Page 55 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

The Intelligent Mind • 39

Wernicke's area

Broca's area

Figure 2-8 Location of Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area.

strument was a keyboard. Reading a musical score without
playing operates both hemispheres’ visual centers, as ex-
pected. Instead of stimulating the linguistic centers, the left
occipitoparietal junction, normally used when processing
spatial information, is activated. This agrees with the manner
in which musicians use distance between notes on the staff to
locate the next pitch and supports the theory that spatial
abilities are fundamental to musical intelligence. As a matter
of fact, the distance from the area of the brain activated when
listening to low C to that area activated when listening to
middle C is the same distance as that from the area listening
to middle C to that listening to high C. 20
The drawing in Figure 2-9 indicates the areas activated
when listening to scales. Notice that listening to a musical
composition (as opposed to the predictability of scales) acti-
vated the same cortical areas and an additional arc in the
right hemisphere. Listening to music (scales being classified
as practice, not music) affects the emotional and imaginative
areas of the right hemisphere, whereas scales do not.
You can see the areas fundamental to playing music.
Music requires fine motor control, and the picture shows the