Google’s Interactive Music Timeline Traces the Popularity of Music Over the Past 60 Years (via laughingsquid.com)

by E.D.W. Lynch at 5:52 pm on January 17, 2014

Yesterday Google released Music Timeline, a fascinating interactive visualization that traces the popularity of music over the past 60 years. The visualization can show a comparison of major music genres or you can narrow the focus to an individual genre, subgenre, or even a particular band.

via Google Research Blog

Neuroscientists Find that Playing an Instrument Is a Unique Workout for the Brain (Via laughing squid)

by Lori Dorn at 11:16 am on July 23, 2014

In this animated Ted-Ed lesson by educator Anita Collins, neuroscientists have found that playing an instrument is a unique workout for the brain as it activates numerous areas of the brain at the same time, a phenomenon that is not found in other activities.

When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What’s going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians’ brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout.