Have you ever wondered if rapping
could improve brain function? Well now the answer is here. Researchers in the voice, speech, and
language branch of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication
Disorders (NIDCD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have used
functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of rappers
when they are "freestyling" -- spontaneously improvising lyrics in
real time. The findings, published in the Nov. 15 issue of the journal Scientific Reports, shows
that freestyling, a form of vocal improvisation, is related to unique brain
activity in the prefrontal cortex. It
also and suggests that there is a neural network that appears to be directly
related to improvisatory and creative endeavors.
The
researchers, led by Siyuan Liu, Ph.D., using funtional magnetic resonance, scanned
the brains of 12 freestyle rap artists (who had at least 5 years of rapping
experience) imaging while they performed two tasks using an identical 8-bar
musical track. For the first task, they improvised rhyming lyrics and rhythmic
patterns guided only by the beat. In the second task, they performed a
well-rehearsed set of lyrics. During freestyle rapping, the researchers
observed increases in brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, a brain
region responsible for motivation of thought and action, but decreased activity
in dorsolateral prefrontal regions that normally play a supervisory or
monitoring role. This means that the shift in brain function allows for freedom
of expression without the neural constraints that usually exist. The study also
showed that freestyling also increased brain activity in the perisylvian system
(which is involved in language production), the amygdala (an area of the brain
linked to emotion), and cingulate motor areas, suggesting that improvisation
engages a brain network that links motivation, language, mood, and action.
Further studies of this network in other art forms that involve the innovative
use of language, such as poetry and storytelling, could offer more insights
into the initial, improvisatory phase of the creative process. This could mean
that freestyling can be helpful in language production.
"This Is Your Brain On Freestyle Rap: Study Reveals Characteristic Brain Patterns of Lyrical Improvisation." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 Nov. 2012. Web <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121115133154.htm>.
"This Is Your Brain On Freestyle Rap: Study Reveals Characteristic Brain Patterns of Lyrical Improvisation." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 Nov. 2012. Web <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121115133154.htm>.
This is a really interesting article. I understand that freestyle rapping would increase activity in medial PFC, since you need motivation of thought and action to do it. However, I was a little surprised that DLPFC activity is decreased. I would have thought that in order to freestyle rap, you would need a monitoring role to be played in order to remember what you just improvised so that you could come up with the next line/words and be coherent. However, I guess it does make sense that if there was high monitoring/supervisory activity that the expression and language would not come as quickly or as naturally since there would be more neural constraints in play.
ReplyDeleteI’m not really sure, though, if this could really help those who have deficits in language production. With that said, it might be possible (and would definitely be interesting) to do a similar experiment with those who do have language production deficits to see where the problems/differences lie.