Personal Project

Colegio Colombo Britanico

STUDENT NAME

18/4/2015

How Music Affects the Brain and Physical Endurance

1
 Table of Content

Introduction……………………...………..………………………………………….3-4

Investigating: Approaches to Learning…………………………………………….…4

Planning: Development of the Project……………………………………………….5-6

Taking Action: Areas of Interaction…..…………………………………………….6-7

Reflecting: Conclusion………………………………..…………………………….......7

Appendices………………………………………………………………………….8-14

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………..15

2
 Introduction

My personal project statement will show in detail my progress throughout this project.
After some research and discussion with my parents, supervisor, and classmates I decided
what topic to investigate and do my personal project about. The reason I wanted to do
this project on how different music affects the brain, and physical endurance and
performance was because when I was younger I was very overweight.

Being physically fit means finding ways to set goals toward better fitness. We should be
aware of how music enhances our performance at the gym. Music can affect your body
differently during physical activity(Appendix A). Through the Global Concept of
Identities & Relationships I want to explore how music can help people benefit from
higher levels of fitness and endurance. What impact do I want my project to have? I want
my project to inform the teenage fitness community that music promotes great
contributions to our health.

I lived in Miami before moving to Cali. Both of my parents worked, and I was usually
picked up from school by my grandmother or grandfather. Because my grandma is in her
seventies she often took me to fast food restaurants like Wendy’s or McDonalds after
school. She thought this was a way of rewarding me for being good while she took care
of me. What she didn’t know is that she was making a wrong decision. After several
years of fast foods and drive thrus, I gained a lot of weight, and it ultimately affected my
blood pressure and cholesterol levels. I had not noticed how blood pressure and
cholesterol fit in to my life at that age. I didn’t even know what it meant to have these
high levels in my body. In school one afternoon, I got a really bad headache and I almost
fainted. My teacher sent me to the nurse and the nurse took my blood pressure and it was
really high for my age. My parents took me to my pediatrician and after a million
different tests we found out that the headaches were a symptom of high blood pressure
and high cholesterol. This meant I needed to get on a strict diet and begin exercising as a
new routine. I was 11 years old and I weighed 145lbs I actually weighed what a 25-year-
old adult weighs (American Heart Association, 5).

I never really thought that what I had experienced and my outcome could ever help
someone. The reasons for why I needed to do exercise weren’t because my parents
needed to find me a hobby or because I was really good at sports. My reason was harder
to accept. If I did not lose weight soon and change my lifestyle, I could have heart
problems that would lead to having a heart attack at a very young age.

Now I needed to get motivated. I needed to find a way to get up, out of bed, even on
weekends. My mother never made it seem like it was an obligation to go out and do
physical activity. She never forced me, it was meant to be a fun pass time. What she did
was put a nutrition chart on our refrigerator, plan my meals with me, and always made
sure no one took me to eat fast foods. Especially my grandparents who my parents
thought were spoiling me. Since my mom was so into being healthy and staying fit she
thought of things that made her get to the gym. My mom at that time just bought a new
iPod and she gave me her old one that was full of music. She said I should listen to music

3
while playing. She said I should find a way to choose songs that inspired my workouts.
With this being such a personal experience I decide that for my personal project my goal
would to be to collect information and data dealing with exercise, and physical activity,
interview physically active students, and a physical fitness trainer. My final product will
communicate how music is an excellent way to increase anyone’s physical performance
and fitness through the creation of an informational brochure.

