The basis of musical consonance as revealed by congenital amusia

Some combinations of musical notes sound pleasing and are termed “consonant,” but others sound unpleasant and are termed “dissonant.” The distinction between consonance and dissonance plays a central role in Western music, and its origins have posed one of the oldest and most debated problems in perception. In modern times, dissonance has been widely believed … Read more

How Arts Training Improves Attention and Cognition

Sustained training in music, dance or other arts strengthens the brain’s attention system, which in turn may improve cognition more generally. Evidence for such cognitive “transfer” is accumulating. Dr. Michael I. Posner: “Does education in the arts transfer to seemingly unrelated cognitive abilities? Researchers are finding evidence that it does. Michael Posner argues that when … Read more

Make your brain smarter: it’s not what you think: Sandra Chapman, Ph.D.

Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, founder and leader of the Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas relates new scientific evidence that you literally can think your brain smarter and healthier. She debunks long-standing beliefs about what smart is and shares… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh8el8m9mLM     Sandra Bond Chapman, Ph.D., is a cognitive neuroscientist and founder of the Center … Read more

Library of Congress symposium — Music and the Brain

Music and the Brain: Depression and Creativity Symposium. Music and the Brain: From Mode to Emotion in Musical Communication. Music and the Brain: The World in Six Songs. Music and the Brain: The Music of Language and the Language of Music. Music and the Brain: Music, Criminal Behavior, and Crime Prevention. Music and the Brain: … Read more

Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain by Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker – Psychologist, Cognitive Scientist, and Linguist at Harvard University How did humans acquire language? In this lecture, best-selling author Steven Pinker introduces you to linguistics, the evolution of spoken language… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-B_ONJIEcE   “Language as a Window into Human Nature” is a lecture series by Steven Pinker, a cognitive psychologist, linguist, and popular science … Read more

Long-term music training tunes how the brain temporally binds signals from multiple senses

Practicing a musical instrument is a rich multisensory experience involving the integration of visual, auditory, and tactile inputs with motor responses. This combined psychophysics-fMRI study used the musician’s brain to investigate how sensory-motor experience molds temporal binding of auditory and visual signals. Behaviorally, musicians exhibited a narrower temporal integration window than nonmusicians for music but … Read more

Topographic maps of multisensory attention

Abstract   The intraparietal sulcus (IPS) region is uniquely situated at the intersection of visual, somatosensory, and auditory association cortices, ideally located for processing of multisensory attention. We examined the internal architecture of the IPS region and its connectivity to other regions in the dorsal attention and cinguloinsular networks using maximal connectivity clustering. We show … Read more

Affective constraints on acquisition of musical concepts: Children’s and adults’ development of the major-minor distinction

Abstract Across cultures and age groups music has a powerful impact on human affective states. We examined the effect of these affective responses on children’s and adults’ ability to label musical excerpts as major or minor. Content Affective constraints on acquisition of musical concepts: Children’s and adults’ development of the major-minor distinction Clarissa A. Thompson … Read more

Neurobiological Aspects of Neurologic Music Therapy

Abstract “…we present data on the potential of music making to support and facilitate neurorehabilitation. We focus on interventions such as melodic intonation therapy and music-supported motor rehabilitation to showcase the effects of neurologic music therapies and discuss their underlying neural mechanisms.” Content Neurobiological Aspects of Neurologic Music Therapy Eckart Altenmüller, MD, MA1ਪ*’ Gottfried Schlaug, … Read more

Using Music to Treat Epilepsy in Children

Abstract “The idea of music having therapeutic effects on human health and behavior is as ancient as the writings of Aristotle and Plato. The therapeutic potential of music has largely been explored in cognitive science. Since the scientific report of the “Mozart effect” was published by Rauscher et al, much attention has been given to … Read more

The Long-Term Effects of Childhood Music Instruction on Intelligence and General Cognitive Abilities

Abstract This article reviews research on the effects of music instruction on general cognitive abilities. The review of more than 75 reports shows (1) the consistency in results pertaining to the short-term effects of music instruction on cognitive abilities and the lack of clear evidence on the long-term effects on intelligence; (2) the complex nature … Read more

Death Metal and Music Criticism: Analysis at the Limits

Abstract Michelle Phillipov challenges the tendency of popular music studies to focus on questions of a political nature. The first half of the book is a thorough critique of ‘The Rise of Political Criticism’ in popular music studies with three individual chapters dedicated to case studies of punk, hip-hop, and electronic dance music (EDM). Although … Read more

The Power of the Aether as Related to Music and Electricity – Eric Dollard

Abstract   “Originally, mankind was on a path that is in alignment with the harmonic natural laws of the universe. This was from the time of Pythagoreas up to Johann Sebastian Bach. Then, the big shift came. This divergence basically turned everything inside out. All of this understanding has become denied and despised. There has … Read more

The Symbolic Nature of Language – Olav Torheim, Red Ice

Olav Torheim is a Norwegian engineer and editor of Målmannen, a journal focusing on language, culture and politics. Torheim has a PhD in Physics and worked at different research institutions in France and Germany before returning to Norway two years ago. Using Målmannen as a platform, he tries to promote a traditional Nordic and European … Read more

Music-color associations are mediated by emotion

Abstract   Experimental evidence demonstrates robust cross-modal matches between music and colors that are mediated by emotional associations. US and Mexican participants chose colors that were most/least consistent with 18 selections of classical orchestral music by Bach, Mozart, and Brahms. In both cultures, faster music in the major mode produced color choices that were more … Read more

Your Brain on Music

Your Brain on Music: A Story of Song Meets Science Daniel Levitin, Author, This Is Your Brain on Music In musical conversation with Alex de Grassi, Grammy Award-nominated Fingerstyle Guitarist Ever wonder what’s going on in your brain when you tune in to your favorite radio station or hum that song stuck in your head? … Read more

The improvising brain: music and complex systems science

Professor Henrik Jensen (Mathematics) takes us for a musical journey through the brain as we understand the effects of melodies on the mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5lZ-ayhIXg     “The Improvising Brain: Music and Complex Systems Science” is a fascinating topic that explores the intersection of music cognition, neuroscience, and complex systems theory. This interdisciplinary field of study … Read more

TOP 10 SONIC TORTURE SONGS FROM GITMO — Psychosonic Drugs – Psychosonic Attacks – Weaponizing Lady GaGa (or any artist / MP3)

You’ll learn how different mental states can be created using frequencies that interact with the brain, how the military is using this attack vector, how Vegas uses these same techniques on customers, which open source software creates these frequency generated psychic states and sites so you can continue your adventures in psychosonics. Multiple new attacks … Read more

Heavy Metal Music makes Killer Mice — Music, Mice & Mazes: David Merrell and His Famous Experiment – Shiller Institute

Abstract The three groups of mice were then run through a fixed maze over four weeks. As time progressed, the mice either got faster or slower. “But the interesting thing about the first year I did this project,” David said, “is that I actually had to cut it short, because the heavy metal music had … Read more