I usually end my day with some exercise for the brain - a crossword puzzle, a Sudoku or a problem in mathematics. During this activity, I usually have my headphones on with some classical music streaming softly into my ears.
The correlation between music and mathematics has, for long, intrigued the researcher but most of such research has only touched the surface and, has yet, remained inconclusive. And, again, it sets of the correlation-causation debate - great musician needn’t be great with numbers but the vice-versa case has proved to be more likely.
Much of what we know of the two hemispheres of the brain is due to the work of Roger Sperry, that lead him to winning the Nobel prize in Physiology and Medicine. According to him the Right hemisphere controls aspects relating to creativity, imagination, rhythm, intuition, spatial temporal abilities and processing music and, the left brain, analytical thought, logic and reasoning, language, number and writing skills. The left brain/hemisphere also performs the task of pulling outings from the brain’s memory!
The two hemispheres, therefore, work independently as well as in tandem, through the corpus callosum that connects them.
Therefore, there are some areas in the field of mathematics viz., geometry, calculus etc., that require the right hemisphere’s ability to process spatial concepts (spatial temporal reasoning) and, intuition, to be able to think ahead in proving something. (A game of chess would involve the abilities of the right hemisphere). The ability to think ahead using spatial temporal abilities is referred to as the Mozart Effect, since his music followed a sequential pattern. Some researches believe that this is important in mathematical abilities.
This is the same hemisphere that also recognises rhythm and helps in appreciation of music. However, the ability of the right hemisphere in performing math. is restricted to the task of estimation, comparison and visualisation.
The left hemisphere, on the other hand, plays an important role in number skills and computation -algebra and arithmetic, and logical reasoning. This side is involved in solving equations and arriving at a conclusive result, probably demonstrating an exactness in its functioning.
Indian classical music is, both, rhythmic and sequential in its elaboration and composition, requiring a bit of arithmetic skills in composing note-patterns to a rhythmic beat in a cycle. Indian Classical music also involves a lot of improvisation, involving the ability to think ahead and imagine the effect and impact of the music that one is performing/playing. Therefore, it could have the same impact as Mozart Effect!
(I speak of Indian Classical music since my knowledge of Western Classical music is rudimentary, to say the least!).
Maybe, music could, indeed, impact one’s mathematical abilities!
One of my favourite Ragas:
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