This is your brain on guitar

Musicians who play in sync also have brains that fall into alignment, according to a study published today. The study showed that the brain waves of guitarists playing a jazz tune together became synchronized as they performed.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Germany and the University of Salzburg examined eight pairs of guitarists while they were hooked up to an electroencephalography machine, which measures electrical activity in the brain. The study showed that the brain waves of the guitarists became more synchronized as they played. Several regions of the brain reflected the coordination. The frontal and central regions of the brain exhibited the strongest synchronization. But even the temporal and parietal regions showed a high level of synchronization in at least half of the pairs of musicians.

The study, which is published online today in BMC Neuroscience, suggests that things people do together, called "interpersonally coordinated actions," are preceded and accompanied by brain wave coordination.

"In everyday life, people often need to coordinate their actions with that of others," the authors wrote. "Some common examples are walking with someone at a set pace, playing collective sports or fighting, dancing, playing music in a duet or group, and a wide range of social bonding behaviors (e.g., eye-gaze coordination between mother and infant or between partners)."

The study cannot prove, however, whether this coupling occurs in response to the beat of the music, watching each other's movements and listening to each other or whether the synchronization takes place first and fosters the coordinated performance. A video clip of the experiment is on the BMC Neuroscience website.

-- Shari Roan

Photo credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[JB]

What do you call a musician without a girlfriend?

Homeless.

[Christian Fulghum]

As a guitarist, this comes as no surprise. I think you would obtain the same results from any group of musicians, or in any activity which involves rhythmic coordination (rice planting to a beat and call/response, as seen in The Seven Samurai). How about dancers?

[SCHMENDRIC]

Looks like something our elected representatives should get into. They're definitely out of sync.

[martin weiss]

Singing in a choir, playing in an orchestra or band, collaborative improvisation-- all endow the participant with a level of euphoria and feeling in sync, going with the flow-- that is like a zen state. This experience can lead one to explore communication with wild animals, pets, and even the elements. Language arose out of more than simple utility. Communication and feeling 'at one' are very much alike. The human organism is more than mind or body or even compassion. It combines all of them and adds will. When the will is in harmony with the prevailing music, it usually synergizes. Of course, when the will or intent is not in harmony-- is destructive or hateful or blindly selfish, the synergy can lash back at the originator. Language and music cast a 'spell'. I believe Maya Angelou has said 'Love holds the stars in their courses'. 'Spell' means more than adding letters to form words, it also means casting intent into existence. If the intent is harmonious the spell often works. If the intent is to sing with the choir, the notes one makes don't matter as much as the heart with which one sings.