Investigating: Approaches to Learning

After meeting with my advisor who is a physical fitness teacher, I took the advice he
gave me about not procrastinating and quickly got started. I had to include the IB-
MYP’s approaches to learning to my progress also. For this reason, the research for my
project involved many forms of communication and effectiveness. I wanted to prove
how music was able to make me a different person with a different perspective toward
my health. I wanted to show other teenagers my age that music could be the reason for
staying fit. Music could be their “engine”. I asked my sister if she could ask her Physical
Fitness Trainer if I could interview him. I thought I needed to ask someone who really
knew about this topic. I had to wait a few weeks to meet with him because of my school
schedule. When I finally met Mr. Omar Mundaca(Interview, 6) we met at a local gym in my
neighborhood. Mr. Mundaca is a physical fitness trainer who gave me some very good
ideas about how to get my research and data, so I took his advice after our interview
(Appendix I). Since I wasn’t quite sure who I would ask to help me do my research Mr.
Mundaca stated I should start researching music, the mind and then take it from there. I
had to use my organizational skills to begin making lists of what I needed to do at each
point of my project. I had to collect data and make sure I could demonstrate how music
helps health. Anyone could benefit from this investigation because I was planning on
making a brochure or a flyer that would express these points that are not obvious to many
people who work out. Many people who work out want or need the motivation, and my
research was going to show them how they could find this motivation.

My classmates were a great help to me. I had to show my action in the project and at
some point, my outcome. Their help allowed for me to get going and moving toward my
final outcome. Whenever I asked them for help they were always very open to my
suggestions and dates to meet with me. It was nice to see that many of them were really
interested in the topic. They were curious to see how it felt to be inspired by rhythm and
harmony. Also because music also entertained me when I was exercising so I knew it was
something that would entertain/help my participants. I also met a lot of other students
from other classes that I had never spoken to before which was part of my ATL skills.

First, I researched music, and how and why it developed (Appendix J). It was developed
to bring masses together and unite them. It is used in military marches and organizational
events. Its biological process occurs when sound waves (music) enters the ears and then
affects the brain and the chemical aspects of the body(Jourdain,3). I had read that many
scientists had “explored exercise in depth before, and looked at what it does to our brains.
The release of proteins and endorphins makes us feel energized” (Appendix B). I

4
continued to look for the effects of music on the brain an I found that we listen to music
by sound waves that generate nerve impulses that travel along the cochlear nerve to the
brain. This sets off a wave of vibrations from your eardrum to the snail-shaped cochlea
in your inner ear. This allows sound to enter your ear, which resonates along your ear
canal (Appendix D). I also learned that music sets off serotonin in the brain, which is a
neurotransmitter that acts as a happy pill. In other words, this means “it causes a flow of
blood in the brain that allows for fluent oxygen in the brain causing spurts of happiness
and well being (MNT, 1).” The same well being that allows for heightened endurance while
doing physical activity.

Planning: Development of Project

What confused me most about the project was how to organize and make sense of my
research and information. There was always something coming up that would delay my
progress. One of those things was finding ways to conduct my research. I first thought I
would research music genres and their effect on physical endurance. I also wanted to use
a survey but I didn’t want the integrity of the survey to be affected if some students lied
on their survey. What I first thought of doing, which was using different music genres,
was what actually became part of my outcome. I still needed to do some more reading
and research in order to understand what I would be explaining in my process journal.

As I researched what music was and how it affects our brain and our bodies I learned that
music activates the left hemisphere which are rhythm notes in the brain. Harmony of
music activates the left side of the brain more than the right side, or the inferior temporal
cortex. Pitch activates the back of the brain or the precuneus (Jourdain, 3). Melody finally
activates both sides of the brain (Appendix E). As you can see, music makes the whole
brain function at heightened levels, at the same time. It allows for a person who is
“working out” or at the gym, become more focused on their routine and their effort level
which ultimately is what helps muscle grow, helps you lose weight, and makes us faster
and efficient. Levels of endurance significantly rise because of the chance the body is
being given to try harder (Appendix F). I realized that I now had to find the body’s
response to music. Every function in the body has a basic rhythmic pattern that affects
physical and mental health (Jourdain, 3). I learned that testosterone is the most important
hormone in exercise since it is the primary male sex hormone that helps bone, hair, and
muscle growth. Testosterone is usually released at your workouts peak and it usually lasts
about 15 minutes depending age. If you are low on testosterone you can get heart disease,
blood clots, and abnormal heart rhythm (Jourdain, 3). Irisin is another chemical that breaks
off into your bloodstream and circulates throughout your body. It then is stored, which
explains how working out boosts your metabolic rate and helps you shed flab (Mathews, 2).

