January 2025 - The intersection of neuroscience and music is a continued fascination for us at Room 217, and Daniel Levitin’s “I Heard There Was a Secret Chord” is a book that provides a thoroughly satisfying read. Levitin is like a masterful cartographer who takes us on a journey of the brain, acquainting us, so artfully of its complexities and capabilities while explaining the magic we feel when listening to music. His writing treats the brain like a beloved friend, revealing its limitations and potential, its mechanistic biological responses and its deeply individual empathic responses. Levitin answers complex questions about why music moves us so profoundly, transforms our experiences, and uniquely connects us to memory.

Striking a balance between detailed explanation while always remaining accessible to the lay person, Levitin shares stories and emerging evidence from current research. What makes this book stand out among others on the topic is Levitin’s recognition of music’s potential as a medical tool. He references historical figures who supported this idea, from Philipp Friederich Freiherr ca. 1799 to Nietzsche and neurologist Oliver Sacks, a pianist himself, who stated, “My medical sense is a musical one. I diagnose by the feeling of discordancy, or some particularity of harmony.”

Levitin describes how music activates various brain centers involved in short-term memory, movement, emotion, prediction, reward, and more. These revelations highlight music’s unique capacity to support mental health, mood disorders and addictions, aid in treating movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease, treat pain through distraction impacting neurodevelopmental disorders such as Williams syndrome (WS) and stimulate cognition in degenerative diseases like dementia. Notably, Levitin suggests that each of the five domains of human experience—physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and spiritual—is affected by either listening to or playing music, unlike any other activity. This resonated with me personally, recalling the sheer joy I experienced playing in senior band; creating music together with my peers was an incomparable source of happiness and connection during adolescence. The pro-social and developmental benefits of music are invaluable to keep in mind for educators and anyone supporting youth, given music's impact on brain development.

One of Levitin's key insights is how uniquely the brain perceives music, explaining why we all have distinct tastes and preferences. Music affects each of us differently, and its positive impact depends on a personal, meaningful connection with what we hear. Songs we love trigger hormonal releases that create "frisson," those chills of awe and beauty we experience. Conversely, when exposed to music we dislike—say, heavy metal in a quiet grocery store—the amygdala is activated, producing a fear response and the accompanying physical response, that being fight or flight.

Levitin’s exploration of music and the brain combines scientific depth with a genuine passion for the subject, leaving readers with a deeper appreciation for music’s profound influence on human life. One particularly inspiring insight is that re-engaging with music in middle age or beyond—by playing an instrument, for example—can actually help the brain remodel itself, thanks to its ongoing plasticity, which defies previous beliefs that it ceases with age. Reading “I Heard There Was A Secret Chord” reinforces our conviction at Room 217 that music has a transformative power in healing and care, benefiting individuals at every stage of life.