Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 11 Ariodante

L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O e information Fleming presents is truly revelatory. For example: • Study after study has shown how music impacts the entire body . According to the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, even day-old infants breathe in different patterns depending on wheth- er they’re listening to Mozart or Stravinsky. Studies have shown how, on average, students who learned a musical instrument scored signifi- cantly higher on cognitive skills tests than stu- dents with no musical background. e benefits of music aren’t relegated just to children: • A 2014 study by researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard, and UCLA found that both child and adult musicians showed enhanced problem-solving, goal-directed, and task-ori- ented behavior , as compared to adults and chil- dren with no musical background. • According to a National Endowment for the Arts study, adults in their “golden” years who both cre- ated and were exposed to art and music had higher levels of cognitive functioning and fewer limitations in daily physical functioning. ey also had lower rates of hypertension , relative to older adults who had no arts or music interac- tions. Additionally, multiple studies have shown that people who play music throughout their lives have less auditory brain decline. ere are reams of data showing the amazing impact of listening to and participating in music throughout people’s lives. As part of Fleming’s Sound Health partnership with the Kennedy Center and the NIH, she agreed to let NIH researchers scan her brain while she was singing to see exactly what a musical mind looks like. To accomplish this, Fleming undertook the daunting task of remain- ing in an MRI machine for two hours to see just how significant that impact could be. e testing procedure for Fleming was developed and conducted by Dr. David Jangraw, a scientist at the National Institute of Mental Health. As a scientist, Dr. Jangraw sees music’s potential for medicine, science, and art: “Music interacts with so many different parts of our brain. e motor cortex, the auditory cortex, the frontal cortex [responsible for speech, memory, personality, and much more] are all firing when someone is making or listening to music.” While inside the MRI machine, Fleming was instructed by Dr. Jangraw to speak song lyrics, sing a song, and just imagine singing. By having Fleming undertake all three activities, Jangraw and the other NIH researchers would be able to see the differences of brain activity with different aspects of music. For the experiment, Fleming chose the beloved Scottish folk song “ e Water is Wide.” It’s rare to hear one of the most beautiful voices of our time filling a hospital testing room. But with only her feet peeking out of the MRI machine and the din of the medical equipment acting as a makeshift metronome, Fleming sent her soprano voice sailing through the examination room and a constella- tion of her brain activity started lighting up the researchers’ screens. e data from the experiment was expected to be impressive. However, when Dr. Jangraw and his colleagues saw the detailed view of music’s effect on Fleming’s brain, they recognized how music can penetrate through mental noise and influence our minds. When someone is speaking, the parts of the brain that operate speech, hearing, movement, and memory activate. When a person sings, all those areas of the brain activate at greater levels and with greater intensity . During singing, the parts of the brain that control vision and emotion are activated. Scientists believe that when Fleming was singing in the MRI machine, she automatically pictured herself USC NEWS/UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Neuroscientist and University of Southern California professor Antonio Damasio (left) makes a point in conversation with Renée Fleming and Christopher Koelsch, chief executive officer of LA Opera. March 2 - 17, 2019 | 13