To show anyone how to gain the effects of music on the body I first needed to have a
clear idea of what people thought about music (Appendix C). I conducted a short survey
asking students if they exercised with or without music. This led me to realize the fact
that music was already part of the participant’s workouts. I then interviewed 15 boys and

5
girls (mixed). It turned out that 5 of the students listened to music. The other 10 did not.
What I needed to do now was conduct an exercise that would show these 10 students the
way music could help them heighten their exercise performance while they exercised.
The exercise procedure consisted of a 10 minute seated rest (control) period followed by
a 10 minute cycling exercise and a 10 minute recovery period. Heart rate activity was
measured before and after exercise. During exercise, HR was recorded for every minute.
Their heart rate was measured (HR), HR variability (HRV) during exercise at 60% and at
40% with and without music. " They say the power of military music, played at sporting
events, and "drumming" as examples to this (4). Music’s true reason for being created
was to genuinely unite people and through this project I was able to witness how this
connection between people began. All data was recorded with a stopwatch and later
organized into a graph. I am thankful for those classmates that did help me with my
investigation (Appendix J). They were all able to patiently work with my time and
confusion (Appendix K). However, I needed a second graph to further prove my theory.
These same participants ran for 10 minutes with & without music (Appendix H). This
same data was recorded with a stopwatch and later put into a graph.

My hypothesis which was to prove if participants listening to music during exercise were
be able to run and ride a bike at higher intensities and farther than the participants who
are not listening to music was proven to be true. “Having music in the background
makes time seem to pass quicker and it distracts us from pain and fatigue” (Appendix G).
While the brain is trying to figure out the language in the song, the brain is trying to
follow the rhythm with its heart. It wants to follow the same rhythm and beat, in order to
keep up with them (Jourdain, 3). Therefore, the brain pushes the body to move which is why
we feel like moving. Therefore, music can be an effective tool in improving an athlete’s
stamina, performance and even confidence. Different genres also change the intensity of
the workout which allows for more calories to be burned and muscle growth. This was
when I decided what my product would be. Since I had researched the effects of music
on fitness, I could take my understanding one step further. I wanted to create a flyer for
my school and classmates that would say how having a playlist of different music genres
can heighten endurance and performance at even higher levels.

Taking Action: Areas of Interaction

This Project focuses on two of the IB-MYP’s areas of Interaction. The first area is health
& social education and approaches to learning. Better health begins by finding interests
that motivate people toward improving their lives (Mathews, 2).” In order for me to
conduct my research I needed people to help me. I also wanted for the people who helped
me to find what I had found in music. My project was intended to encourage better
health by enhancing fitness and strength through music.

I thought about the reasons why I wanted to do my personal project on music and its
effects on the body and after my research I decided that I would make a brochure in order

6
to show students the way they could use music to motivate them. The more I thought
about it the more it made sense. Many students my age do not have the experience or
understanding to get in shape. Most of them simply do not have any motivation. The
brochure was simply a way to get this information out and to them. It would allow for
them to think about the fact that if they chose their music wisely, they would have a
powerful engine that would help them stay motivated.

I decide I would hand the brochure out during lunch because it is the time when everyone
is eating, talking with friends or just hanging around. I wanted to motivate others take
action with the brochure. As soon as I gave it to them they read it. They were as
interested as they were when I asked many of them to help me with getting the data for
the project. It was great to see their faces as they asked what music was the music that
most motivated people. And for me it was great to be able to give them a clear answer
about the research I had worked so hard on. It was a really nice feeling to be able to
expose others to something that wasn’t really new for them because they kind of knew
music was nice to listen to while exercising. What they didn’t know was that different
genres of music actually made a bigger difference in endurance and physical
performance.

The second area of interaction was approaches to learning. I learn best by communicating
my ideas and vocalizing my objectives. I enjoyed doing this throughout the personal
project because many people showed interest in my topic. They even wanted to be part
of my research because they wanted to see if music could really push them to work out
harder. My project helped me communicate my understanding about what I had already
accomplished which was using music to motivate my fitness and performance. I also
noticed that by talking to classmates or family I was able to express my full
understanding of the process of the personal project.

