Music As a Form of Neural-Glue?
With the beginning of the holiday season upon us, and all of the traditional seasonal songs that come with that, I’ve been thinking a lot about the ways that music affects my own life and the lives of others. In this week’s @usautism Feature Video, I shared one of my favorite interviews on this topic which features our own US Autism Board of Directors Member, Yasmine White. In my discussion with Yasmine, she shares a lot of great information about how music underlies both emotions and communication, and when used therapeutically, can literally create new connections in the brain.
Our friend and US Autism Advisory Board Member Dr. Stephen Shore agrees. I’ve heard him say on numerous occasions that music might be the “glue” that bridges some of the heightened sensory differences we see in autism to the language, communication, and emotion centers of the autistic brain. In short, music, especially when explored therapeutically, seems to serve as some sort of “neural-connector.”
Two weeks ago, we shared a post from Sameer Dahar in which he explained his own personal observation about how his brain began to change when his oral language skills started to develop. As I’ve paired his words with those of Yasmine White, Stephen Shore, and others who have spoken about the “differently wired” neural connections in autism, I’m left with a clearer understanding about 2 things. First, the human brain really is exceptionally “neuro-plastic” and can change dramatically with new input; music can certainly become that mind-changing input. Second, music seems to have such a deep and central place in our brains that it connects us to many different things including our memories, our emotional experiences, our language and communication, and even our feelings and connections to others.
When I hear certain songs, especially seasonal Christmas songs (for others it will be something different), I, like many of you, am transported back to different times in my life and to the feelings, experiences, people, places, and even years that relate to when I first heard those songs. I think we all do this. But now consider for a moment how many songs we all have stored across our lives and all of the memories and experiences associated with all of those songs. Then, consider this question: Isn’t it likely that music really is one form or “neural glue” for everyone, autistic or not? If true, as Yasmine White states, music becomes “a really powerful tool.”