The origin of our Stress mechanisms both in terms of brain development and nerves systems, is relatively easy to be described and understood. imagine our ancestors at their caves, at night, much before they had the fire at their disposal, trying to pay attention to the night voices, and identify coming dangers. Staying alert to protect themselves from a wandering lion, a hungry tiger, or a group of hyenas.
This scenario was most likely the very basic foundation for the development of our autonomous nerve system, with its two main branches, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The sympathetic system, AKA as “Fight or Flight” mechanism, is the one responsible for assigning all our body’s necessary resources to confront a threat. It’s responsible to ceasing any unimportant process, making sure to increase heart pace and inject Adrenaline, so we can start fighting or running — in accordance to the specific situation.
The Parasympathetic branch on the other hand, was developed to make sure we can stabilize and stop the escalation process once the danger is over. This is necessary to prevent exhaustion of all involved organs, and balance the body by decreasing the heart pace, while using the acetylene neurotransmitter to activate the vagus nerve.
Recent studies show that the Parasympathetic system is basically pushing back the sympathetic activity, and can be described as the “Brakes” of the later. One might say that the two systems working side-by-side are a part of our body’s Homeostasis mechanism, aimed to keep our body balanced and maintain our measurements within the desired Norma.
Our ancestors’s need for alertness and for advantage over potential danger, is also the main reason for a brain phenomenon called P-300. The P-300 phenomenon results from the fact that while vision is being perceived by the brain in a well-ordered process, in which the data is transferred in-line to several dedicated areas, it is actually the sound, which is being perceived in a much faster way by the brain, during a parallel process which echos to most of its parts at once. There is no doubt that this drives from the fact that our ancestors were in need to sense the danger by hearing, much before they could actually observe it in the darkness.
It’s now relatively easy to draw the line from the basic scenario I’ve just described, and the foundational, yet primitive, neural pathways it generated, to the next stage of stress mechanisms development.
This stage was probably triggered while our ancestors started communicating, in a very simple manner, with each other. while doing this interaction, they were probably making initial use, and slowly pushing forward the development of the brain’s limbic system. This system’s main functionality is to manage and control the very basic relationship and communication between human beings, which as we all know, can become a source of daily constant stress.
This is probably the right place to introduce music on this evolutionary timeline. Because while Music (or the use of musical instruments to be precise), was first documented only about 40,000 years ago, it is well known that our ancestors enjoyed, and used music much before that period. In fact, studies support the fact that they have probably used it as a means for communication, much before any language has developed. This theory can easily explain why Alzheimer or Dementia patients respond to songs or any other music a long time after they are incapable of recognizing their closest family member’s faces.
Our ancestors used Music for signaling and for socializing. rhythmical patterns generated by hitting sticks and stones were most probably a source of movement and dance, making use of the well known entrainment phenomenon. The frequencies brought energy and togetherness. On top of that, these same noise patterns, were also used frequently as means for warning others from coming danger.
It seems not only that stress mechanisms and music were developing in parallel over the long journey of human’s brain evolution, but that they were also holding hands in a type of a cause-and-result relationship as part of this long journey, and that their neural-pathways got intersected many times along this process.

No wonder then, that music has the power to evoke stress for each one of us, and also that it has the counter capability of relieving this stress. no matter what part of the world you’re coming from and from which culture, we all have it in our genes.
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