Something else that I learned throughout my process was organizational skills. I had to
keep folders for data or websites, and research information that needed to be in my
journal. The organization of my process journal was the biggest problem. I really had a
hard time knowing what would go where. It was a lot of information and it was difficult
to organize at first. After I was able to get my process journal organized, I was actually
able to see where I was going with my project. I feel that the process journal was very
important and useful to me during the personal project.

Reflection: Conclusion

I feel that I organized my time well, after so many mistakes and lost papers. The
meetings with my supervisor also helped a lot. I was able to do my work in small
intervals, which allowed for me to work better. I learned that because I didn’t
procrastinate I regularly worked on my process journal, allowing me to work without
pressure. I liked researching the topic I chose because it was something that changed the

7
way I exercise today. The experience I had completing this project will allow for me to
work well under pressure on future extended projects. Although I didn’t begin working
on my project as soon as it was assigned, it felt good knowing that I had most of my
project already done after spring break. I was able to understand that the research for this
project takes time and effort, as most of my projects in the next two years in Bach will be.
If they are done at the last minute it will show the lack of determination in my work.

My personal project results suggested that music evokes a ''distraction effect'' during low
intensity exercise. When jogging or cycling while listening to a favorite piece of music it
increases the ''comfort'' level of performing the exercise. The research allowed for me to
see that whenever I am under pressure, I need to get organized. The findings discussed
lead to the probability that the use of music during athletic performance may generate
long term benefits such as exercise commitment and heightened sports performance
through a greater quantity and quality of training.(1) Many already use music to exercise,
but through my research hopefully many can the stimulating, and valuable physical
effects of music and physical endurance.

Appendices

Appendix A

Every function in the body has a basic rhythmic pattern and that affects physical and
mental health.

Appendix B

8
MRI images of brain before and after physical activity.

Appendix C

Personal Project Survey

Put an “X” for your answer

1. Would you rather do exercise with or without music?

With Music

No Music

Survey conducted at the beginning of personal project

Appendix E

9
What distinguishes music?

Appendix D

How do we hear?

Appendix E

10
The brain processes music in different ways.

Appendix F

The brain is divided into four regions fig. 4.11

11
Appendix G

The songs beats per minute (BPM) should correspond to the heart rate you would have
during the workout.

RESULTS

Appendix G
Stationary Bike
Condition Boy Boy Boy Boy Boy Girl Girl Girl Girl Girl Average
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
With 658 723 705 724 652 858 664 634 621 850 7089
Music
No Music 513 652 565 644 553 732 445 412 505 645 5666

Appendix H
Running
Condition Boy Boy Boy Boy Boy Girl Girl Girl Girl Girl Average
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
With 805 700 821 900 760 751 748 805 803 743 7836
Music

12
No Music 615 602 578 798 617 578 613 578 712 628 6319

Appendix I

Interview ADD A PICTURE

Physical Fitness Trainer

After I had read and researched information about the effects of music on the brain and
body, I figured I needed to interview someone who might know more about this fact. I
asked my sister if she could ask her trainer Omar Mundaca, a Physical Fitness trainer if I
could interview him for my project. He is also a personal trainer and gym logistics
coordinator. I wanted so ask him if I could conduct my project with his supervision. I
asked him for a meeting and we talked about music and endurance. The following are a
few questions I asked him for my research:

1. Do the majority of the people that come to the gym listen to their own music
or the music that is played at the gym?
I see that almost everyone has an MP3 player or iPod. The younger people
definitely have iPods, but some of the elderly people do not have headphone
listening to music. People like to listen to certain music when they are
working out.

2. Why do you think they listen to their own music? I think it is because they
get energized by certain rhythms and beats. There are researchers who state
that people look for songs that mimic their heartbeat. They want to move to
the rhythm that their brain is listening to. It works out the heart harder and
cardiovascular fitness benefits from this workout. If you walk into a room
here where they have a spinning class, you will hear that music for every
third minute. It could be an uphill track or a fast downhill. The teacher will
find music that helps move the class. They aim to stay in the right heart rate
zone. This zone is the zone that burn calories. Once they are into the exercise
for 15 minutes the adrenaline rushes and that’s when the fat burns and the
muscle begins to grow with intensity.

