CONTACT CAROLINE
facebook
rss
tumblr
twitter
goodreads
youtube

  • Home
  • Write Away Blog
  • Books
    • Books
    • Trompe l’Oeil
    • Heart Land
    • Gothic Spring
    • Ballet Noir
    • Book Excerpts
  • Video Vault
  • Audio
  • Press
    • News
    • Print Interviews
    • Plays
    • Ballet Noir in the Press
    • Trompe l’Oeil In The Press
    • Gothic Spring In The Press
    • Heart Land Reviews
  • Contact
  • About
  • Resources
    • Writer Resources
    • Favorite Blogs
    • Favorite Artists



Facing The Music

Jan 27, 2016
by Caroline Miller
Amy Pycha, baby's cries, Bret Stetka, ear worms, Harriet Brown, round and spiky sounds, The Universal Meaning of Consonants, Why Screams Are So Startling, Zumba
4 Comments

Big changes are afoot at my retirement center in the new year.   My Zumba exercise class has been cancelled and though dancing is the least hateful way for me to exercise, I confess I’m happy about it.  I loathed the music.  What’s more, the tunes stayed with me days after the class only to be reinforced the following week.  With no future classes on the calendar,  I’m hoping my memory of the music will fade away.

Trouble is, there’s so little we  know about the way our minds wrap themselves around sounds. Multiple studies since the 1920s have shown  that regardless of the language spoken or cultural background, certain consonants are associated shapes.  Kiki and takete, for example, are associated with spiky shapes and bouba and malumi are associated with round shapes.  (“The Universal Meaning of Consonants,” by Amy Pycha, Scientific American Mind, Nov/Dec 2015, pg. 8)  We don’t know why this is true and the effect isn’t limited to consonants. A small sample of people matched d,n,sp,sh and zh with round shapes and f, v and z with spiky shapes.  While I beg to differ on f, the conclusion drawn so far is, “we humans have fundamental reactions to certain sounds” independent of our language or background.  (Ibid pg. 8).

A baby’s wail or a terrified scream occupies a space in our brain which demands we stop and listen. Unlike any other sounds, our brains are programmed to recognize decibels varying at short intervals, between 30 to 150 times normal, as a sign of fear.  (“Why Screams Are So Startling,” by Bret Stetka, Scientific American Mind, Nov/Dec 2015 pg. 9.)  That’s why sirens and alarms are designed to “oscillate in loudness, copying this wide chaotic frequency.”  (Ibid pg 9)

None of these studies explain why Zumba music recycles through my heard, however.  I’m suffering from earworm, apparently.   Not a real worm, but a “benign form of rumination.”  (How Do You Solve a Problem Like an Earworm?” by Harriet Brown, Scientific American Mind, Nov/Dec 2015 pg. 13.) The solution for getting rid of it is simple.  Chew gum.  Chewing engages the same part of the brain that houses musical memories and so serves as a distraction.

Unfortunately, for some musical obsessions, chewing gum won’t work. In that case, sit back and enjoy the concert.

music on the brain

Courtesy of scienceillustrated.com.au

 

 

Social Share
4 Comments
  1. MaryBeth Kelly January 27, 2016 at 8:12 pm Reply
    You remind me of a Mark Twain selection my best friend Beverly and I discovered in sixth or seventh grade. We recited it to each other for ever. Punch, Brothers, Punch http://www.online-literature.com/twain/3268/ And now you've started it again. Maybe you can use that to get rid of the Zumba music.
    • Caroline Miller January 28, 2016 at 8:18 am Reply
      Maybe I can get rid of the music, but how do I stop dancing?
  2. Christine Webb April 7, 2016 at 4:27 pm Reply
    :) You don't...
    • Caroline Miller April 7, 2016 at 4:33 pm Reply
      Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

*
*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published five novels

  • Getting Lost To Find Home
  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

Subscribe to Caroline’s Blog


 

Archives

Categories

YouTube-logo-inline2 To access and subscribe to my videos on YouTube, Click Here and click the Subscribe button.

Banner art “The Receptive” by Charlie White of Charlie White Studio

Web Admin: ThinPATH Systems, Inc
support@tp-sys.com

Subscribe to Caroline's Blog


 

Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Sitemap | Privacy Notice

AUDIO & VIDEO VAULT

View archives of Caroline’s audio and videos interviews.


Copyright © Books by Caroline Miller