How Sound Therapy Activates Your Brain

The auditory (hearing) system is responsible for 85% of ongoing cortical activity. Thus, tuning up this system stimulates and re-charges the brain.

Dr Tomatis, the inventor of Sound Therapy, found that the brain requires 3 billion stimuli per second for approximately four and a half hours a day in order to function at maximum potential. High frequency sound is the most effective sensory input to achieve this stimulation because sound registers at all three levels of the brain: the brain stem, the emotional mid brain, and the cerebral cortex or thinking brain.

High frequency sounds include natural sounds such as bird song, running water, wind, frogs, and insects, as well as classical music. Low frequency sounds, such as the hum from electrical appliances and from vehicles, has the opposite effect, draining our energy levels.

The Right / Left Connection

The left brain hemisphere is our language-processing centre. The right side of the brain is used for spatial judgment, movement, drawing, music, mathematics and technical abilities.

The right and left hemispheres of the brain are quite independent, joined only by a web of neuronal connections known as the corpus callosum. Because different functions occur in one hemisphere or the other, we need good connections between the two to perform well in all areas.

Sound Therapy enhances lateral clarity, increasing the efficiency of right - left connections. As a result, listeners often develop new aptitudes in language, coordination or other areas.

The Cerebellum

The cerebellum plays a significant role in sensory co-ordination, both visual and auditory, and has been dubbed "the autopilot of the brain". It is an area of the brain about the size of your fist, which sits behind the brainstem at the base of your skull.

Researchers are only now beginning to unravel the deeply important role of the cerebellum. It has been known for some time that the cerebellum was responsible for the management of the body's equilibrium and muscular activity. However, it has more recently come to light that the cerebellum is equally involved in the co-ordination of the sensations of touch, hearing and sight. Sound Therapy researchers now believe that any learning difficulty associated with auditory processing problems is linked to the cerebellum.

Sound Therapy brings about improved function and integration of cerebellar pathways, improving many areas of our sensory and motor function.