Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Gesture and Learning

In this post over on the musician's brain Lois Svard talks about what I would call the gestural component to learning. Basically, if you get you whole body to feel the rhythms and gestures in the music you're making, more parts of the brain are involved and the learning goes deeper and lasts longer. 

Down in my comment I mentioned mirror neurons and she knows what they are and agrees they're important ("convinced that understanding them is key to learning and performance") - so she's got my full attention. 

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Music in the Autistic Spectrum

This short first person article talks about how someone on the autistic spectrum uses music to self-medicate so as to diminish the need to make those repetitive movements called "stimming".

Sound in a certain orderly placement exerts the same curtailing force on my mind that movement used to, and my headphones are a leash that keeps me in check. I wear them constantly, and although I’m aware that their constant presence can be seen as strangely hostile in some environments, they are a safety net I can’t afford to forfeit. Music is my sensory diet and also my self-care kit.

If you click over, be sure to read the comments, which include some from others on the autistic spectrum.