Music Between Your Ears: How Musical Engagement Powers the Human Brain

by Samuel Markind, Sheilah Rae (Foreword by), Scott C. Shuler (Afterword)

Overview

Explores the profound power of music to influence brain function and well-being.

Why does music influence how we feel so deeply—and what are the scientific mechanisms behind this phenomenon? In Music Between Your Ears, Dr. Samuel Markind explores the intriguing relationship between music and brain function. Using evolutionary theory, he illuminates the pivotal role that music plays in human survival and procreation. From communication and caregiving to social bonding and partner selection, music has molded the human species and continues to shape our lives in remarkable ways.

This book combines insights from neuroscience and psychology with helpful drawings and vivid examples to present compelling evidence for music's life-enhancing potential. Dr. Markind highlights the brain's instinctive capacity for music: from newborns' natural affinity for rhythm and melody to the effect that music has on brain development throughout the lifespan. Music also helps people learn at any age and in any condition, so it can improve speech, movement, and memory in both healthy individuals and those suffering from illness or injury. Dr. Markind encourages readers to engage actively with music. Whether through singing, dancing, or instrument playing, the benefits of active participation are profound and accessible to everyone, regardless of musical background. This book, filled with straightforward and practical suggestions, is an inspiring guide for anyone seeking to enrich their life through music.

Music Between Your Ears shows how the act of engaging with music can profoundly impact your mental, physical, and emotional well-being. And the benefits of music go far beyond entertainment—they're essential to the very fabric of what makes us human.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421452388
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	10/28/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	376

About the Author

Samuel Markind, MD, is a neurologist with more than 30 years of experience in clinical practice as well as a student of piano and dance.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Part I: A Musical Brain
1. The Basics of a Musical Brain
2. A Closer Look at a Musical Brain
Part II: The Evolutionary Value of Music to the Brain
3. The Brain has Innate Capacities for Music
4. Music Confers Evolutionary Benefit to Our Species
5. Music Can Improve Our Quality of Life
Part III: Sing, Dance, Play
6. Coda: Add Music to Your Life
Afterword
Appendix A: Brain Network for Music
Appendix B: Famous Neuroscientists Appearing in This
Book
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Endnotes
Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

For anyone who is fascinated by the deep evolutionary roots of our preoccupation with music and intrigued by how these sounds are etched in the human brain, Samuel Markind's Music Between Your Ears is essential reading. Dr. Markind draws on his extensive knowledge of neurology to lay out how listening to music has a powerful impact on our thoughts and emotions.
—Anjan Chatterjee, MD, director, Penn Center of Neuroaesthetics; author of The Aesthetic Brain

Samuel Markind's Music Between Your Ears offers us an intellectual and musical tour de force examining the creative scenarios that urge us to link science and art. Arguing that we can 'make music to improve intellectual abilities,' Markind opens fertile ground on which to grow new choreographies of thought, medicine, and life.
—Evlyn Gould, PhD, author of Virtual Theatre and The Fate of Carmen

Why does almost every baby respond to rhythms and melodies long before they respond to speech? In Music Between Your Ears, Dr. Samuel Markind shows that the brain is hardwired for musical response not merely for entertainment, but for evolutionary benefit. Written with clarity so that the layperson can understand complex brain activity, this book is a milestone toward the understanding of just how and why music is central to human existence.
—Orin Grossman, PhD, Fairfield University

Dr. Markind is a gifted teacher and storyteller. The basics of music (rhythm, melody, timbre), the function and structure of the musical brain (illustrated by helpful drawings) and clinical vignettes from Dr. Markind's neurology practice and life experiences are all told in a captivating style. This will become my 'go-to' reference book for music and the brain.
—David C. Hess, MD, Dean and Presidential Distinguished Chair of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia

Music Between Your Ears is a deep dive into the many ways that music impacts us, including how music affects our mood and emotions, how it promotes social cohesion, and how it encodes and stimulates memory. Dr. Markind, a neurologist and music lover, conveys scientific information in a way that is accessible to readers of all backgrounds. It's an impressive work and I highly endorse it.
—Richard Kogan, MD, Artistic Director, Weill Cornell Music and Medicine Program

Music Between Your Ears is a must-read for anyone interested in music, brain function, or creativity. To those in awe of the creative process and brain mechanisms that beget music, this book provides information that will help you comprehend how this miracle happens. Dr. Markind's novel approach to this subject and the depth of his knowledge make for entrancing reading.
—Robert A. Levine, MD, author of Defying Dementia and Aging Wisely

Music Between Your Ears is a brilliant and moving journey of discovery into our musical brain. Dr. Markind's book composes a polyphonic chorus full of references and characters from music and neurology: Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, and Korean pop music echo famous discoverers of the brain such as Hughlings Jackson, Jean-Martin Charcot, and Wilder Penfield. In the end, we are all entranced by a book tuned to the richness and importance of music in our lives.
—Lionel Naccache, MD, PhD, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital and Paris Brain Institute

With Music Between Your Ears, Dr. Sam Markind has compiled an expansive and well-researched work detailing the neuro-scientific, artistic, and emotional responses we feel towards music. If you know you love music and never quite knew why, this book will help you understand more deeply the connection between our brain and the wonder of musical creation.
—Mike Rosenman, Keyboardist for Group Therapy and The Side Cars Band