Insights
Interactive
Music and the Brain
Follow music from your ear through the brain one step at a time; in real listening the steps overlap, and sound reaches the auditory cortex in about two to three hundredths of a second.
Use the arrow keys to move between areas. Select an area to jump to its stage.
Top right: the brain seen from above. Its right side (R) tends toward fine pitch, as in melody and harmony; its left side (L) tends toward rapid timing. Rhythm draws on both.
Stage 1 of 7
Into the ear
Music reaches us as ripples of air pressure. The outer ear funnels them down the ear canal to the eardrum, which vibrates. Three tiny bones in the middle ear pass those vibrations to the inner ear, boosting them along the way.
Where it happens
- Outer ear (pinna)
- Ear canal
- Eardrum (tympanic membrane)
- Middle-ear bones (malleus, incus, stapes)
The cochlea
Inside the snail-shaped cochlea, vibrations ripple through fluid. Different spots respond to different pitches: high notes near the entrance, low notes near the tip. Tiny hair cells turn this motion into electrical signals that the auditory nerve carries to the brain.
Where it happens
- Cochlea
- Basilar membrane
- Hair cells (organ of Corti)
- Auditory nerve (exit point)
Brainstem & thalamus
The auditory nerve carries these signals into the brainstem. Relay stations there do real work, comparing the two ears to locate sounds and tracking timing and pitch. A final relay in the thalamus sends the signals up to the cortex.
Where it happens
- Auditory (cochlear) nerve
- Cochlear nuclei
- Superior olivary complex
- Inferior colliculus (midbrain)
- Medial geniculate nucleus (thalamus)
Auditory cortex
Within a few hundredths of a second, signals reach the primary auditory cortex in the temporal lobe on each side of the brain. Here, neurons arranged by pitch, a bit like piano keys, map the sound’s basic features: how high, how loud, and when.
Where it happens
- Primary auditory cortex (Heschl’s gyrus), left and right temporal lobes
- Surrounding secondary auditory areas (superior temporal gyrus)
Left & right sides
Both sides of the brain work on music together, each with its own strengths. The right side tends to excel at fine pitch detail, as in melody and harmony. The left tends to excel at rapid timing changes. Rhythm draws on both.
Where it happens
- Right auditory cortex / superior temporal gyrus
- Left auditory cortex / superior temporal gyrus
- Inferior frontal gyrus (both sides)
Rhythm & movement
Rhythm also engages the brain’s movement network, even when you sit still. The basal ganglia and cerebellum help track and predict the beat, and motor planning areas become active. This helps explain why music can make you want to tap along.
Where it happens
- Cerebellum
- Basal ganglia (putamen)
- Supplementary motor area
- Premotor cortex
- Primary motor cortex
Emotion, reward & memory
Music also engages emotion and memory systems, including the amygdala and hippocampus. Deeply enjoyable music can prompt dopamine release in the brain’s reward system, and a familiar song can call up vivid personal memories. Responses vary from person to person.
Where it happens
- Amygdala
- Hippocampus
- Nucleus accumbens (ventral striatum)
- Caudate nucleus
- Medial prefrontal cortex
Simplified illustration. This is a simplified picture: in real listening these steps overlap and run largely in parallel within fractions of a second, both sides of the brain work together throughout, many more areas are involved than shown, and responses differ from person to person.
Sources: Purves et al., Neuroscience, 2nd ed.: middle ear, inner ear, hair cells, auditory thalamus. StatPearls: middle ear, auditory pathway, primary auditory cortex. UTHealth Neuroscience Online, ch. 13. Timing: de Almeida et al., Liégeois-Chauvel et al., 1994. Left and right: Zatorre et al., 2002, Albouy et al., 2020. Rhythm and movement: Grahn & Brett, 2007, Chen et al., 2008. Emotion, reward and memory: Koelsch, 2014, Salimpoor et al., 2011, Janata, 2009.
