Music may be used as a treatment for people with autism spectrum disorder. It may activate the neural (brain) circuitry that governs emotional response. In a 2019 publication, Canadian scientists hypothesized that listening to music taps into the circuit that connects the midbrain (an evolutionarily primitive area (part of the brainstem) that governs heart rate, breathing, etc.) to the limbic system (parahippocampal gyrus, amygdala, ventral striatum/nucleus accumbens ((all of which govern emotion)) and orbitofrontal cortex (part of the brain responsible for decision making and focusing attention). By the same mechanism, listening to music may benefit the brain health of people with social and behavioral abnormalities.
Music as brain medicine-- Autism
Music as brain medicine-- Autism
Music as brain medicine-- Autism
Music may be used as a treatment for people with autism spectrum disorder. It may activate the neural (brain) circuitry that governs emotional response. In a 2019 publication, Canadian scientists hypothesized that listening to music taps into the circuit that connects the midbrain (an evolutionarily primitive area (part of the brainstem) that governs heart rate, breathing, etc.) to the limbic system (parahippocampal gyrus, amygdala, ventral striatum/nucleus accumbens ((all of which govern emotion)) and orbitofrontal cortex (part of the brain responsible for decision making and focusing attention). By the same mechanism, listening to music may benefit the brain health of people with social and behavioral abnormalities.