A concert to analyze the power of music on brain activity

A piano, a brain monitoring device, and a large screen. With these three objects, the Frederic Mompou Hall of the General Society of Authors and Publishers (SGAE) was transformed this Tuesday into a live neuroscience laboratory to understand what happens in a musician's brain while playing. Composer and pianist Rafael Vargas presented a work created using a 40 Hz frequency, also known as gamma frequency—related to processes such as attention, memory, and neuronal synchronization—demonstrating the relationship between music and neuroscience. "Music lives in all areas of the brain," explains Vargas, who also points out its importance in other aspects of daily life, such as education and health. The event, which represents the first experience in Spain with a musical composition of this kind, stems from the Neuromusic, Education, and Health (NES) project, part of the NUS Agency's Master's program in Neuromusic at Nebrija University. The research initiative studies how sound and rhythm can modulate brain activity and, more specifically, how the 40 Hz frequency can aid in brain plasticity and the prevention of diseases like Alzheimer's. Vargas wore a brain-monitoring headset that recorded his brainwaves while he played the piano. These waves, which determine what is happening in the pianist's brain, were projected onto a large screen for the audience to view. After the performance, a group of experts, including neurologists, engineers, and psychologists, will analyze these images to understand the educational and therapeutic applications of sound stimulation and, therefore, to demonstrate how music can be a tool for learning and mental development. Connecting music, education, and health

In this regard, Vargas, who is also co-director of the neuromusic master's program at NUS Agency, explains that the project aims to connect three areas: music—as the primary stimulus—with education and health. "Unlike music therapy, this project seeks to demonstrate that playing the piano activates healthy areas of the brain that help people with learning difficulties and optimize their ability to make decisions more quickly, including in the emotional sphere," the composer points out. He also emphasizes its importance in the development of diseases like Alzheimer's. "In neurodegenerative problems, it can be crucial because music can reach these areas and improve brain connectivity," the pianist highlights, adding that one of the reasons for investigating this with a piano is that it is the instrument that works with the most areas of the brain simultaneously and, therefore, activates a range of functions. "That means that someone who studies music, for example, can perform better in school, but also in life in general," concludes Vargas, who points out that these are two parallel areas.