Podcasts about music and the brain

Did early humans sing before they could talk? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice discover how music helps us recall memories, the Singing Neanderthal Theory, the default mode network, and how music can be used as medicine with neuroscientist and author, Daniel Levitin.NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/is-music-the-language-of-the-universe-with-daniel-levitin/Thanks to our Patrons Ezra, Akiri, Chaitanya Khoje, CarpeCosmos, George Shorts, Nancy Wolter, Ryan, Gary Boothe, Matt Borgstrand, Grant Gamblin, Shan Cretin, Lindahl Freeze, Gordon Vu, SHAN KAR, Connor Holm, and Gaute Monsen for supporting us this week.Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to new episodes ad-free and a whole week early. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to new episodes ad-free and a whole week early.

Daniel Levitin is fascinated by the effect of music on the brain, and he has written another book exploring that connection. It's called "I Heard There was a Secret Chord: Music As Medicine," and he joins Steve Paikin to discuss how we can harness music to help us heal.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Susan Drumm a Leadership Coach and CEO of Meritage Leadership on a mission to help leaders and their teams to develop the capacity and mindsets to lead in today's disruptive environment. She has personally coached billionaire CEOs, prominent Fortune 50 executive teams and incredible entrepreneurs that set out to disrupt the marketplace. Her firm, Meritage Leadership, uses a cadre of 15 seasoned coaches and consultants who work with senior leaders and executive teams. She is also the host of the podcast and YouTube channel The Enlightened Executive, where she interviews founders and CEOs on the most cutting-edge programs, assessments, apps and techniques in personal and leadership effectiveness. Meritage works with private equity firms and their emerging portfolio companies, as well as large corporations such as Oracle, Viacom, KPMG, A&E Networks, Genentech and others. Susan has graduate degrees from Harvard Law School, Carnegie Mellon University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

As a #neurologist and #musician, I'm so excited about our next episode Brain Chat, Music and the Brain.I'll be sitting down with Allison Lockhart, a licensed and nationally board-certified music therapist, to discuss how #musictherapy can positively affect #mentalhealth, neurodevelopment, and overall well-being.Whether you're a healthcare professional or simply curious about the power of music, you don't want to miss this!

DescriptionHow Classical Music Takes Your Brain on a Symphony Adventure in 60 Seconds. Take a minute to get the scoop!Fun FactClassical music offers many mind-bending pieces due to their complexity and emotional depth. Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is famously intense, with its dissonant harmonies and primal rhythms causing a riot at its 1913 premiere. Bach's The Art of Fugu* is another, with its intricate counterpoint that challenges the mind. Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, written in a WWII prison camp, blends complex rhythms and spiritual themes into a truly transcendent work.__________________________________________________________________About Steven, HostSteven is a Canadian composer & actor living in Toronto. Through his music, he creates a range of works, with an emphasis on the short-form genre—his muse being to offer the listener both the darker and more satiric shades of human existence. If you're interested, please check out his music website for more. Member of the Canadian League Of Composers.__________________________________________________________________You can FOLLOW ME on Instagram.

How can someone with supposedly no memory recognize a familiar melody? Concetta M. Tomaino, Executive Director and Co-founder of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, and long-time collaborator with famed British neurologist Oliver Sacks, dives into the research with host, Meryl Comer. Tomaino shares clinical techniques to help us reach and awaken cognitive reserve in our loved ones with music deep into late-stages of Alzheimer's disease.  You won't want to miss this episode in BrainStorm's six-part series that showcases researchers & clinicians featured in Renee Fleming's anthology Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health.Support for BrainStorm by UsAgainstAlzheimer's is provided by Biogen and Genentech.   Support the Show.

If you're reading this, then you're listening to the public version of this video, so if you want to watch the second half, go to: https://www.patreon.com/thesocialbrain and sign up for the “Premium” tier. You'll get access to every exclusive Patreon-only episode of The Social Brain!In this episode, we discuss the neuroscience of time, music, free will, emotions, memory, the self, and what we've learned from our research on these topics.

Dr. Kim Sugaya grew up in Yokohama, Japan. He studied pharmacology at the Science University of Tokyo, earning a B.S., an M.S. and a Ph.D. His postdoc work was at the University of Illinois. His work history includes the Mayo Clinic at Jacksonville and the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He accepted a position at the University of Central Florida as a full professor in 2004. He continues to have interests in treating neurodegenerative diseases by stem cell technologies, and his work at UCF has been introduced by Wall Street Journal and other media. He is a Director of the Stem Cell Laboratory and Director of the Neuroscience Consortium for Central Florida.Support the Alzheimer's & Dementia Resource Center www.ADRCcares.org/donate

The wonderful Dr Molly Gebrian is sticking around for part two of her chat with Alexa on the science of learning and practising, this week telling us all about practice habits, the memory, mental practice and much more. She highlights the importance of mental practice, shares resources, and talks about her upcoming book and career transition to focus on research translation for musicians. Tune in for valuable insights on optimising practice habits. KEY TAKEAWAYS Students can improve practice by focusing on quality over quantity. Molly  advises against ineffective methods like the "treasure hunt" and "start over and try again" approaches, which reinforce mistakes. Instead, students should use mental practice, understand brain processes, and take breaks. Teachers should model effective techniques and help students set small, achievable goals.  Incorporating mental practice with physical practice yields better results than either alone. Mental practice involves vividly imagining a task, enhancing understanding and skill execution. It helps develop detailed mental representations, improving brain efficiency and physical performance. Effective mental practice should focus on aspects like rhythm, pitch, and sensations, engaging the same brain areas as physical practice.  Teachers can enhance learning for musicians by accommodating individual differences in learning styles and practice habits. Molly advises modelling effective techniques and explaining brain processes to avoid ineffective methods. Teachers should help students set specific, achievable goals, break tasks into manageable parts, and incorporate mental practice.  Flexibility and personalised feedback are crucial to support students' unique needs and foster effective practice habits. BEST MOMENTS  "Telling students to practise more is not helpful because it doesn't tell you what to do." "Your brain doesn't know right from wrong. It doesn't know if you did it well or you didn't do well. It just knows which pathways are being used." "Taking breaks will actually make me more efficient at something"   EPISODE RESOURCES Guest Website: www.mollygebrian.com Social Media: Dr. Molly Gebrian - YouTube Relevant Links & Mentions:  (Podcast) Singing Teachers Talk: Ep. 164 Music and the Brain: The Science of Learning & Practice with Dr Molly Gebrian Part One (Book) Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults by Dr Jenevora Williams (Book) Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician's Guide to the Neuroscience of Practicing by Dr Molly Gebrian  Noa Kageyama's Bulletproof Musician: https://bulletproofmusician.com/ Sarah Niblack's Spark Practice: https://www.sparkpractice.com/ (Book) Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks  BAST Book A Call ABOUT THE GUEST  Dr. Molly Gebrian is a professional violist and scholar with a background in cognitive neuroscience. Her area of expertise is applying the research on learning and memory to practicing and performing music. She also investigates the intersections between music and language. As a performer, she prioritizes the works of living composers and those who have traditionally been excluded from the culture of classical music. She holds degrees in both music and neuroscience from Oberlin College and Conservatory, New England Conservatory of Music, and Rice University. Previously, she was the viola professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the University of Arizona. After a decade of teaching viola at the collegiate level, she will join the faculty at New England Conservatory of Music in Fall 2024 to teach courses on the science of practicing. ABOUT THE PODCAST BAST Training is here to help singers gain the knowledge, skills and understanding required to be a great singing teacher. We can help you whether you are getting started or just have some knowledge gaps to fill through our courses and educational events. basttraining.com Updates from BAST Training