3. What music do you play here at the gym throughout the day? We try to go
with who is at the gym actually. Very early in the morning we have men and
women in their mid 30’s and they like lifting weights. Some guests ask us to
play certain music from their iPods, but it is not quite professional. So we
play what they ask for. They like house music and electronic music. They lift
heavy weights and they have even commented on how the music keeps them
motivated and focused on lifting more.

13
 4. Do you think that music can enhance physical fitness and performance?
Absolutely. I am witness to what music does for many of my clients. Many of
them have come here for the first time without their iPods because there are
new to the gym. But after a few days they have their headphones in being
motivated by music.

Reflection: After my interview with Mr. Mundaca I was able to prove how important
music is in throughout physical fitness.

Appendix J Pictured of Boys on Bikes

Appendix K Pictures Jogging

14
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1 “MNT.” What is Serotonin? July 2014

<http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232248.php

2 Mathews, Robert. Health Education. “Health”17 June, 2010

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_education

3 Jourdain, Robert. Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our
Imagination. New York:
<http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro99/web1/Sancar.html

4 “Why did Humans Invent Music.”National Geographics 23 August, 2013

<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130824-invention-music-phish-
stevie-wonder-blurred-lines-robin-thick

5 “Diet.” American Heart Association. 24 Aug. 2007

<http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4644 >.

6 Omar Mundaca. Personal. 22 January 2015.

15
 Outline of Progress

Music & Physical Endurance

1. Research on What is Music? Rhythm, Pitch, tempo, contour….

Timeline: between October 2nd, 2014- November 5th, 2014

2. How do we listen to music?

A. Sound waves
B. Vibrations
C. Nerve Impulse
D. Conversion of sons
Timeline: Between November 12th, 2014- December 1st, 2014

3. Analysis of Information
A. Music activates the left hemisphere
B. Harmony of music activates the left side of the brain
C. Melody finally activates both sides of the brain.
D. Music makes the whole brain function at heightened levels.

4. Research
A. Music Connects Our Brain & Body
B. The brain’s response to Music
C. The body’s response to music
D.
Timeline between: December 5th, 2014- December 14th, 2014

5. Interview Omar Mundaca Physical Fitness Trainer

December 27th, 2014

6. Conduct data & research session with participant. Colegio Colombo Britanico
January 22nd, 2015

7. Organize my process journal, images, data research

Februaru 15th, 2015- March 1st, 2105

8. Write Personal Project report

A. Edit

16
 B. Revise
C. Review process journal & final draft for printing

MYP Projects Academic Honesty Form

MYP Personal Project
Student name Alexander Valdes Juliao

School name Colegio Colombo Británico School number 0033

Supervisor name Jimmy Llano

Student: This document records your progress and the nature of your discussions with your supervisor. You should aim to see
your supervisor at least three times: at the start of the process to discuss your initial ideas, then once you have completed a
significant amount of your project, and finally once your completed report/presentation has been submitted.
Supervisor: You are asked to have a least three supervision sessions with students, one at the start of the process, an interim
meeting and then the final meeting. Other sessions are permitted but do not need to be recorded on this sheet. After each session,
students should make a summary of what was discussed and you should sign and date these comments.
Date Main points discussed Signature/initials

Meeting 1 | Student:

Supervisor:

Meeting 2 Student:

Supervisor:

Meeting 3 Student:

Supervisor:

Supervisor comment

Student declaration
I confirm that this work is my own and this is the final version. I have acknowledged, in the body of my work, each use of the
words, work or ideas of another person, whether written, oral or visual (hard copy and/or electronic materials).
Supervisor declaration

17
I confirm that, to the best of my knowledge, the material submitted is the authentic work of the student.
Student’s signature Date

Supervisor’s signature Date

18