This is Your Brain on Drumming

The neuroscience behind the beat

The first sound everyone on Earth heard was the sound of our mother’s heartbeat. Our relationship with rhythm began in the womb. As human beings, we are intrinsically rhythmic, and this rhythm is a potent source of well-being.

The ritual use of rhythmically beating a drum is one of the oldest practices of humankind. The beat of the first drum perhaps reminded our distant ancestors of that very first rhythm we heard, the comforting heartbeat; of our deep connection to the body of our mother, and to Earth itself. Its revival and integration into modern society could bring with it a boon of physical, emotional and spiritual healing that could profoundly impact individual and collective health.

In a new article published in Frontiers of Psychology entitled The Human Nature of Music, researchers present a theory that “our ability to create and appreciate music at the center of what it means to be human”. From Pythagoreas, who is thought to be the first person to describe music as medicine as far back as 600 B.C, to modern board certified sound healing technicians, rhythm and harmony have been healing the the psyche through the ages.

Shamanic drumming, which is a fast paced, 4–7 beats per second rhythm, has the ability to profoundly alter brain states. Ancient shamans…