Academics

Latest Academic Research Compares Pop And Classical Music’s Effect To The Brain [VIDEO]

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Discover how this latest academic research compared pop and classical music's effect to the brain. Headed by researcher Ping Huang of South China Normal University in Guangzhou, the new forwarded study only gladly proves the existing presumptions we have about classical music's wonderful effect to the brain.

In the pursuit of a better argument, many have retorted to the idea that complicated notes help stimulate the brain. However, the truth is actually more than the presumptive suggestions.

Now, to go off the scientific elitists' line, Ping Huang, together with Hanhua Huang, Qiuling Luo and Lei Mo of South China Normal University forwarded and eventually had their research published in the PLos One online journal entitled "The Difference between Aesthetic Appreciation of Artistic and Popular Music: Evidence from an fMRI Study", Pacific Standard reported.

Although the idea of music as brain shaper for babies is no longer a strange subject, a number of parents in fact are at odds over inducing the "Mozart Effect" on their babies. What proves ground breaking about this research however is the proponents' move of measuring the mental effects very accurately by an fMRi machine or known fully as the Functional Magnetic Resonance imaging.

The fMRi is a safe technique that measures and maps brain activities using a machine for the purpose of detecting diseases. Now, this group of researchers from China innovated with the machine and instead pitted it with music exposures in the brain. Instantly then, the results astounded them beyond apprehension, UC San Diego stated.

The researchers reported the results in the journal, highlighting the different response patterns in the brain via sub-cortical reward region and the cortical region. By dividing the brain in regions, the researchers were able to compare clearly the response patterns and determine that the sub-cortical region responds to pop music, while the cortical or cognitive empathy region yielded more to classical or artistic music, PLoS One stated.

Ultimately, what the research proved, though needing apt support, is that the appreciation of classical music (with more complex notes) involves neural and emotional processing than the simple-tuned pop music genre. Moreover, there is much to be discussed in this research to avoid rigid stereotyping and dichotomization.

What is sure is that this is one step taken as it has proven that listening to classical music is not only for the elites. And, as much as we're concerned we ought to subscribe to it for health reasons.

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