Book Title: Neuroscience and Karma
Author(s): Jethalal S Zaveri, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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Page 124
________________ 86 Neuroscience & Karma Virgin or the Crucifixion. Advertisers are continually searching for new ways to attract us to their products, and how well they understand that the human brain program is especially attracted by human features, especially those of pretty girls. 5. Poetry and Music — Language of Emotion. Almost all humans are pleasantly affected by patterns of tunes and rhythm. To enjoy and be moved by them is a characteristic trait of our species. The patterns that are preferred vary with culture, but some features are universal and they help us to understand the fundamental structuring of human brain process. A child indeed responds to music and poetry without being taught. Although the more sophisticated patterns of music can be appreciated only after much experience, yet music (of a sort) is played in almost every public place. Poetry and Music have been called the language of emotion. Any emotional response is a combination of sensation and the response to it. For example, certain stimuli arouse fearor sadness, religious fervour and devotion, and in each case the particular emotion is accompanied by physical changes such as increased heart-beats and weeping, relaxation and tranquillity. Music produces a partial or symbolic emotional response. When we hear it, we do not necessarily recognize or identify the emotion. We may feel a sort of faint sadness without weeping, or joy without laughter, or bliss without euphcria. Music has its own language which illustrates the abstract qualities of human experience, rather than particular facts. These qualities are fundamental features of the whole cerebral organization; therefore inevitably, when, say, sadness or joy are suggested, whole complexes of associated details may follow. The cerebral organization operates as one single whole. Neuroscience have made some progress towards understanding the parts of the brain that are involved in musical appreciation. The capacity to appreciate music is lost after injuries to some cortical areas. The areas especially concerned with music lie around those in the temporal lobe that are responsible for hearing. Recent work has shown that the areas for musical appreci are mainly in the right cerebral cortex, whereas those for speech are in the left. Thus the left ear (connected to the right cortex) is the better

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