This research requires knowledge of the brain, since it is often referred to. Therefore, the next few pages have general information of the brain, in order to get an idea of where the benefits take place and the significance of them.
The brain is broken into 3 major regions: the Forebrain, Midbrain, and Hindbrain
The benefits of musicianship are most often manifested in regions of the Forebrain, so that is where the focus will be.
The Forebrain is broken down into two major regions: the Diencephalon and the Telencephalon
- Diencephalon
The diencephalon is the inner part of the forebrain. It contains areas such as the thalamus and the hypothalamus. The thalamus is the area of the brain that takes sensory information and motor information and transmits it to the cerebral cortex, which is where cognitive processes take place. The hypothalamus is the area of the brain that controls involuntary functions along with metabolic functions. Although they are named similarly, they are not related. The prefix “hypo” simply means below, and it is named as such because this area is below the thalamus.
2. Telencephalon
The telencephalon is outer most part of the forebrain. It is also known as the cerebrum, which is the area of the brain where most of the cognitive thought of the brain takes place. Now that we have a general overview of the brain, the next page will go ahead and show the specific areas of the forebrain and their functions.