Mathematics and Music: A search for Insight into Higher Brain Function

Boettcher, W.S. ‘Mathematics and Music: A Search for Insight into Higher Brain Function’ Leonardo Music Journal (1994).

Summary:

This article, “Mathematics and Music: A Search for Insight into Higher Brain Function” discusses the hypothesis that there are links between ability or facility in music, mathematics and chess. The reason for this assumption is that for great success in areas like mathematics, or activities like chess, a high level of spatial reasoning ability is needed. And, it is argued that music training helps to raise this spatial reasoning ability, and even just listening to music is said to help (if only for short term periods) enhance that spatial reasoning performance. The correlation between music and chess is also argued to be due to the pattern development necessary. Music is defined in this article as “an ordered pattern of sounds,” and is made up of three primary musical structures:melody, harmony, and rhythm. One inherent aspect of music is that it’s structure is commonly made up of some kind of overall pattern, with repetition. Understanding these patterns and structures allows for success in music; just as understanding the possible patterns and structures is crucial for success in chess. Boettcher, Hahn, and Shaw go on to discuss other studies which have been conducted relating to music and mathematics, and then describe their research. For the study used in this article, the researchers interviewed 14 mathematicians who were faculty members at the University of California, Irvine. The interviews were each between 15 minutes and an hour, and four questions were asked. 1. What is your math research? 2. What are some cognitive skills that are required to do this type of research? 3. Do you believe there is a relationship between math and music? 4. Do you listen to music while doing math? The answers to all of the questions varied greatly between the various interviewees, but in terms of answers to the questions regarding math and music, many believed that there were in fact correlations. Some suggested that the links were due to pattern development, while others suggested a link in aesthetic qualities.

Reflection:

I found this article interesting in various ways. It caught my interest because for years, we have all heard the saying “music makes you smarter.” There has also been the suggestion that music makes students excel in areas of math, and other areas of academia. However, I have never been able to simply believe that involvement in, whether that involvement is participation or listening, music suddenly makes students develop mathematic skills. However, the reasonable explanation is that the brain processes music in a similar way to the way in which it processes mathematics. For that reason, students may find that while they are engaging areas of the brain in ways they had not previously done so, the learning process in mathematics may come slightly easier. I find this similar to the idea of exercising a new muscle. When the brain is learning to participate in, and process musical activity, it is exercising a similar region of the brain that is activated when participating in, or processing mathematics. And it is for this reason that the brain has a greater level of facility when processing music and mathematics together. I find that this explanation is really much more thorough than the simple suggestion that making music makes you smarter. The action alone of making, or participating in any kind of musical activity does not make a person smarter. It does, however, exercise the brain in a stimulating way while also teaching good work habits and dedication.