The brain of the musicians responds differently to pain. The training seems to have created a kind of protection against the usual negative effects, both in the intensity of pain felt and in the reaction of the motor areas of the brain.
It is well known that learning to play an instrument offers benefits that go far beyond the simple musical capacity.
In fact, scientific studies have already shown that it is an excellent BRAIN ACTIVITY: It can improve our thin motor dexterity, language acquisition, speech and memory, and even help keep the brain younger.
After years working with musicians and observing how they persist in musical training, despite the pain caused by thousands of repetitive movements, the neuroscientist Anna M. Zamoranobegan to wonder: If musical training can reshape the brain in so many ways, can it also change the way musicians feel pain?
This was the question that Zamorano, a professor at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, and his colleagues, set out to respond in a new one, whose results were recently published in the magazine Pain.
Scientists already know that The pain activates several reactions in the body and brainchanging our attention and thoughts, as well as the way we move and behave. If you touch a hot skillet, for example, the pain causes you to remove your hand before suffering severe burns.
Pain also alters brain activity. In fact, it usually reduces activity in the motor cortex, the brain area responsible for muscle control, helping to avoid overloading a part of the injured body, Zamorano explains in an article in the Danish newspaper.
These reactions help Prevent additional damage When we are injured. In this sense, pain acts as a protective sign that benefits us in the short term. But if the pain persists longer and the brain continues to send these signs of “not moving” for too much time, Things can go wrong.
For example, if we twist our ankle and stop using it for weeks, it can reduce mobility and disturb brain activity in regions related to pain control. And in the long run, this can increase the suffering and intensity of pain.
Previous investigations also revealed that the persistent pain can shrink what is known as the “Body Map” of the brain – The area where the brain sends commands on which muscles move and when – and this reduction is associated with higher pain levels.
However, although it is clear that some people feel more pain when their brain maps are reduced, Not all are affected in the same way. Some people can better deal with pain, and their brains are less sensitive to it. Scientists do not yet fully understand why.
Musicians and Pain
In his study, Zamorano and his colleagues wanted to investigate whether musical training and all the brain changes it causes could influence the way musicians feel and deal with pain.
For such, deliberately induced hand pain For several days in musicians and not musicians, to see if there was any difference in the way they responded.
To safely simulate muscle pain, the team used a compound called nervous growth factora protein that usually keeps the nerves healthy, but When injected into the muscles of the hand it causes pain For several days, especially when moving the hand. However, it is safe, temporary and does not cause damage.
Then used a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation (EMT) To measure brain activity. EMT sends small magnetic impulses to the brain, and we use these signs to create a map of how the brain controls the hand, made for each study participant.
The researchers built these maps before the pain injection and again measured them two days later and eight days later, to see if the pain altered brain functioning.
An impressive difference
When comparing the brains of musicians and not musicians, the differences were impressive. Even before inducing pain, the musicians had a Map of the most refined hand in the brainand the more hours they had been practicing, more refined this map was.
After induction of pain, the musicians reported uncomfortable in general. And while the non -musicians’ brain map cringed after just two days of pain, Maps in the brains of the musicians remained unchanged. Surprisingly, the more hours they had trained, Less pain felt.
This was a small study, with only 40 participants, but the results clearly showed that The brain of musicians responds differently to pain.
The training seems to have created a kind of protection Against the usual negative effects, both in the intensity of pain felt and in the reaction of motor areas of the brain.
Of course this does not mean that music is a cure for chronic pain. But demonstrates that Training and long -term experience They can shape the way we perceive the pain.
