Get the many health benefits of playing the piano—by learning to play online
- Playing the piano has been shown to relieve stress and stimulate brain functions.
- Piano lessons are a common form of therapy for those suffering from ADHD.
- Intellectual development is strong in children who play the piano.
The development of eye-hand coordination is one of the most intriguing benefits of playing the piano. Interestingly, as you learn to perform, you become better at split concentration as well. The ability to play with both of your hands has profound cognitive benefits.
And physical benefits: Piano performance strengthens your hand muscles. The list doesn't stop there: improved language skills, better memory, stimulation of growth hormones, and improved neuroplasticity are just some of the benefits of learning to play the piano.
While the benefits are extensive for children—learning how to accept criticism, for example, is an important life skill—the list remains long for adults as well. Just like learning a language, picking up a musical instrument has important mental and emotional health benefits that last for a lifetime.
Pianu is an expert interactive piano course that teaches you how to play along with your favorite songs. Right now, a lifetime subscription is on sale for only $159.99.
By enrolling in Pianu, you'll gain access to 20 interactive lessons that help you read music and chords. The six finger-strengthening tutorials teach you proper form from the beginning. Within days, you'll feel confident in playing along with tunes you love and cherish.
As Time writes about Pianu, "A new way to learn piano online, interactively." LifeHacker chimes in, writing, "Pianu teaches you to play the piano, right in your web browser."
Pianu Pro: Lifetime Subscription is on sale now for just $159.99, a 41% discount from the original price.
Price subject to change.
When you buy something through a link in this article or from our shop, Big Think earns a small commission. Thank you for supporting our team's work.
When considering what precisely makes someone a psychopath, the lines can be blurry.
Psychological research has shown that many people in society have some degree of malevolent personality traits, such as those described by the "dark triad": narcissism (entitled self-importance), Machiavellianism (strategic exploitation and deceit), and psychopathy (callousness and cynicism). But while people who score high in these traits are more likely to end up in prison, most of them are well functioning and don't engage in extreme antisocial behaviors.
Now, a new study published in Cerebral Cortex found that the brains of psychopathic criminals are structurally and functionally similar to many well-functioning, non-criminal individuals with psychopathic traits. The results suggest that psychopathy isn't a binary classification, but rather a "constellation" of personality traits that "vary in the non-incarcerated population with normal range of social functioning."
Assessing your inner psychopath
The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the brains of violent psychopathic criminals to those of healthy volunteers. All participants were assessed for psychopathy through commonly used inventories: the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised and the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale.
Both groups watched a 26-minute-long medley of movie scenes that were selected to portray a "large variability of social and emotional content." Some scenes depicted intense violence. As participants watched the medley, fMRI recorded how various regions of their brains responded to the content.
The goal was to see whether the brains of psychopathic criminals looked and reacted similarly to the brains of healthy subjects who scored high in psychopathic traits. The results showed similar reactions: When both groups viewed violent scenes, the fMRI revealed strong reactions in the orbitofrontal cortex and anterior insula, brain regions associated with regulating emotion.
These similarities manifested as a positive association: The more psychopathic traits a healthy subject displayed, the more their brains responded like the criminal group. What's more, the fMRI revealed a similar association between psychopathic traits and brain structure, with those scoring high in psychopathy showing lower gray matter density in the orbitofrontal cortex and anterior insula.
There were some key differences between the groups, however. The researchers noted that the structural abnormalities in the healthy sample were mainly associated with primary psychopathic traits, which are: inclination to lie, lack of remorse, and callousness. Meanwhile, the functional responses of the healthy subjects were associated with secondary psychopathic traits: impulsivity, short temper, and low tolerance for frustration.
Overall, the study further illuminates some of the biological drivers of psychopathy, and it adds nuance to common conceptions of the differences between psychopathy and being "healthy."
Why do some psychopaths become criminals?
The million-dollar question remains unanswered: Why do some psychopaths end up in prison, while others (or, people who score high in psychopathic traits) lead well-functioning lives? The researchers couldn't give a definitive answer, but they did note that psychopathic criminals had lower connectivity within "key nodes of the social and emotional brain networks, including amygdala, insula, thalamus, and frontal pole."
"Thus, even though there are parallels in the regional responsiveness of the brain's affective circuit in the convicted psychopaths and well-functioning subjects with psychopathic traits, it is likely that the disrupted functional connectivity of this network is specific to criminal psychopathy."
Gaming has become a way of life throughout quarantine. Stuck inside, many of us have embraced our inner gamer and turned to our screens to escape the mundanity of lockdown. This has brought on a massive rise in active players for a huge variety of games, as well as a concurrent rise in interest for consoles like the Playstation 5. There’s so much to experience and enjoy on the Playstation, and the best way to optimize your experience on it is to upgrade to Playstation Plus.
Playstation Plus offers an enormous community of fellow gamers on games like Star Wars: Battlefront and Uncharted, as well as a plethora of other classic titles. You can play online with people all around the world on the best games Playstation has to offer. And, if that isn’t enough, you’ll also gain access to a monthly collection of free games, alongside a library which is constantly expanding what is available. Once you take into account the premium discounts that go along with it, this membership essentially pays for itself on the first day you buy it.
This bundle doesn’t just include Playstation Plus, though. It also includes KeepSolid VPN Unlimited, a premium VPN that provides users with privacy and anonymity. VPN Unlimited uses military-grade encryption to ensure your data is locked down from the malicious folks who want to gain access to it. This is valuable both at home and on the go, as KeepSolid will reliably protect your data even on unsecured public WiFi servers. Alongside that, you are given the ability to switch your location to over 80 countries, which allows you to access content online that's typically unavailable in your home country.
Together, this bundle gives you one year of Playstation Plus and lifetime access to KeepSolid VPN Unlimited for the low price of just $49.99 (regularly $258). With Playstation Plus, you’ll be enjoying yourself on a variety of great games, and with KeepSolid, you won’t have to worry about your data while you play.
Prices subject to change.
When you buy something through a link in this article or from our shop, Big Think earns a small commission. Thank you for supporting our team's work.
