You know the car. The one that shakes your house with its base every time it drives by. Next time it happens, allow your body to respond to the beat. Let go. Shake your hips and enjoy their ride.
Music has the power to induce movement in humans. The human body spontaneously responds to beats ranging between 300–900 milliseconds. Science declares the most favorable tempo for walking is around 110–120 bpm (Burger et al., 2014).
Anchoring is a phenomenon attached to cyclic movements in the spatial and temporal region that executes movement. These become engaged at various points in the cycle. In neurological studies, fMRI has shown that rhythm has pathways between the brain's motor and auditory system, including the basal ganglia, the premotor cortex, the auditory cortex, and the supplementary motor area (Burger et al., 2014).
Kilchenmann and Senn (2015) highlight how music induces emotion. Witek et al. (2017) state that not only does music influence our bodies in the way they move, but the body synchronizes with the beat in spatial complexity.
The next time you feel drained, try turning on songs with a high beat and see what it does. The music might enter your body and release chemicals that charge your emotions and energize you. When you exercise, let music open your body to more power as it responds to the music’s energy. The next time you are depressed and want to drown your sorrows in depressing songs, try cranking up the beat instead. You just might find that a rich base will release your tension and lift your mood.
References:
· Burger, B., Thompson, M. R., Luck, G., Saarikallio, S. H., & Toiviainen, P. (2014). Hunting for the beat in the body: on period and phase locking in music-induced movement. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 903–903. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00903
· Kilchenmann, L., & Senn, O. (2015). Microtiming in Swing and Funk affects the body movement behavior of music expert listeners. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1232–1232. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01232
· Witek, M.A.G., Popescu, T., Clarke, E. F., Hansen, M., Konvalinka, I., Kringelbach, M. L., & Vuust, P. (2017). Syncopation affects free body-movement in musical groove. Experimental Brain Research, 235(4), 995–1005. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-016-4855-6
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Blast the Beat
by Stephanie Daich
