MUSIC & BRAIN SERIES, LOC

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MUSIC and the BRAIN

http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert//0809-musicandthebrain.html


Music and the Brain View and subscribe to Podcasts for this series

Presented by the Library's Music Division and the Science, Technology and Business Division, through the generous support of the Dana Foundation. Project Chair, Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, Psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry, Mood Disorders Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“In music one must think with the heart and feel with the brain.”
-- GEORGE SZELL

October 2008 opens a thought-provoking two-year cycle of lectures and special presentations at the Library of Congress that highlights an explosion of new research on music and the brain. Kay Redfield Jamison convenes scientists and scholars, composers, performers, theorists, physicians, psychologists, and other experts, under the auspices of the Library’s Music Division and Science, Technology and Business Division. All events in the series are free and open to the public. No tickets are required, but seating is limited, and early arrival is advised.

Ten compelling programs in the 2008-9 season feature a diverse lineup of speakers, including neuroscientsts Daniel J. Levitin, Antonio Damasio, Aniruddh D. Patel, and Steven Brown. Science, music and medicine converge in talks exploring a range of topics–the role of music and human evolution, and the universality of music across cultures; how the human brain is designed to perceive, understand, and like music; how the perception of music and the response to it is deeply rooted in human biology; how music conveys meaning and emotion; depression and creativity; and music, the brain, and behavior.

"Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast"–and myriad other powers as well. Music may heal our minds and hearts, enhance learning and build mental acuity, annoy or frighten us.

Music can make us weep, and one scientist proposes that it provides great pleasure as it does so. Today, investigators in a variety of fields including neuroscience, anthropology, and psychology are coming closer to identifying and quantifying how music works on the brain, affects our consciousness, behavior and culture, entertains us, enriches our emotional lives, and communicates in ways we can never quite verbalize.

Music and the Brain takes a look at the rapidly expanding field of "neuromusic," new research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and music. What went on in Charlie Parker’s medial prefrontal cortex as he started soloing on Ornithology? When you coo to your baby, are you stimulating a part of her brain that’s hard-wired for music? Can music bring down governments, or chase away criminals? With fascinating explorations into music’s relationship to human evolution, language and communication, social behavior, culture and education, these are intriguing offerings, slated for webcasts, podcasts and a radio hour.

For a complete webcast, check the Library of Congress website two weeks after each Music and the Brain event.
Re the Music and the Brain series, this is all updated material since the brochure was prepared....

GO TO THE WEBSITE FOR THE FULL LINEUP