Floriana Volpicelli

In a million years, under the pressure of natural selection, hominins have acquired the abilities for vocal learning, music, and language. Music is a relevant human activity, highly effective in enhancing sociality, is a universal experience common to all known human cultures, although it varies in rhythmic and melodic complexity. It has been part of human life since the beginning of our history, or almost, and it strengthens the mother-baby relation even within the mother’s womb. Music engages multiple cognitive functions, and promotes attention, concentration, imagination, creativity, elicits memories and emotions, and stimulates imagination, and harmony of movement. It changes the chemistry of the brain, by inducing the release of neurotransmitters and hormones (dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin) and activates the reward and prosocial systems. In addition, music is also used to develop new therapies necessary to alleviate severe illness, especially neurological disorders, and brain injuries.