Title of paper under discussion The sensation of groove engages motor and reward networks Authors Tomas E. Matthews, Maria A. G. Witek, Torben Lund, Peter Vuust, Virginia B. Penhune Journal NeuroImage, Volume 214, 1 July 2020, 116768 Link to original paper (open access) Overview Researchers in Aarhus, Denmark, set out to investigate the effects of musical …
Groovy music tickles pleasure and motor centres in the brain Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Why musical memory can be preserved in advanced Alzheimer’s disease Authors Jörn-Henrik Jacobsen, Johannes Stelzer, Thomas Hans Fritz, Gael Chételat, Renaud La Joie, Robert Turner Journal Brain, Volume 138, Issue 8, August 2015, Pages 2438–2450 Link to original paper (free access) Overview It has long been recognised, both anecdotally and scientifically, that people with Alzheimer’s …
How come Alzheimer’s disease spares musical memory? Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Absolute Pitch and Planum Temporale Authors Julian Paul Keenan, Ven Thangaraj, Andrea R. Halpern and Gottfried Schlaug Journal NeuroImage, 14(6):1402-8, January 2002 Link to original paper (open access) Overview The planum temporale (PT), a triangular area just behind the primary auditory cortex on each of the two temporal lobes , …
Title of paper under discussion The musician’s brain: functional imaging of amateurs and professionals during performance and imagery Authors M. Lotze, G. Scheler, H.-R.M. Tan, C. Braun and N. Birbaumera Journal NeuroImage, