The Frontal Lobe is the largest of the 4 major lobes and is associated with higher complex cognition including reasoning, planning, problem-solving, personality, judgment, abstract thinking, initiation, expectations, managing emotions, impulse control, and motor skills. Cortices on the frontal lobe associated with music are the prefrontal cortex, motor cortex, and Broca’s area. The prefrontal cortex is active when processing rhythms. The stimulation of the neurons in the motor cortex is what causes ones toe to tap along with rhythmic music, often without intention. Additionally, the speed, frequency, and structure of music can affect the flow and organization of motor movements, such as walking. Lyrics are the aspect of music that triggers a response to Broca’s area as well as sight-reading, which is associated with language production in this region of the brain.

The Parietal Lobe is a vital area for sensory perception and integration.  More specifically, the left parietal cortex is used when analyzing rhythms. This region controls the tactile feedback when playing an instrument and dancing. It functions in processing sensory information regarding the location of parts of the body in an environment as well as interpreting visual information and processing language and mathematics. The parietal lobe also deals with orientation, recognition and perception.

The Temporal Lobe contains the amygdala, which processes the emotional reactions to music, as well as the auditory cortex. Information from music is taken in through the ear and is processed in the auditory cortex. The auditory cortex plays a major role in assessing pitch and volume of sound that enters the ear. The ear translates the sound it hears to responses that the auditory cortex can analyze. Just posterior to the auditory cortex is Wernicke’s area for speech comprehension and production, which works together with Broca’s area, located in the frontal lobe, for many facets of language as well as analyzing lyrics when listening and reading music. Coordination of specific functions including visual memory such as facial recognition, verbal memory, understanding language, and interpreting the emotional reactions in others are also processed here.

The Occipital Lobe, which contains the visual cortex, is associated with interpreting the information that is transmitted through the retinas of the eyes. Music can trigger activity in the visual cortex when reading music, watching oneself or others in movement to music, or playing an instrument as well as following visual directions. The visual cortex can respond to music by conjuring up images associated with a piece of music when memories from that piece of music are triggered to produce these images.

The cerebellum plays a vital role in virtually all physical movement.  It carries out basic voluntary human functions such as balance, posture, coordination, equilibrium and some speech. This part of the brain helps a person drive, throw a ball, or walk across the room. The cerebellum also assists people with eye movement, vision and emotional reactions to music. This area of the brain receives information from the sensory systems like the spinal cord and other parts of the brain and regulates motor movements such as fine motor. The cerebellum helps the body to learn movements that require practice and fine-tuning. For example, the cerebellum plays a role in learning to ride a bicycle or play a musical instrument. The right cerebellum is involved with analyzing rhythms and more mechanical aspects of music. The more complex the rhythm, the more areas of the cerebellum are involved.