So what is Neurogenesis? Neurogenesis is the process by which neurones are generated from neural stem cells and progenitor cells. The generation of neuronal cells in the hippocampus is responsible for memory as well as emotions. Every day our brain is generating new cells (about 700 on an average) which encode our memories and the emotions follow with what we associate that particular memory with.

I don’t think most of us can imagine our lives without music. Music is almost a gateway to the state of mind we want to be in. For every song that one listens to, a particular type of perception is invoked which may or may not be in coherence with the original message intended by the lyricist. The Quantum nature of neurotransmitter transport in the brain along with the intricate nature of synaptic connections govern the electrical activity in our brains. So, as we know one form of energy can be converted into another, the pressure waves generated by the compression and rarefactions during the transmission of sound waves hit our ears and get transformed into electric signals.

The above paragraph may look like it’s divergent from the actual topic but it’s essential to know a little bit about the functioning of the brain to get an intuition about what follows. Do you remember the last time you heard an Eminem song and felt like you could take on the world? Do you find it easier to remember a song than to remember dates from a history book? The beauty of music just comes down to the fact that each part is intertwined magnificently. The sensory input of music comes in a chain altogether and the message along with the aesthetic sense of the piece comes as a whole entity and not in chunks. Research has shown that listening to music facilitates neurogenesis, the regeneration and repair of cerebral nerves by adjusting the secretion of steroid hormones, ultimately leading to cerebral plasticity which in turn enhances focus and cognition. The increasing cerebral plasticity can enable us to learn better, analyse and decipher stimuli. The best way to learn is to focus on the detailing, to be able to gather the linking and the interconnection; just like multiplication is repeated addition and division is repeated subtraction and you obviously can’t perform multiplication before knowing addition. One step leads to another and carves a niche for improvement.

Music is so connected to the mind because once you hear a song, you flow with it, it’s not like you’re trying to remember the lyrics that were in the past sentence or lyrics which flow afterwards but as though your brain is forming a pattern for the song, synapses are firing and messages are being passed through in Quantum states and Viola! there’s a concrete type of magic potion stored in your memory which evokes the same types of emotions every time you listen to that particular song. If the associated emotions are positive you will obsessively repeat the activity because that’s what your neurones like and they like to be healthy!

I’d like to close here, a little abruptly because my sole aim is to not end up writing a thesis but to shake your neurones to think and mull a little. HAPPY SCIENCING!