Dr. Molly Gebrian joins Alexa on the Singing Teachers Talk podcast for the first of a two parter to discuss the neuroscience of learning and its application to teaching and practising. The conversation covers brain organisation, neural pathways, myelin, learning processes, the impact of age on learning, and the importance of understanding brain science for both teachers and students. KEY TAKEAWAYS The brain's learning process is influenced by developmental factors like puberty and ageing. Children's brains are highly adaptable, efficiently absorbing information due to neurochemical changes that support rapid learning. As they age, myelination reinforces neural pathways, enhancing communication. In contrast, ageing adults need focused attention to learn, influenced by interests, commitment, and sustained focus. Developmental changes and age-related neurochemical differences impact the brain's learning ability. The dismantling of unused brain pathways is complex, with the exact timeframe unknown and varying by individual factors. The brain recognizes and eliminates non-myelinated, unused pathways, but the duration depends on disuse extent, overall brain function, and other physiological and environmental factors. Brain efficiency and adaptability significantly influence this process. Natural flair or ability has a physiological basis influenced by genetics and brain wiring, but it's not solely determined by physiology. Factors like womb development, brain variability, personal interests, commitment, and sustained focus also play roles. Thus, while physiology contributes, natural ability is shaped by a combination of genetics, brain development, and individual interests. Tips for singing teachers include understanding the neuroscience of learning to assist students better, emphasising focused attention and age impacts. Encouraging positive self-talk, tailor practice methods with games for kids, and stress the importance of breaks for brain reconstruction. Managing frustration with realistic expectations and fostering interest and commitment to enhance motivation and persistence. BEST MOMENTS  "It just shows that we're all different, that you can do anything you want." "The brain is always working as one” "There are physical changes that have to happen in the brain when we're learning." "As adults, we need to have focused attention in order to be able to learn."   EPISODE RESOURCES Guest Website: www.mollygebrian.com Social Media: Dr. Molly Gebrian - YouTube Relevant Links & Mentions:  The work of Hermann Ebbinghaus BBC CrowdScience: Why is Learning Stuff Harder as You Get Older? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct1pqb Neuroscience for Teachers by Richard Churches, Eleanor Dommett & Ian Devonshire BAST Book A Call ABOUT THE GUEST  Dr. Molly Gebrian is a professional violist and scholar with a background in cognitive neuroscience. Her area of expertise is applying the research on learning and memory to practicing and performing music. She also investigates the intersections between music and language. As a performer, she prioritizes the works of living composers and those who have traditionally been excluded from the culture of classical music. She holds degrees in both music and neuroscience from Oberlin College and Conservatory, New England Conservatory of Music, and Rice University. Previously, she was the viola professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the University of Arizona. After a decade of teaching viola at the collegiate level, she will join the faculty at New England Conservatory of Music in Fall 2024 to teach courses on the science of practicing. ABOUT THE PODCAST BAST Training is here to help singers gain the knowledge, skills and understanding required to be a great singing teacher. We can help you whether you are getting started or just have some knowledge gaps to fill through our courses and educational events. basttraining.com Updates from BAST Training

Kalos Music School founders Eugenia Mendez and Saul Vera tell me how they teach music to children, and how this helps us all find our power over our brain. (kalosmusicandart.comCheck out my new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now https://innermammalinstitute.org/courseGet 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout. You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps!Check out video clips from this episode and others here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplqIf you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal.THE HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you blaze new trails to your dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. My guests are pioneers in retraining the inner mammal. I love learning from them! Listen in and subscribe so you can turn on your happy chemicals in healthy new ways.Your host, Loretta Breuning PhD, is founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of "Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.orgLife is more peaceful and satisfying when you understand the brain we've inherited from earlier mammals. Your mammal brain controls the chemicals that make you feel good: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. These chemicals are released for reasons that don't make sense to our verbal human brain. When you know what these chemicals do in animals, your ups and downs make sense!Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Each happy chemical has a special job. When it turns on, it paves neural pathways that turn it on more easily in the future. That's why we repeat behaviors that we'd rather do without. Fortunately, you can re-wire yourself to stimulate them in sustainable ways.But it's hard. It's like learning a foreign language: it takes a lot of repetition. Yet people do it every day. You can be one of them! You can design a new path to your happy chemicals and repeat it until it's strong enough to turn on easily. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how.The Inner Mammal Institute has free resources to help you make peace with your inner mammal: videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning's books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

There are some things that just feel like they’re true. For example, the idea that people who are gifted musicians are also good at learning math, or vice versa. However, there isn’t any data that suggests that there are any links in the brain between these proclivities. As Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke […]

The lovely and talented world-touring musician Maren Paris Cline joins Courtney and Carley to discuss the value of music in our daily lives. Maren recounts the benefits of having a music-infused childhood and shares her intentional efforts as an adult to utilize music as an inspirational power in her life. Tune in for this epic Music Class; part of the Hey, Sister! Back to School series, airing August-September 2022.    Call to Action:  Allow yourself to intentionally bring in those things that bring you joy--you know what they are (it may not be music and that's okay!) Observe how you use music in your life—past, present and future   Resources:  Harvard Health Blog “Why is Music Good for the Brain?” Three Reds “Danny Boy and Molly” featuring Alex Sharpe Hi Five Live Video featuring Three Reds Hey, Sister! Episode 28 about child birth preferences:    Connect with Maren and Three Reds: @emparis.media on Instagram @three_reds on Instagram   Connect with Hey, Sister! Podcast: heysisterpodcast.org @theheysisterpodcast on Instagram facebook.com/heysisterpodcast   Timeline: 0:00 Introduction of topic and guest expert/Music teacher, childhood exposure to music   7:45 Utilizing music as an adult (study-aid, neurologic research on music, recognizing the impacts of lyrics)   11:15 Prioritizing music, art for art's sake, taking 5-10 minutes to enjoy music   13:30 Benefits of learning a new instrument/practicing music as opposed to listening   17:00 Courtney's stories about practicing piano as an adult and attending a musical performance and the emotions it evoked   19:15 Intentionally making time for music, creating for ourself, not every hobby needs a financial benefit, bask in joy of music   21:30 Children want to play, play with adults, play with an instrument, play with anything out-of-reach/off-limits   23:00 Maren's motto: music is the language that reaches everyone and touches everyone, Japanese mission experience, unite the world through music   24:15 Language/children tangent; “it's easier after the 3rd” philosophy   26:15 Concluding thoughts, call to action, social connection links, outtakes

McMaster University neuroscientist Laurel Trainor explores how music affects the human brain - from infant development to helping people with neurological diseases such as Parkinson's.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pitch is purely a psychological construct. If so, why do we love the music we love? A philosopher, a neuroscientist, a dog, and Roy Orbison help us understand why.

This is the 100th episode of Spectacular Science! This is a very big milestone for this podcast. In this episode, Akshay is celebrating the 100th episode of Spectacular Science with a musical spectacular! In this episode, Akshay talks to Dr. Alan Harvey from the University of Western Australia about how the brain processes music. Akshay … Continue reading "The 100th Episode of Spectacular Science! – Music and the Brain"

Music, brain, stem cells, lasers, brain chips, bee sounds, Mozart, treatments for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases - what do all of these have in common? Tune in to our conversation with Prof. Kiminobu Sugaya, PhD from the University of Central Florida to find answers. And, as always, listen to expert advice on how to do the impossible! You are up for a treat! Don't miss it! To find out more about the Neuroscience Alliance at UCF, visit: https://med.ucf.edu/mdna/neuroscience-alliance-at-ucf/ To get in touch with the Neuroscience Alliance, send your inquiry to: Neurosciencealliance@gmail.com The podcast is brought to you by The Institute of Neuroapproaches and its founder - Milena Korostenskaja, PhD - a neuroscience educator, neuroscience research consultant, and career coach for people in neuroscience and neurotechnologies: https://www.neuroapproaches.org/  

There are some things that just feel like they’re true. For example, the idea that people who are gifted musicians are also good at learning math, or vice versa. However, there isn’t any data that suggests that there are any links in the brain between these proclivities. As Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke […]

Have you ever heard a song and it instantly brought back a memory? Nicc Johnson is the Founder of Music Health. He is a former professional DJ turned Musicologist. Nicc has worked with music and technology for the last twenty years. Music Health produces tools to easily incorporate personalised music into the lives of many for improved brain health.  In this episode, Pete and Nicc discuss Nicc's attempt to help more people take control of their mental health and physical wellbeing through music as a therapy.  Tune into this episode to learn about the potential benefits of music as a therapy. Also, hear how our brain processes music and why it is such an effective treatment option for memory-related mental health conditions like dementia. Check out the episode and full show notes here. To see the latest information, news, events and jobs on offer at Music Health, visit their Talking HealthTech Directory here.  Loving the show?  Leave us a review, and share it with some friends, become a THT+ Member for early release, ad-free and bonus episodes of the podcast, access to our online community forum, and free tickets to our quarterly summits.  For more information visit here.

