Singing is a party in the brain and everyone's invited!

Most people want to sing. I'm always amazed when I hear people's stories. Particularly those who have been criticised and humiliated in childhood. Some were told "I hope you can whistle because you sure can't sing". Others were admitted to choirs at school, then asked to lip-sync. Yet, people don't give up. They still want to sing. There's some good science behind why this may be the case. Singing is a bit like a massage for the whole brain and who doesn't want more of that?

​​Speech activates the left hemisphere’s language network. Singing activates both left and right hemispheres of the brain, engaging many more of the brain’s networks. This includes the areas associated with auditory, motor, memory, organisation, planning, and emotional function. On top of this, it activates the reward system. It just gets better!

In the left hemisphere, singing the lyrics of a song activates the Broca’s area of the brain associated with producing and articulating speech. It also activates the Wernicke’s area responsible for language comprehension. Singing necessitates control of the vocal cords and larynx. To achieve these specific vocal movements, we engage the premotor cortex and primary motor cortex (M1). Our inferior frontal lobe is also activated as we continuously monitor and modulate the tone of our voice.

In the right hemisphere we use the right temporal lobe within the auditory cortex area. This enables us to process the rhythm and melody when we sing. Within the temporal lobe we also engage the amygdala. This is associated with our emotional response to singing. The Parietal lobe allows us to sense and perceive our posture, muscles and breath as we sing. More generally, we apply our creativity and intuition as part of the process of singing from the right hemisphere of the brain.

Why does it feels so good? Because when we sing, the body releases dopamine, one of the feel-good hormones. This activates the brain's reward system and so we feel a sense of well-being, pleasure, even bliss.

Singing activates our cognitive and motor function across a number of different brain regions. As a result we experience the magical interplay between language, music and emotion.