a rock star. There's something about the rock star's genes that is signaling creativity, flexibility of thinking, flexibility of mind and body, an ability to express and process emotions -- not to mention that (musical talent) signals that if you can waste your time on something that has no immediate impact on food-gathering and shelter, you've got your food-gathering and shelter taken care of."What are we learning about the link between music and emotion in the brain? "Music activates the same parts of the brain and causes the same neurochemical cocktail as a lot of other pleasurable activities like orgasms or eating chocolate -- or if you're a gambler winning a bet or using drugs if you're a drug user. Serotonin and dopamine are both involved," says Levitin.Could music be an antidepressant? "It is already -- most people in Western society use music to regulate moods, whether it's playing something peppy in the morning or something soothing at the end of a hard day, or something that will motivate them to exercise. Joni Mitchell told me that someone once said before there was Prozac, there was her."

The Brain Experiences Cathedral Bells

This past Sunday, December 23rd, I was visiting my middle daughter in Washington, D.C. and attended the Sunday morning service at one of my favorite churches in the world, the Washington National Cathedral. It was quite a magnificent spiritual experience with glorious Christmas music and an interior and exterior that are nothing short of miraculous. At the end of the service I went up to the 7th floor tower to see the view and heard the pealing bells. It was a powerful experience that went straight to my brain and to my heart!

Keeping Your Brain Young with Music

This past week-end I went to a delightful Christmas Program at my mother's assisted living community in Spartanburg, S.C. It was a double celebration because not only was it a Christmas dinner for all residents and their families but it was also my mother's 82nd birthday! In preparation for this, my mother organized a little chorus of her peers and friends there and they sang familiar carols and Christmas songs. To my amazement, my mother conducted the chorus, even though she is legally blind from macular degeneration!
I have no doubt that those who participate in music-making activites keep their brains active and young and the research in this field backs that belief up! Soooo, keep singing and playing all the music you love! Happy Holidays!
Dr. Alice Cash is offering a very special price to her blog readers on her brand-new Christmas CD. Click here to read all about it and order it NOW!

Christmas CD for YOU!

Want to tickle your brain? You know that music is always good for your brain. Add to that all of the warm, loving memories of your Christmases from childhood, and the result is a big "brainhug." Listening to your favorite childhood music is the very best way to get a "brain hug."

As a result, I've just made a Christmas CD for you and I really hope you'll give one to yourself and all your family. Click below to get all the details!! And Merry Christmas!!

Click here to get Alice's Brand-New Christmas CD

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

You may have heard about the fantastic new book from Dr. Oliver Sacks, "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain." Dr. Sacks has been on national TV shows for the past several weeks and this book promises to be another best-seller for him. I haven't read it yet but I'm getting ready to order it from Amazon. If you want to order it from Amazon, please go to http://www.drcashprefers.com/Music/amazon.htm and then put in the name of Dr. Sacks book.

Dr. Sacks was one of my first heroes when I stepped into the field of music and medicine. He had just testified in Congress about the power of music in many musical specialties. If you do to to my site listed above (http://www.drcashprefers.com/Music/amazon.htm) you'll also see some fascinating videos of him talking about music with several conditions such as amnesia, Parkinson's and "brainworms." Enjoy!

Can Music Help a Brain Injury?

Have you heard of Acquired Brain Injury? (ABI) It's the leading killer and cause of disability in children and young adults. More than two million head injuries occur each year. Statistics show that the highest rate of injury occurs in young men between the ages of 15 and 24. ABI is an impairment of brain functioning that is physically or psychologically verifiable. Frequent causes of ABI are brain lesions caused by traumas such as auto accidents, falls, assaults and violence or sports injuries.

Can music make a difference?

The answer is a resounding yes! Persons with a brain injury can benefit from music as a modality to promote vocalization, rhythmic movements, orientation, relaxation, self-expression, and as a way to enhance overall self- esteem. Because music is processed by the entire brain, the structure of music helps to re-organize the structure of the brain. Listening to highly organized music such as that of Mozart often helps brain injured patients to organize their thoughts, activities and even their emotions.

Alice visits with her "Musical Brain" mentor

Today I had the pleasure of spending some time with my dear music medicine mentor, Dr. Arthur Harvey! I am vacationing in Sarasota and Dr. Harvey has now moved here from Hawaii! We had some scintillating conversation this a.m. about music and surgery and he gave me some great ideas for music to use during surgery. He also filled me in on some important resources that I had not yet mined and will be doing so this evening and beyond.