Music and tech have long played their own ghoulish roles in making Halloween especially terrifying. In this week's spooky episode, Caitlyn Trevor PhD joins host Tristra Newyear Yeager to explore what makes music scary and how our brains process fear. Discover and experience how musical elements such as high drone tones, vocal mimicry, rhythmic unpredictability, low rumbling, and sound effects create soundscapes that evoke fear and anxiety. Learn how Caitlyn and her research team use pupil dilation, heart rate, micro expressions, and FMRI brain imaging to measure our physiological reaction to scary music. How can a greater understanding of how  our brains process fear and anxiety help survivors of PTSD and trauma build emotional resilience? Find out on this week's episode.   The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

#Dyslexia #Dr. Marianne Cintron #Step By Step Dyslexia Solutions https://www.stepbystepdyslexiasolutions.com/I use music with my Orton Gillingham Reading program and it so effective. Music, specifically string instruments (but wind instruments also) resonate with the vibrations in the body and with the water content in our brains and body. But here is an article that talks about so much more. In the research article by Adam Croom,  Music, Neuroscience, and the Psychology of Well-Being, he stated “It has been well argued by scholars that the biologically adaptive function of expectation is to prepare the organism for 'appropriate action and perception,' with regard to future objects and events (Huron, 2006, p. 3), which is an undeniably crucial capacity for successful survival and reproduction.” The speech-to-text associations in a structured language, that begin in pre-school with rhyming simply demonstrate the connection between sounds and written words. Explicit reading instruction that gives a student the ability to carefully decode words can be difficult for dyslexics, but with accompanying music they have a cognitive and attention advantage that can accelerate their success. At Step by Step Dyslexia Solutions, my research-based reading program produces solid results in reading comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary development. In some cases, students have made 1-3-year gains with structured literacy programs combined with music in as little as 6 weeks.In this podcast, I read excerpts of an article written by Jim Mitchell. It can be found at sbs.com.ua/guide/article/2018/08/14/healing-power-harp“One of the most fascinating forms of music therapy comes in the heavenly sound and vibrations of one of the world's oldest instruments, the harp. Live harp therapy has found success in treating an exhaustive array of maladies from chronic pain, to multiple sclerosis, respiratory disease, AIDS, cerebral palsy, cancer, nausea, lymphedema, depression, anxiety, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, dementia, autism, behavioral and learning disorders in children, and even over-stimulation in children by digital devices.”If you need help or have questions, let's chat at meetmarianne.comDr. Marianne Cintron is a Doctor of Education in Leadership and Administration, speaker, and author. She has a Master of Education in General Education and in Special Education complementing her two California Teaching Credentials. She is a Dyslexia Specialist, President of Step By Step Dyslexia Solutions, and an International Teacher Trainer. She tutors students with Dyslexia and recently completed 200 + hours of Orton Gillingham training. Dr. Cintron developed “Step By Step Reading©” and the music and phonics app CDSM intended to work together to help the dyslexic child read.She is the author:·       Dyslexia – A Trait of Genius – Unlock the Genius of Your Dyslexic Child's Mind;·       Prisms of Brilliance – Closing the Achievement Gap and Stopping the School to Prison Pipeline;·       A Message of Hope, How Music Enhances Reading for Dyslexic StudentsAnd Children's Books: I'm Going to Be a Big Brother! Help Your Young Son Transition with the Arrival of a New Baby She has twenty-two years of experience in Education, ten years as a Classroom Teacher. She is a board member of the International Dyslexia Association Tri-County Branch, the Vice President of Christian Business Partners in Upland, an award finalist for the Social Impact Award by the Global Society of Female Entrepreneurs. She is a California native, has been married to Will for 32 years, and they have three amazing adult children and one grandson, and a granddaughter on the way!. #dyslexia #mariannecintron #stepbystepdyslex

There are some things that just feel like they’re true. For example, the idea that people who are gifted musicians are also good at learning math, or vice versa. However, there isn’t any data that suggests that there are any links in the brain between these proclivities. As Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke […]

What an essential read! Now, many of us crave music on a daily basis – myself included. But is that the same thing? Are we musico-philics? This book right here focuses on both music-related phenomena and neurological patients, giving us insight into a neural signature that might underlie the symptoms of musicophilia. - You can kindly find an extract from the audiobook provided below, do not hesitate to give it a listen: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/159607/musicophilia/?ref=PRH28100532E1

Did you know that music can help you to rewire your brain? This episode is about the working of music on the brain and behaviour. My guest today is Artur Jaschke - neuromusicologist and professor for music-based therapies and interventions at the ArtEZ University of the Arts in Enschede and he also works at the neonatal intensive care at a hospital in Groningen, the Netherlands. We talk about how you can use music and sound for the advantage of healthcare, wellbeing and brain stimulation. We elaborate on themes like empathy and listening to unknown music or music that you might not like in the first place and the effect on your thinking and the basics of innovation and improvisation that can also be applied in a business setting. And we also speak about the joy and benefit of learning a musical instrument and the impact it has on the wellbeing and self-therapy of everyone in a stressed-out busy workplace.   Show notes Connect with Artur: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artur-c-jaschke-b87174106/    Music Therapy at ArtEZ https://professorshipmusictherapy.artez.nl/blog/  Website https://www.arturjaschke.nl/    More info The Power of Music Thinking is brought to you by CREATIVE COMPANION More about The Music Thinking Framework, the Jam Cards and the blog on musicthinking.com     

Dr Daniel and Tana Amen sit down with Grammy Award Winning Producer Barry Goldstein to talk about entrainment and how music can affect one's mental state.

