LUCKNOW: Feeling dull? Listen to music and feel the relief. No wonder mythical characters like Goddess Saraswati holds a Veena and Lord Krishna used to hypnotise ‘gopis’ (his girlfriends) through the mystique of his flute. The power of ‘notes’ is so profound that it grabs the attention of mind upstaging every other feeling at a given point of time.
Various studies from time to time have proved that music affects the brain and mood by engaging emotion, memory, learning and attention. This has been reiterated by the researchers of IIT-Kanpur
after conducting a study.
According to them, to release tension, Raag Darbari if listened during the night hours acts as an amazing stress buster. Similarly, Raag Bhimpalasi in the noon has a magical impact on mood
elevation. Not only this, Sangeet, which is a synonym to ‘Sadhna’ (hard work) for the singers, can also be a boon for listeners. If listened at particular hours of the day, it helps cure various ailments like diabetes and hypertension.
Working on the theory that engaging brain and our attention in the right ways, music is able to activate, sustain, and improve our attention, a team of IIT-Kanpur researchers, comprising Prof Brijbhushan
of Humanities and Social Science department, Prof Lakshmidhar Behera of electrical engineering and research scholar Ashish Gupta, have been studying the impact of various Raagas on human brain and the changes in its activity under conditions replete melody.
Music not only refreshes the mind but also takes care of the heart. According to the study, those who want to tame their temper should listen to Raag Sahana as it calms the mind and releases anxiety.
The curious effect of Raag Darbari has been studied for the first time which emerged as a great stress buster during the research conducted on IIT-K students. It relieves the tension and increase the grasping power of the brain, says the study.
While Raag Deepak and Raag Jaunpuri ease out acidity, Raag Kalyani and Charukesi take care of heart. Listening to Raag Puriya Dhanashree provides relief from ailments related to stomach.
According to one of the researchers, there is neural firing between neurons, when we listen to a ‘Raag’. When a neuron sends current to another neuron it is called neural firing. When neural firing increases, the brain becomes more active. After listening to a raag for sometime, neural firing peaks and the brain
sends message to various body parts evoking different emotions.
Adding a scientific dimension to it, the IIT-K researchers found that when Raag Darbari was listened for 10 minutes, the neurons became active and the ease of concentration went up. It also improved the thoughtfulness of mind and the time in taking decisions reduced. The neurons in the brain communicate with each other through electromagnetic waves, says a member of researchers’ team.
Till now the studies have been conducted on 15 students of IIT-Kanpur. This lot of students was unaware of Raag Darbari. They were made to listen it for 10 minutes and then each of them went
through an Electro Encephalo Gram (EEG) test. This helps in evaluating the quantum of electro-magnetic activity in brain.
When the students’ brain was mapped graphically after a session of Raag Darbari, it was found that with just 100 seconds into the raag, the activity of neurons peaked in the brain. This conditions sustained till the raag Darbari was run for 10 minutes. After some time the neurons returned to their original activity. As per the brain activity mapping results, the listener felt quite relieved after a spell of Raag Darbari.
As per the journal of health psychology, various raags of Indian Classical Music have their certain impact on brain when heard or sung at a particular time of the day. According to Prof Brijbhushan,
the research on Raag Darbari has been exclusive at the institute. This enhances, concentration, memory, and thoughtfulness of brain.