Dr. Arthur Harvey is one fantastic, awesome, and yet very humble individual and I hope we can have these inspiring visits for years to come! Thanks for helping me to step into this field Arthur!

Lecture at Clemson University Introduces Healing Music Concepts

Last Thursday night, September 13, 2007 will live in my memory for many decades to come. On that night in Clemson, S.C. at Clemson University, I presented the Inaugural William H. Hunter, M.D. Endowed Lecture. This newly endowed lecture will be presented as part of the Calhoun Lecture Series and I believe will always be on a medical topic. I feel so honored to have been asked to deliver this lecture because the subject of Music as Medicine is still, unfortunately, somewhat controversial. Despite the fact the we have documented evidence from throughout history that music has been used for heaing purposes, in our scientific and empirical data age, many people still see music therapy and music healing as "soft science" and something to be quite skeptical about.

This lecture was sponsored by AnMed Health Foundation in Anderson, S.C. and this wonderful group is already fully supportive of the use of music in hospitals and are providing music therapy and music healing. It was so wonderful to see many old friends there and friends of my parents and many, many people purchased books, CD's and tapes. Thank you sooooooooo much to everyone who made this possible!

The Brain, Biking, and Improvisation

Today was Labor Day and I deicided to do the Mayor's Bike and Hike Event down by the Ohio River. It was a beautiful day and riding the 10-12 miles downtown and along the river was just a gorgeous trip.
When I got home, I was ready to sit down at the piano and start working on my new Christas CD music. I was amazed at how easy the arranging of my music was today and I totally attribute it to the endorphins, dopamine and adrenaline that I stirred up by riding my bike up and down the rolling hills and valleys earlier today. What do you think?

Understanding brain waves and tuning your brain

They say that the brain is the last unexplored frontier, but over the last decade or two, much research has been conducted that documents how sound and vibration impact the brain in a very positive way.

The following was found on today's "The Daily Turn-on." Enjoy!

Did you know you can actually charge up your central nervous system through music? Alfred Tomatis, French physician and specialist in otolaryngology (ear, nose, throat specialist) has been studying the functions of the human ear for over forty-five years. Tomatis discovered that with a frequency as high as 8000 hz, such as Gregorian chants, humans are able to "charge" the central nervous system and the cortex of the brain. Through years of research he has found that sound is not actually produced through the mouth but rather through the vibratory frequency that travels through the bones of the body. Every bone, tissue and fiber of our bodies operates through its own unique resonant frequency which combined make up each individual person's unique vibratory signature, or aura. Disease occurs when an individual's own natural vibratory state is out of resonance or is in disharmony. Fortunately, just as the body can get out of harmony, it is possible to put it back in harmony with its natural resonance through sound therapy. Sound therapy involves externally creating sound and projecting it into the diseased area to reintroduce the correct harmonic pattern. So where does this whole chanting thing come into play? We can actually change our body's natural rhythmic vibrations through a process called entrainment which introducws a more powerful rhythmic vibration to a weaker vibration until the more powerful vibration changes the less powerful vibration and their rhythms become synchronized together. And this can be accomplished through chanting. A a matter of fact, our brain waves, heart beat and respiratory patterns can all be shifted through the practice of entrainment. Sound therapy is a healing modality that uses sound to shift our vibratory frequency to bring the body back to a place of harmony. The key to accomplishing this is understanding the basic categories of brain waves:
Beta Waves vibrate at a frequency of 14 to 20 Hz and are the frequency of our normal waking state of mind.
Alpha Waves vibrate at a frequency of 8 to 13 Hz and are typically the frequency of our daydreaming or meditative state of mind.
Theta Waves vibrate at a frequency of 4 to 7 Hz are the frequency of a deep sleeping state, as well as the frequency found in shamanic activity.
Delta Waves vibrate at a frequency of .5 to3 Hz and are the frequency thats occurs in deep sleep, as well as profound levels of meditation and healing. By utilizing our sense of sound, we are literally able to shift our consciousness and create healing in our body. But, be aware that the opposite is true. We can also utilize our sense of sound to negatively shift our consciousness and create disease.