how music affects the human brain and the benefits and impacts

Nina Kraus, a professor of communication sciences, neurobiology, and physiology at Northwestern University in Chicago, has done a lot of research on the effect of playing music on processing sound, learning, and brain development. She explains the “musician’s advantage,” which includes better reading skills, and how music training can be a tool to improve the performance of students from low socio-economic backgrounds. *This episode was originally released on June 10, 2020.* Intro (00:01): Inventors and their inventions. Welcome to Radio Cade, a podcast from the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, Florida. The museum is named after James Robert Cade who invented Gatorade in 1965. My name is Richard Miles. We’ll introduce you to inventors and the things that motivate them. We’ll learn about their personal stories, how their inventions work, and how their ideas get from the laboratory to the marketplace. Richard Miles (00:39): The sound of music, not just a movie about seeing Austrians, but also a fertile field of research, specifically the effect of playing music on processing sound, learning, and brain development. I’m your host Richard Miles. Today my guest is Nina Kraus, a professor of communication, sciences, neurobiology, and physiology at Northwestern University in Chicago. Welcome to Radio Cade, Nina. Nina Kraus (01:02): I’m so glad to be here. Richard Miles (01:03): So Nina, you’re one of those difficult guests that you have done so much, and we could talk a lot, but then this would not be a 30 minute podcast, it would be like a 30 hour podcast, but I have heard you speak before, and I know you were actually quite good about summarizing your research so I know you’re up to the challenge, but I’d like to start out by focusing on one particular area of your work. You’ve done a lot in sound processing and how the brain processes sound, but why don’t we start with some basic definitions for our listeners. So from a scientific perspective or researchers perspective, what is the relationship or the difference, I guess, between music, noise, and language. What’s the relationship between those three things? Nina Kraus (01:41): What a great starting question. So sound is the common denominator for all the things that you mentioned and sound is a very under-recognized force in our society. It is very, very powerful, and yet we don’t pay very much attention to it because it’s invisible, first of all, like a lot of powerful forces like gravity. So you don’t think about it. And we live in a very visually biased world. And even scientifically there was a National Institute for Vision 13 years before there was one for hearing. And that was the National Institute for Deafness and Communication. We share that with smell and taste, but all of the things that you mentioned, language, and, music, and noise, these are all sounds. And I’m a biologist and I am interested in sound and the brain. And so really the overall umbrella over everything that we study is sound and brain. How do we make sense of sound? How is sound processed in the brain and how does our experience with sound shape how we perceive the world? Richard Miles (02:52): I saw on one of your papers, you have a specific way or methodology that you can actually look at brain as it is interpreting sound, right? Nina Kraus (03:01): Yeah. Let me tell you a little bit about that. Initially, as a biologist, I came into science studying single neurons, actually, single neurons with scalp electrodes and animal models and one of my first experiments was to play sound to an animal while I was recording the brain’s response, the one cell’s response, to that sound. This was a rabbit, a bunny rabbit, and we taught the rabbit that the sound had a meaning that every time the sound happened, he’d get some food. So the same sound, same neuron, but the neurons response to that sound changed. And so we could see firsthand learning, the biology of learning, and that’s something that I’m deeply interested in. My lab, which we call Brain Volts has been looking at how our experience with sound shapes our nervous system, but I was coming from the specificity of recording from individual cells. And so these are signals. These are tangible signals that you can really define, and that felt good. And so the question was, well, how can we get a way of measuring sound processing in the brain in humans when we can’t go sticking needles into individual cells? You know, there are many ways of recording the brain’s response to sound with scalp electrodes. And of course, as I’m talking to you, now, the nerves in your brain that respond to sound are producing electricity. And so with the scalp electrodes, we can pick up that electricity and that’s been done for a long, long time, but most of the measures that we can obtain from the scalp are rather blunt with respect to what I’m interested in, which is the different ingredients of sound. So sound consists, again let me make a visual object comparison. So with vision, everybody knows that a given object has a shape, a size, a color, a texture, that’s all very obvious, but people don’t realize, first of all, that there is sound and secondly, that sound also consists of ingredients like pitch, how high or low a tambour, a violin and a tuba sound different when they’re playing the same note, that’s tambour. The harmonics that differentiate one speech sound from another. There’s phase that tells us where objects are in space, based on the time of arrival of the sound to your two ears. And there’s a huge timing. So the auditory system is our fastest sense, even though light is faster than sound processing sound happens on the order of microseconds because there’s so much timing information in sound. That’s how sound works, it’s fleeting. And so, what I was interested, what I am interested in is how do we figure out how the brain makes sense of these different ingredients? And we figured out a way of doing this because most of the methods that were available to us in the past, you could just see is the response large, is the response fast to sound, but I want to know how does your brain respond specifically to pitch and timing and tambour and phase all these different ingredients. And so one of the metaphors that I like to use is a mixing board. So if you think about the faders on a mixing board and you think of all the different ingredients and sound, when they are transduced into the signals of the brain, which is electricity, it doesn’t work like a volume knob. People, even musicians, are not good at processing all the sounds like a volume knob. They have specific strengths and weaknesses like the faders on a mixing board and I wanted a biological approach that would be able to look at that, would be very, very precise, and not only be able to tell us well, what is the effect of playing a musical instrument for many years? What is the effect of speaking another language, but not only looking at these group differences, but what about individuals? I mean, my auditory brain is different from your auditory brain, we’re all individuals. And so would it be possible to actually have a physiologic response that reflected these ingredients, A-of-all, and B-of-all would not only reflect what happens with experience in groups of people, but even on an individual basis. And we have really figured this out. So this is a response called the ‘frequency following response’ the FFR, which we have adapted to our use and we are able to use very complex, sounds like speech and music and analyze the responses in a way to see how an individual processes these different ingredients. And we’ve spent a lot of time on the methodology. So we have two tutorials on the frequency following response, which really speaks about these responses in a lot of detail. We have a number of patents on what we’ve discovered in terms of how to measure these responses. So this is really something that has kept us busy. So on the one hand, it was really a quest to search for a biological approach, which I’m really happy with now. And then it is a matter of applying that biological approach. Partly it was synergistic because we wanted to see, well, is this approach actually yielding the kind of information we want through research. And so we’ve done a lot of research and now we can really have confidence that a person’s response to sound really does reflect how their brain processes the different ingredients, how it might’ve been affected by the songs we sing, the languages we speak, and even your brain health, because making sense of sound is one of the hardest jobs that we ask our brains to do. So you can imagine that if you get hit in the head, it will disrupt this very, very fine microsecond level processing, which is one of the areas that we’re interested in looking at is, is what happens with head injury, especially with concussion, sports induced concussion. And so again, we can do that as well. Richard Miles (08:56): So on your website, I think you have this great graphical representation of the frequency following response, right? Where you will play a snippet of almost anything, but let’s say a piece of music and in the brain of the person listening to it, you have almost a mirror image right, of that same frequency. And you can see differences in the ability of the person to process what they’re hearing. And so you found, and again, I may have this wrong, you found that musicians had several advantages in the way that you will play for them something say Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and a musician will hear it differently than when you say musician, it’s someone who actually plays an instrument, right? Not just a music appreciator, or someone who plays an instrument. Those people process the sound differently than those people who are not trained in playing music. Is that correct? Nina Kraus (09:55): That’s exactly right. Because what is so beautiful about this biological approach is that the response we get from the brain, the electricity actually physically resembles the sound that was used to evoke it. This hardly ever happens in biological systems. I mean, usually you’re looking at something very abstract, like lipid levels, cholesterol levels, to give you some index of cardiovascular health. Then, to actually be able to say, Oh, well, people process sounds in a way that we can actually see with a certain transparency. So the transparency is, as you said, is such that we play a sound wave and you can see the sound wave and you can then deliver that sound, wave to a person and pick up the electricity that the sound wave generates. And then, you know, we’re all familiar with taking a sound wave and feeding it through a microphone, and then you can play it through a speaker. And then the same way, you can take an electrical response that you have recorded from the brain, it’s just an electrical response, and you can deliver that to a speaker and play it so we can both see and hear a person’s response to sound. And yes, in fact, we can see the people who regularly play an instrument, so I’m not talking about professional musicians. I’m just talking about people who regularly play a musical instrument, you know, as little as half an hour, twice a week on a regular basis. And one of the things that we’ve been able to find is that there really is a neural signature for the musician. So remember I said, that sound consisted of these ingredients like pitch and timing and tambour. And what we see as the musician strength is a strengthening of the harmonics in sound and of various timing ingredients. And it turns out that both the harmonics and the timing are not only important in music, but they also overlap with what you need for language. So you can imagine how if you are doing an activity that is strengthening your brain’s response to the harmonics, which not only are important for playing a musical instrument, the harmonics are what distinguish B’s and P’s, and D’s, and G’s from each other. So these are the same signals. They’re the same ingredients. They’re these beautiful signals outside the head and inside the head that we can see, how does experience shape how we perceive the world. So the musician signature really has a strengthening of harmonics and timing, which it turns out transfers to language abilities and language abilities, including things like reading and being able to hear speech in a noisy place like a classroom, being able to figure out what’s going on in a complex soundscape. So these are advantages that seem to come along with the brains increased stability, strengthened ability to process these particular ingredients of harmonics and timing and what we call FM sweeps, which are basically the simplest FM suites. It’s a change of frequency over time. It’s like a cat call, right? It’s a sweep up and down. And it turns out that speech sounds have very, very, very fast FM sweeps that distinguishes one consonant from another, that happened in a very, very short period of time. And so the brain’s ability to process these FM sweeps is something that we see as a strength in musicians, and is very much an important ingredient in language. Richard Miles (13:32): I find all of this fascinating Nina. I remember the one example that you gave you tested musician’s ability to, as you said, pick out a particular sound in a crowded room, and you compare that to non-musicians and that the musicians had this definitive ability to recognize a sound pattern and all that. And then of course, different types of syllables or consonant, they also had that ability. The only time I can ever do this, I’m not a musician is if we’re at a party, I can hear Phoebe’s voice in a crowded room, and then she said, well, yes, that’s because research has found that men interpret women’s voices like music. So finally, I have a researcher. You tell me, is that true or not? Nina Kraus (14:08): Well, I would say that you have had a lot of experience with Phoebe’s voice and so you’re sonic brain is tuned to that voice. And we say this, when, you know, you pick up the phone, your son calls you and you say, “Oh, it’s so good to hear the sound of your voice”, the years of the sound to meaning, sound to emotion connections that you’ve made with that voice even before you hear the particular words, you have this very strong connection to what you’ve learned. And so I think that’s why you can hear Phoebe so well. Richard Miles (14:41): Let’s talk some more about work that you have done, very interesting work, with something called The Harmony Project in Los Angeles. This is something, I think in 2014 was the research, and essentially you worked with an organization in Los Angeles, it was giving music lessons, I think mostly stringed instruments, right? They’re giving them lessons for a substantial amount of time and then you started tracking them doing assessments to see if there were other advantages, right, that translated not just the ability to play a given instrument, but also the ability to do other cognitive skills. Tell us a little bit more about that. Nina Kraus (15:14): So, we’re really fortunate as scientists, and also if you read about Brain Volts and what we care about in our lab. We really are interested in sound in the world and we’re less interested in creating an experiment in the lab where people come in and they are given a certain amount of training with sound. We’re really interested in what is the impact of playing a musical instrument in actual music programs that live in the world? Also, one of the questions that one often asks is, well, is it that the brains strengthened response in musicians is just something they were born with so that if you have a strength in a certain domain, you might be encouraged to pursue that activity. A way of, of trying to understand what the effect of experiences is to do a so-called longitudinal study. Let me tell you the long in longitudinal is no joke, because that means tracking the same individuals year after year after year. So, we had the opportunity to do this in Los Angeles in the gang reduction zones of LA. And also we had a companion project at the same time in the Chicago Public Schools, where we basically had the same experimental design, which consisted of you take two groups of people and you match them at the beginning of training, or before training has started, and you match them on age and sex and reading scores and IQ and everything that you can think of, and then one group gets music and another group gets something else and you track them over time. So you track them year after year. And we were able to do this in LA with elementary school kids, second, third, and fourth graders. So we did this over three years and then the project in Chicago was adolescents also in low income areas. We’ve tracked the adolescents from freshman year until they graduated as seniors. And what was important is that the individuals in the different groups were in the same classroom, same teachers, same socioeconomic areas. And we could see, well, what happens if one group gets music and another group gets something else? So what we were able to find was, first of all, we were very interested in, well, we already knew from cross sectional studies across the, about this musician signature that I told you about that musicians had strengthened responses to FM sweeps, to harmonics, to timing in speech. The musicians had these stronger responses, but we wanted to know, well, is this something that develops over time? And in both studies after a year of regular music making in LA, these were after-school programs five times a week. If you also include Saturday and in the Chicago public schools, it was actually within the school day so that they had an hour every day of music, just like you had an hour of English and Math and History. We’d measure sound processing in the brain using our biological approach at the beginning of the year. And then at again at the end of the year, and after a year in both studies, we found no change in the brain’s response to sound. And that’s what the data showed but we kept