Ripping Through an Article that puts down something of Popular Culture
Arlene R. Taylor PhD wrote an article titled: Potential
Negative Impact. She began with a
thought provoking quote from Aristotle saying, “If one listens to the wrong
kind of music he will become the wrong kind of person; but conversely, if he
listens to the right kind of music he will tend to become the right kind of
person.” This led to the thesis
presented which was, “studies have shown that some types of music can result in
deleterious effects to the mind and body.”
Arlene stated that sound vibrations work throughout the
nervous system with rhythmic shocks to the muscles. This causes the muscles to contract,
setting everything in motion. A person would have to be extremely conscious and
focused to control the body to not move (muscular restraint). The Scripps Howard News Service reported a
study showing that the listening of rock music causes abnormal neuron
structures in the region of the brain associated with learning and memory. Being exposed to this type of music can cause
loss of ability to remember information.
It is stated that a research project was conducted by a neurologist and
a physicist. This was done with 36 mice
in 3 groups. There was a control group…did not listen to music. That was group
A. Group B listened to classical music while Group C listened to Rock music.
For 2 months they were in that state with all same conditions except the
music. They said they found that the
mice for group C had damaged and tangled brain thinking cells. They then trained the mice in a maze for 3
weeks, then given a break and then put in to test if they could recall the
maze. Groups A and B remembered and were able to run the course. Group C mice could not remember the maze and
also showed hyperactive, aggressive, and even cannibalistic behaviors.
In a study, rock
music was found to increase adrenalin levels while a slow piano instrumental
had a calming effect on students. University of Chicago Professor Allan Bloom
says that classical music makes listeners more contemplative. He is
basically saying that harmonic music is better than Rhythmic (rock) music.
In Conjunction with the mice experiment, I could not find
the exact experiment with names of a neurologist and physicist but there were
similar experiments done, one being by The
Schiller Institute through a student and it was done a couple times to get it
done correctly. The other information that was given in the article I
could not dig out of the internet. I was
searching the study types and used key words, looking up the professor names and
what they have done but it was not
attainable. I did find Professor Allen Bloom who wrote a book and there was
information on his chapter about music in the article. I did find a review on
that.
Most of this article seemed legitimate and even though I could
not find the exact study for the mice…I believe the results have great
credibility, as I found similar studies with the same conclusions.
http://www.arlenetaylor.org/pas-music-and-the-brain/398-potential-negative-impact
