Music And Brain

Part 2 : Explain how your current uses of music might impact your cognitive function. Draw on the research literature from both the “music and the brain” and “music in schools” lectures to support your ideas.
Introduction
Currently, I am largely involved in composing music for interactive media. To be able to produce professional music, I am constantly improving my music competency skills through music training. Recent studies have shown that music training enhances higher level cognition such as verbal memory (Ho, Cheung, & Chan, 2003), IQ (Schellenberg, E. G. 2004), spatial-temporal(Lois Hetland, 2000) and mathematical reasoning(Cheek & Smith, 1999). Brain Activation
As I am extremely passionate about music, I am consistently engaged in
active music listening. Researchers found that music listening promotes high engagement of the brain and requires an extensive neural network. The dominant components of the brain activated during music listening includes the auditory, sensory, motor and visual cortex, cerebellum and limbic system. 
To gain fresh inspiration for composing songs, I would listen to new music that is unknown to me. Listening to unfamiliar music causes the activation in the auditory and temporal cortex of the brain (Brown et al, 2004). 
Music listening frequently triggers my past sentimental, fulfilled, melancholy and heartbreaking memories. At times, I would determined the type of music I want to experience to based on the emotions it evokes. Listening to a familiar and personal song generate activity in the mesial temporal lobe, right cerebellum and right middle temporal gyrus (Platel et al, 2003).

Neuroplasticity Of The Brain
In order to maintain and improve my music skills, I would regularly practice piano. As we acquire new skills and cultivate them, structural and functional changes in the brain occurs. They modify the inferior frontal gyrus, primary motor and somatosensory areas, Heschl’s gyri, plannum temporale, cingulate cortex and cerebellum (Merrett & Wilson, 2011). The structures of these areas on both left and right hemispheres grow in size as new neural pathways are created. It results in the improvement of performing numerous tasks namely processing speech, tones and music and developing speed and performance. Furthermore, music training involves cross-modal integration which builds strong links between the motor and sensory systems. 
Additionally, I enjoy singing and have been developing my voice as it aids in my songwriting process. Studies showed that singing activates the auditory regions, sensorimotor, premotor, supplementary motor, cingulate and cerebellum in both the right and left hemispheres of the brain (Wilson et al 2010). Singing is involved in audio-vocal integration, as it shares the processing of music and language (Zarate & Zatorre, 2008).

Music Uses In University
I am continually influenced by musicians that I am surrounded by in school.
We would gather in class together to practise and improve our music ability. Immersing in music training in school has the potential to increase my IQ (Schellenberg 2004), mathematical reasoning (Cheek & Smith, 1999) and verbal intelligence (Ho, Cheung, & Chan, 2003). 
Another key area of gaining music competency is being able to improvise a tasteful melody over a chord sequence. Improvising requires high level of cognition and activates different areas of the brain as compared to performing a written score. Charles J. Limb, M.D (2008) found that during improvisation, the medial prefrontal cortex of the brain grew in activation. This area of the brain is connected to originality, self-expression and individualism. They further discovered that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex which is connected to practical actions and restrain, decreased in
activation.

Conclusion
In conclusion, my current music uses offers a positive impact on my cognitive functions at present and in future.
As an aspiring composer, I will be in perpetual connection with music for the following years and will continue to practice good uses of music. The current research studies on music and the brain has certainly displayed a lot of positive potential for the cognitive process of the brain. However, there are still many affecting factors that has to be considered to produce more accurate results. For example, the duration of music training, age when music training started and type of music training enrolled
in.