going. And so in both of the studies, what we found was that it takes a while to change the brain. And that’s a good thing. If your brain was changing in a fundamental way, every second, you’d be really confused, but you speak a certain language that has certain sound ingredients after a while. And it’s really after years of speaking of particular language, your brain automatically changes and changes in a way fundamental or your default experience of the world. I mean, even if you’re asleep and I’m measuring your brain’s response to sound, you will have this heightened response to certain sound ingredients, because it has just become a fundamental way of how you perceive the world. But this takes, while it really did take two years to see these changes. And at the same time, of course, we were interested well, are these kids doing better in school in various ways, in terms of literacy, for example, and being able to hear speech and noise. And in fact, again, we were able to, to track the changes in the brain with these gains in literacy, and in being able to hear, for example, speech in noise, Richard Miles (19:52): So Nina, it’s fairly common observation that the younger you are the easier it seems to do things like learn languages, foreign language, play instruments, and so on. Is there anything in your research or other people’s research that indicates are there definitive windows of neuroplasticity past which it’s not really worth it or the returns are so diminishing that every 10 hours of effort you put into it is really not going to get you much. Do you find that there’s a cutoff? Does it happen in elementary school or middle school? Or can you go on up through your twenties and still reasonably hope to take up an instrument or learn a foreign language and accomplish a very high degree of proficiency with it. Nina Kraus (20:28): Great question, the answer is no, there is no limit. Certainly the way that a young brain learns is different from an older brain, but we continue to learn until the day we die. And in fact, there’ve been very beautiful experiments in auditory learning in animal models where you can very easily and in a very precise way, regulate an animal’s experience at different ages and see how their brain responds to learning an auditory task. And there have been experiments showing that certainly animals will learn differently when they’re younger and when they’re older, but they will continue to learn until the end of their lives. And this is born out in human studies as well, specifically with music. So in our own experience, in the harmony project, the kids were elementary school kids, in high school, the kids just began their music instruction as freshmen. So what was kind of a tragedy for these kids? The fact that they really had had no music instruction of any kind before they were freshmen in high school, turned out to be from a scientific standpoint, very important, because we could see that certainly the kids who began their music training as adolescents had the same kinds of brain changes that we saw in the younger kids. Moreover, the number of labs have looked at learning in older people. And even if you’ve never played a musical instrument, your brain can change and you can continue to learn music, to learn new languages. And we have this very, very dynamic system, and I think we should embrace the differences in the way we learn at different ages, because as we’re older, we bring wisdom with us and we bring an understanding of what we’re doing that is very different from the way a child might approach learning, for example, a musical instrument. But the fact is that the benefits of playing a musical instrument, which are profound, really in terms of memory and attention and emotion, sociability, these are gifts from music that you want to experience throughout your life. Richard Miles (22:41): If we could just stay on that just a little bit more Nina, one of the fascinating things I saw in one of your papers was the connection of musical ability or music training to reading, and that you expected to find obviously, a connection to speaking, cause that’s sort of an auditory sound function, right? But reading, and I didn’t realize the extent to which a solid understanding of how a word sounds, how are phoning sounds is essential to reading a written word. So comment on that, but there’s a second part of my question. Let me put it in right now, what are the other cognitive things that you have found that improve? I mean, is there a link with math, for instance, do you increase math abilities among musicians? Are there any other cognitive things that appear to be improved or beneficial as a result of music training? Nina Kraus (23:24): So your first question is what does sound have to do with reading? And we learned to speak first and what we need to do when we read is we have to associate the sound of the letters with a symbol on the page. And so, we’ve known from decades of research that kids who have difficulty processing sounds have difficulty reading. So there is a very, very strong connection there. Also there’s a part of speech. When you think of music, you know that there’s rhythm in music, right? Rhythm is a part of music, but you don’t necessarily think about rhythm as being a part of speech. But it is. I mean, think of the difference between the word rebel and rebel. It’s the same word, but I have a different rhythm. And even though the rhythm isn’t as regular, we have tremendous rhythmic ability in speaking. So every Martin Luther King day, my husband and I listened to the, I have a dream speech and listening to Dr. King speak, it has this wonderful rhythm and cadence to it. And if I was saying those same words to you, you’d be looking at your watch, you’d be, when is this going to be over? But so much of the communication is rhythmic. If you want to have fun, do some YouTube searches for rhythm and music. And you’ll find there’s a guy who plays drums along with while people are speaking, it really pulls out what is not so inherently obvious. But after awhile you realize, Oh, this is really rhythmic. So this is another thing that gets strengthened. If you make music, you really make abilities get better. And the reason that we know that this is tied to reading is that again, for decades now, people have demonstrated that kids who have difficulty reading have difficulty with rhythm. Rhythm is one part of what gets strengthened with music. And I would say that it’s the rhythm, and it is the tuning, if you will, of important sound ingredients that together help achieve the gains, which is now the second part of your question, which is why do we care? And well we care because we want to know what to pay attention to. And in order to learn, we have to be able to pay attention to sounds. So, for example, my husband’s a real musician. And one day I was trying to learn a dire straits lead on the guitar and he came by and he said, Nina, if you just listen, you would realize that Mark Knopfler is not using his pick on the string each time. He’s not going to Dee Dee Dee Dee. The reason that he’s playing those notes so fast is because he’s actually pulling off the string with the fingers of his left hand, it’s called a pull off. And it has a very special sound to it, that I was deaf to. But now I know what that sounds like. And so when I hear it again, I have learned what to pay attention to. And it’s kind of automatic like, Oh yeah, I know what this is. And so there are so many associations with sound and our ability to pay attention and to then be able to pay attention to other sounds in the world that might be important, like a teacher’s voice or Phoebe’s voice across the room. So that’s one thing. The other is auditory working memory, in order for you to make sense of what I’m saying right now, you need to remember what I just said. So a typical auditory working memory test language is I’ll give you a list of words and then ask you to repeat back only the words that were names of cars that started with M. And so you think, okay, so what did she say? Which ones are cars, which ones start with M. And this is your auditory working memory that is kind of helping you make sense of what you hear constantly. So it’s very, very important. So on the test like this people who are musicians, someone who regularly plays a musical instrument, by the way, singing counts, then across the lifespan, people who are musicians have stronger auditory working memory skills and stronger attention skills, and any teacher will tell you. And one of the reasons this was interesting to me is that teachers will tell me all the time that the kids who play music are the ones who do better in school. Richard Miles (27:33): Nina, you alluded to this earlier, you talked about Brain Volts, which is essentially, you’re looking at ways to take this research that you’re doing or the findings, and basically help others in other fields. And if I understand it correctly, you can use this in addition to research, but also as a diagnostic tool, right? If you find somebody and it appears to be their audio processing capabilities off, that may be an indicator of something else, such as a concussion or maybe dementia or something like that. I’m not entirely sure about that. So I’m waiting for you to correct me, but is that what it is? And then how’s it gone in terms of setting up something to try to commercialize the technology. And this is something we talk on this podcast, a lot, a lot of people like you, researchers have something that they know has a value outside of the research arena, and they want to take that technology to market. And it’s very difficult. So it’s kind of hit or miss. And we know for the genesis of this particular podcast, the museum project was Gatorade, a research project with great success, but isn’t a tiny minority of what happens to typical research. So first of all, correct me, or affirm me that I have that description of your business model, correct. And then how’s it going in terms of going to market? Nina Kraus (28:43): So I think the two areas that we have been focusing on, one is language and literacy. And yes, the idea is to use this biomarker, if you will, as a way to provide additional information about a kid who might be having difficulty in school or is having various problems with language and learning. And the question is, is this coming from the fact that his brain is not processing sounds in a typical way? And to be able to at any age, just deliver sounds and just use some scalp electrodes to get this piece of information is very valuable. And people talk about diagnosis. I wouldn’t say that this would be the only thing that you would look at. Any clinician wants to have an armamentarium of clinical results. You go to your physician and he’s looking at all of your various test results, and hopefully he can put together this constellation of findings and be well-informed. Well, I think at being well-informed, if you have a kid with a learning problem, when a language delay, if it was my kid, I would want to know, is there a bottleneck? Is there a problem here with sound processing? I would also want to know is my kid at risk? So I can envision this as now they have newborn hearing screenings where every child gets a hearing test to make sure that they can actually detect the sounds. I could envision the kind of technology that we’ve developed as being something that would be side by side with that. And you would also be able to see is my child at risk for struggling to learn language or struggling to learn, to read way before he actually begins to struggle in school. Wouldn’t it be great to just know that this is a child who is at risk. And so there are various things that can be done, especially if you are aware of a potential problem early on Richard Miles (30:39): Nina, just to clarify, going back to your analogy of the sound volume knob versus the mixing board the tests are doing now, essentially just measuring the sound knob, right? Can they hear or not? And your test would give the ability to say, well specifically, are there things going on at the auditory processing level that bear watching or concern? Is that? Nina Kraus (30:58): Yeah, I mean the typical hearing test now is really, can you hear, there’s a range of pitches that language consists of, and can you hear very, very quiet sounds and your ears ability to hear what I am measuring more is the brain’s ability to understand what you hear. And so the sounds that we deliver, aren’t very quiet, they’re conversational level. So we already know that they can hear their ears are working fine. They’ve passed the hearing test from an ear perspective, but we want to know now, if I’m speaking conversationally, I know that you can hear me, does your brain process these different ingredients properly or not? And what are the strengths and what are the bottlenecks? And we know that there are certain signatures, and this is again, one of the things that we have patents on is that we know that there is a certain signature that’s associated with a language delay and literacy problems. And so you would want to look for that particular signature in a child that you were wondering about in terms of their current or their future language potential. Richard Miles (32:02): Could you use it to detect mild concussions? For instance, if there is neurological damage and traditional tests, weren’t willing indicating one way or another, is this another tool that you could use to figure out something is wrong here? Nina Kraus (32:14): Absolutely. Because most concussions, unless you have a cerebral bleed, you’re not going to see them on imaging. You need a very sensitive measure and sound processing. The brain does provide that. It’s also noninvasive. It takes 15 minutes to obtain and we have found again and again, we have papers and patents that describe that we’ve established this effect in youngsters who are elementary and high school aged kids. And right now we have a big study looking at division one athletes or northwestern athletes and NIH study, it’s a five year project. That was won on the strength of the original work that we did describing what is now a different neural signature. It doesn’t look anything like the language signature. There are other ingredients that are especially sensitive to head injury. And we can see this right now. I know that the whole issue of diagnosing concussion is a tricky one. And again, historically, people have been looking at vision. They’ve been looking at balance, but looking at hearing is fairly new. And one of the things that we have done in a couple of our studies is we followed our North Side Football League. These are our kids, and we gave them the vision test, the balance tests and the hearing tests. And you could see that they each tell us different things. So they’re not redundant. So you know how wonderful my vision is for a clinician, a trainer, a coach, position, to be able to look at balance, look at vision, look at hearing, and to have this biological marker that would inform the diagnosis of the injury and also inform return to play, because we know that concussions often occur in the same person shortly after they’ve had a concussion. And so, it might be that with the current measures that we have available, it looks as though the athlete is ready to return to play. But maybe if you had a more sensitive measure and objective measure, because again, the athletes are very motivated to do whatever they can to get back on the field. But if you have an objective measure that doesn’t require any kind of an overt response, wouldn’t it be great to know? Let’s just wait another week. His brain isn’t quite ready, just to wait a week or two. I mean, we see that the changes in the brain change very rapidly, usually as individuals, athletes, recover from their concussions. Richard Miles (34:44): Nina, I know you have a lab there where you can assess people with that method. Is this something that could be done with a medical device? It could be done in a doctor’s office or even in a trainer’s room? Nina Kraus (34:54): That’s what we do. When we went out to LA, we did this testing in instrument closets, and wherever we could find a spot, it’s very portable right now. It’s the size of a laptop. Richard Miles (35:04): Nina, this has been fascinating. And like I said, this could be episode one of a thirty podcast series on just sounds. I could listen to this all day and I’ll go meta for just one second here. We’re actually doing this in the medium of podcasting, right, that has made a huge resurgence as people like to listen now. And I don’t know what that says about humans or our society in general, but it is a throwback to the days of the thirties and forties, right? When people consumed a lot of their entertainment from radio shows. Right? And what I like about it forced a little bit of your imagination, and play, because it’s not laid out for you visually, you’re listening to somebody sound or a sound clip of a particular event. And anyway, I thought I’d throw that in there. We’re talking about sound on a medium that is only sound. Nina Kraus (35:44): I love that. I love that. And actually I have to say for myself, I do a lot of my reading, listening to audio books. I think we all spend probably too much time looking at screens. And it’s just wonderful to kind of give your eyes a rest and listen. Of course I love radio and podcasts and I consume books that way. Sound is awesome. Richard Miles (36:05): Nina, thank you very much today for being on Radio Cade, hope to have you back maybe with an update on Brain Volts or your new research. Thank you very much for joining us today. Nina Kraus (36:13): Thank you for having me take care of Richard. Bye. Outro (36:18): Radio Cade is produced by the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention located in Gainesville, Florida. Richard Miles is the podcast host and Ellie Thom coordinates inventor interviews, podcasts are recorded at Heartwood Soundstage and edited and mixed by Bob McPeek. The Radio Cade theme song was produced and performed by Tracy Collins and features violinist Jacob Lawson.

Nina Kraus, a professor of communication sciences, neurobiology, and physiology at Northwestern University in Chicago, has done a lot of research on the effect of playing music on processing sound, learning, and brain development.  She explains the “musician’s advantage,” which includes better reading skills, and how music training can be a tool to improve the performance of students from low socio-economic backgrounds.  *This episode is a re-release.*

My guest today is my friend Dr. Amy Belfi. We met for the first time when I visited her at New York University in 2017, when she was a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Psychology.Soundbite #1The Music Cognition Career Journey of Dr. Amy Belfi.Soundbite #2 Name the Tune: Left Temporal Polar is the Part of Our Brain We Use for Naming Songs.Soundbite #3 Music Evokes Autobiographical Memories More Vivid than Visuals.Soundbite #4 People Esthetically Judge a Piece of Music Less than a Second. The Perception of Your Choice of Brand Music Matter. Soundbite #5 Choosing famous/well-known songs in Audio Branding may not be beneficial.Soundbite #6 High Energy Music During Driving Elevates Positive Mood for the Day Ahead - a Study by Ford Spotify and NYU. http://www.welovead.com/cn/works/details/06fwilxCgSoundbite #7 - Why is music important, and why do we like it so much? (28:25)- How does our brain make the decision of our taste in music? (30:58)- Why does a song have the ability to evoke the feeling of chills down our spine? (32:48)Soundbite #8 Aesthetic Judgments of Live and Recorded Music

Colin joins me to talk about the brain, silence, and Tony Blair. Charity shout out to the National Brain Appeal.

Listening to music with complex rhythms can accelerate brain development, and these adults want kids to know that.

David Rosen and Scott Miles of Secret Chord Laboratories (secretchordlaboratories.com) talk to Joe and Rolf about musical preference, the role of surprise in these preferences, what's going on in the brain, and how COVID is affecting the way we listen to music. Discussion paper: "A Statistical Analysis of the Relationship between Harmonic Surprise and Preference in Popular Music" (2017) https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00263 Special Guests: David Rosen and Scott Miles.

Pressure in relationships. When we feel pressure our should is saying this is not the right thing for me. How do we deal with this. How do remove ourselves for a minute so that we can look at the situation more objectively. What can we do to know our truth.

This is the first of the IdeaBreaks. In this episode I talk a little bit about pandemic fatigue and what we can do to combat it. For me, the biggest thing to help me process things is through music. I break it down a little further in this episode on how music effects the brain and what specific traits within a song help the brain relax and process. Towards the end of the episode I recorded an instrumental that has all the key concepts to help a brain process and destress difficult times. Check it out!

This episode explores Music and the Brain with our guest, Dr. Michael Kaplan. We discuss the definition of music, changes in the brains of musicians, and the universality of music! Dr. Kaplan has been associated with Penn for over 20 years as a graduate student, a postdoctoral fellow, and most recently as a Lecturer and Lab Coordinator for the Biological Basis of Behavior (BBB) Program. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he graduated from Wesleyan University with degrees in biochemistry and philosophy, then sojourned in New York City to dabble in the music business, where he wrote non-hit songs with titles like “Brain in a Jar.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, he ended up back in science. His research at Penn has focused on synaptic plasticity, both short-term (with Dr. Marc Dichter) and long-term (with Dr. Ted Abel). He is the Master of Ceremonies and head zookeeper at the Neurolab, an undergraduate teaching lab for electrophysiology and computer simulations. Dr. Kaplan has won the BBB Society Teaching Award and was the recipient of the Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching by Affiliated Faculty in 2009. He teaches The Neuroscience of Music.

Nina Kraus, a professor of communication sciences, neurobiology, and physiology at Northwestern University in Chicago, has done a lot of research on the effect of playing music on processing sound, learning, and brain development. She explains the “musician’s advantage,” which includes better reading skills, and how music training can be a tool to improve the performance of students from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Episode: 3053 Music and the Brain.  Today, this is your brain on music.

What goes on in your mind when that chorus hits and you get shivers, when you lay down a track and know that one was THE take? Neuroscientists have been digging into these and other questions of music, emotion, and cognition for decades. David Rosen, PhD and Brian Owens of AI and neuroscience startup Secret Chord Laboratories explore our brains on music and how the science of creativity and reception can influence the tech tools we build.  The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!

This episode of Health Watch explains the relationship between music and the brain.

Julian Treasure is a sought-after and top-rated international speaker. Collectively his five (yes five) TED talks on various aspects of sound and communication have been viewed more than 80 million times. His talk How To Speak So That People Want To Listen is in the top 10 TED talks of all time.Julian's first book, Sound Business, is the seminal work on creating effective business sound, now in its second edition and also published in Japanese. His audio branding company The Sound Agency works with major brands worldwide proving that good sound is good business and pioneering the use of generative soundscapes instead of mindless music in spaces like airports, shopping malls and offices.His second book, How To Be Heard: Secrets for Powerful Speaking and Listening, is a practical guide to improving the vital personal communication skills of listening and speaking (both public and private), which have been eroded by our ocular culture, including our obsession with screens. The book includes many simple exercises; interviews with experts; and potent, transformational concepts gleaned from 30 years' experience as a speaker with a passion for listening.Julian has been widely featured as a sound and communication expert in the world's media, including TIME Magazine; The Economist; The Times; and many international TV and radio stations and podcasts. He is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a long time musician, remembering with affection his two 1981 BBC John Peel sessions (the bands were Transmitters and Missing Presumed Dead). He lives in Orkney, Scotland with Jane and their daughter Holly.http://www.juliantreasure.comhttp://www.thesoundagency.com

This evening is a musical song fest in celebration of the life and music of Glen Campbell and his flawless performances while in the stages of early Alzheimer's and late stage Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Broderick will introduce Eazysense Show 14 while guest Mae plays Irish fiddle tunes under my voice.. Music of Glen Campbell will be played first if possible from my computer. "Oh Galveston, Oh Galveston, I am so afraid of dying"/The life of Glen CampbellAlzheimer's and memoryAnterograde and Retrograde memoryThen the segments allotted for music can be devoted to songs which are holiday themed and evocative. (See below)The show honors Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa

Music deeply affects us emotionally, and individually—and now we know that our relationship with music provides a unique opportunity to gain further insight into the workings of the brain itself. We discuss the latest in music research with one of the editors of The Oxford Handbook of Music and the Brain. Hear about why we may prefer particular types of music, how being a musician can change the brain over time, and what happens to our musicality as we age. 

Music deeply affects us emotionally, and individually—and now we know that our relationship with music provides a unique opportunity to gain further insight into the workings of the brain itself. We discuss the latest in music research with one of the editors of The Oxford Handbook of Music and the Brain. Hear about why we may prefer particular types of music, how being a musician can change the brain over time, and what happens to our musicality as we age. 

WNCW’s new music podcast features songs from artists Marco Benevento, Kacy & Clayton, Billy Strings and Allah-Las. In the segment “DJ For A Day” host Joe Kendrick talks with NPR’s Shankar Vedantam about how our brains are so geared towards music, and in our “Segue Of The Show”, you get a goth classic from Siouxsie and the Banshees paired with the latest from Angel Olsen.

Solena Davine is a PhD student researching music and the brain Edit: Correct pronunciation for Solena's middle name is "dah-vin-eh" Solena’s Pages www.instagram.com/solenadavine Our Pages www.facebook.com/1aweekchallenge www.instagram.com/_1aweek www.1aweekchallenge@gmail.com *Trigger Warning* If this episode in anyway made you feel like self harming, or you need in general, please contact one of the numbers provided below. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA): 1-800-826-3632 SAMHSA Treatment Locator: 800-662-4357

This episode is a look into how music can help enhance creativity and imaginative thinking. I will discuss some of the neuroscience behind creativity and emphasize the ideal ways of using music during the creative process. You will discover some interesting facts about Einstein and his use of music that enhanced his work. The harp music recorded on this podcast was recorded by music therapist, Andrea Cortez, MM, MT-BC at Mind Body Music Center.Episode References:1. Six Interesting Musical Facts about Albert Einsteinhttps://www.cmuse.org/interesting-musical-facts-about-albert-einstein/2. Creative Listening: How Music Can Boost Your Creativity https://brainworldmagazine.com/creative-listening-music-can-boost-creativity3. Einstein on Creative Thinking: Music and the Intuitive Art of Scientific Imagination. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/imagine/201003/einstein-creative-thinking-music-and-the-intuitive-art-scientific-imaginationCalaprice, Alice. (Ed.). (2000). The Expanded Quotable Einstein. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press.Clark, Ronald W. (1971). Einstein. The Life and Times. New York: Crowell.Sayen, Jamie. (1985). Einstein in America. New York: Crown. Suzuki, Shinichi. (1969). Nurtured by Love. A New Approach to Education.4. The Four Stages of Creativity. https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/the-4-stages-of-creativity.html5. Emma Threadgold, John E. Marsh, Neil McLatchie, Linden J. Ball. Background music stints creativity: Evidence from compound remote associate tasks. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2019; DOI: 10.1002/acp.3532Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mindbodymusiccenter)

It doesn’t mean much to say music affects your brain — everything that happens to you affects your brain. But music affects your brain in certain specific ways, from changing our mood to helping us learn. As both a neuroscientist and an opera singer, Indre Viskontas is the ideal person to talk about the relationship between music and the brain. Her new book, How Music Can Make You Better, digs into why we love music, how it can unite and divide us, and how music has a special impact on the very young and the very old.   Support Mindscape on Patreon or Paypal. Indre Viskontas received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience at UCLA. She is currently a Professor of Sciences and Humanities at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of San Francisco. She is also Creative Director of the Pasadena Opera, Director of Vocallective, and host of the Inquiring Minds and Cadence podcasts. She served as the co-host for the documentary series Miracle Detectives, and has produced lecture series for The Great Courses. Her opera performances include roles in Mozart, Puccini, and others. Web site UCSF web page Wikipedia How Music Can Make You Better Great Courses professor page TEDx talk Twitter

Mirror World - Kevin Kelly Music and the Brain - Charles Limb VocaliD - Rupal Patel Artificial Unintelligence - Meredith Broussard

For our October Narrative Medicine Rounds, we welcome Nina Kraus, PhD, who is the Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences, Neurobiology and Otolaryngologyat Northwestern University. Her talk will center on the ways sound processing in the brain is a reflection of brain health. "How our brains respond to sound reveals each person's unique narrative of their life experiences," says Dr. Kraus. "We have discovered a way to objectively capture the imprint that sounds leave on our brains." Dr. Kraus, who is a scientist, inventor and amateur musician, will examine the promise of measuring these sound-prints to assess and manage sports-related concussions as well as the many ways music training is beneficial for the brain, strengthens our communication skills and can inform healthcare, education and social policy. For more information about Nina Kraus’s work and the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, go to www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu

I always was intrigued on how our brain works thru music. What make us inclined to play or listen to music or how beneficial was musical education on us.Dr. Kraus and her project and research goes beyond these queries. Her background as a biologist and researcher has made us look differently new ways of looking at music/sound and how it might help or improve our behavior and our lifestyles. As I read Dr. Kraus curriculum vitae and publications, I knew from the beginning that this episode would be very hard to do. I did this recording a Saturday in the afternoon after having done 2 previous recordings in different places and I want to thank Dr. Nina Kraus for accepting my invitation, sitting with us and explained to us how sound works in our brain. To learn more about my podcast, you can follow me on Twitter @Music2Flavors and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Musicin2Flavors/, or at my website at www.musicin2flavors.com If you know a friend or acquaintance that works in the music industry and think that he should be an ideal person to chat and record his conversation, please contact me at Music in 2Flavors@gmail.com Thank you for listening and see you on our next episode in Spanish with a great musician from Buenos Aires, Argentina living in Maryland. If you would like to be a patreon of my podcast, you can go to my website and click on the Patreon banner or visit https://www.patreon.com/musicin2Flavors where you can choose the amount of money that you want to pledge. Thank you for listening to Music in 2Flavors and thank you for being a loyal listener of my music adventure.

I always was intrigued on how our brain works thru music. What make us inclined to play or listen to music or how beneficial was musical education on us.Dr. Kraus and her project and research goes beyond these queries. Her background as a biologist and researcher has made us look differently new ways of looking at music/sound and how it might help or improve our behavior and our lifestyles. As I read Dr. Kraus curriculum vitae and publications, I knew from the beginning that this episode would be very hard to do. I did this recording a Saturday in the afternoon after having done 2 previous recordings in different places and I want to thank Dr. Nina Kraus for accepting my invitation, sitting with us and explained to us how sound works in our brain. To learn more about my podcast, you can follow me on Twitter @Music2Flavors and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Musicin2Flavors/, or at my website at www.musicin2flavors.com If you know a friend or acquaintance that works in the music industry and think that he should be an ideal person to chat and record his conversation, please contact me at Music in 2Flavors@gmail.com Thank you for listening and see you on our next episode in Spanish with a great musician from Buenos Aires, Argentina living in Maryland. If you would like to be a patreon of my podcast, you can go to my website and click on the Patreon banner or visit https://www.patreon.com/musicin2Flavors where you can choose the amount of money that you want to pledge. Thank you for listening to Music in 2Flavors and thank you for being a loyal listener of my music adventure.

I recently picked up a book called this is your brain on music. I'm really enjoying it so far. Find out about it today on the show.

There are some things that just feel like they’re true. For example, the idea that people who are gifted musicians are also good at learning math, or vice versa. However, there isn’t any data that suggests that there are any links in the brain between these proclivities. As Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke […]

There are some things that just feel like they’re true. For example, the idea that people who are gifted musicians are also good at learning math, or vice versa. However, there isn’t any data that suggests that there are any links in the brain between these proclivities. As Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke...

Brain Rules- Episode 3- Music and the Brain by UT Daily Beacon

Students, administrators and academic researchers demonstrate the value of learning music in school as they show improvements in English and Math test scores, class attendance rates, cognitive development, self-esteem and the ability to work with others. Featured are Francisco Escobedo, the superintendent of the Chula Vista Elementary School District; UC San Diego cognitive scientists Terry Jernigan and John Iversen; and young musicians participating in the Community Opus Project, an in-school and after school music program led by Dalouge Smith, the president and CEO of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory. Series: "STEAM: Adding Arts to STEM Education" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Education] [Show ID: 30835]

Students, administrators and academic researchers demonstrate the value of learning music in school as they show improvements in English and Math test scores, class attendance rates, cognitive development, self-esteem and the ability to work with others. Featured are Francisco Escobedo, the superintendent of the Chula Vista Elementary School District; UC San Diego cognitive scientists Terry Jernigan and John Iversen; and young musicians participating in the Community Opus Project, an in-school and after school music program led by Dalouge Smith, the president and CEO of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory. Series: "STEAM Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Education] [Show ID: 30835]

Students, administrators and academic researchers demonstrate the value of learning music in school as they show improvements in English and Math test scores, class attendance rates, cognitive development, self-esteem and the ability to work with others. Featured are Francisco Escobedo, the superintendent of the Chula Vista Elementary School District; UC San Diego cognitive scientists Terry Jernigan and John Iversen; and young musicians participating in the Community Opus Project, an in-school and after school music program led by Dalouge Smith, the president and CEO of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory. Series: "STEAM Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Education] [Show ID: 30835]

Students, administrators and academic researchers demonstrate the value of learning music in school as they show improvements in English and Math test scores, class attendance rates, cognitive development, self-esteem and the ability to work with others. Featured are Francisco Escobedo, the superintendent of the Chula Vista Elementary School District; UC San Diego cognitive scientists Terry Jernigan and John Iversen; and young musicians participating in the Community Opus Project, an in-school and after school music program led by Dalouge Smith, the president and CEO of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory. Series: "STEAM Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Education] [Show ID: 30835]

Students, administrators and academic researchers demonstrate the value of learning music in school as they show improvements in English and Math test scores, class attendance rates, cognitive development, self-esteem and the ability to work with others. Featured are Francisco Escobedo, the superintendent of the Chula Vista Elementary School District; UC San Diego cognitive scientists Terry Jernigan and John Iversen; and young musicians participating in the Community Opus Project, an in-school and after school music program led by Dalouge Smith, the president and CEO of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory. Series: "STEAM Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Education] [Show ID: 30835]

Students, administrators and academic researchers demonstrate the value of learning music in school as they show improvements in English and Math test scores, class attendance rates, cognitive development, self-esteem and the ability to work with others. Featured are Francisco Escobedo, the superintendent of the Chula Vista Elementary School District; UC San Diego cognitive scientists Terry Jernigan and John Iversen; and young musicians participating in the Community Opus Project, an in-school and after school music program led by Dalouge Smith, the president and CEO of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory. Series: "STEAM: Adding Arts to STEM Education" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Education] [Show ID: 30835]

Students, administrators and academic researchers demonstrate the value of learning music in school as they show improvements in English and Math test scores, class attendance rates, cognitive development, self-esteem and the ability to work with others. Featured are Francisco Escobedo, the superintendent of the Chula Vista Elementary School District; UC San Diego cognitive scientists Terry Jernigan and John Iversen; and young musicians participating in the Community Opus Project, an in-school and after school music program led by Dalouge Smith, the president and CEO of the San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory. Series: "STEAM: Adding Arts to STEM Education" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Education] [Show ID: 30835]

A music teacher since 1980, Lisha Lercari is the driving force behind Music and the Brain, a hands-on program that teaches public school children to read and play music through classic keyboard instruction. Neurological research links music and cognitive development, so when children receive sequential music instruction, it impacts their proficiency in language, reading, math, etc. Since this music teacher on a mission founded and created Music and the Brain in 1997, hundreds of thousands of youngsters in grades K-5, have benefitted from the program, in schools throughout New York City, as well as other cities in the U.S. and abroad.

In our 9th episode, We talk about how music is what brought us together many years ago and how it became an important part of our friendship. We also disclose what the “blue room” from our previous intro is and how that’s related. There was another rocky start the morning of this show, and Doug […] The post Unhinged Episode #009: Music and the Brain appeared first on Unhinged.

Music and the Brain. Just how necessary is music to us anyway?

Susan Chandler talks with Dr. Michael Thaut, director of the Center for Biomedical Research in Music at Colorado State University, about music and the brain and neurologic music therapy.

Susan Chandler talks with Dr. Michael Thaut, director of the Center for Biomedical Research in Music at Colorado State University, about music and the brain and neurologic music therapy.

Sue and Tom welcome music psychologist Adam Ockelford to the studio to tackle your questions about music and the brain - and discuss whether all humans are innately hardwired to appreciate music.

Mark Tramo, M.D. Ph.D, discusses the theoretical and neurobiological science of pitch and harmony perception at Stanford's annual Music and the Brain Symposium. (February 8, 2010)

"The poet laureate of medicine" (New York Times) examines the complexities of our response to music and the particular powers of music to move us physically and emotionally, beneficially or destructively, showing how we humans are a musical species no less than a linguistic one.

I always was intrigued on how our brain works thru music. What make us inclined to play or listen to music or how beneficial was musical education on us.Dr. Kraus and her project and research goes beyond these queries. Her background as a biologist and researcher has made us look differently new ways of looking at music/sound and how it might help or improve our behavior and our lifestyles. As I read Dr. Kraus curriculum vitae and publications, I knew from the beginni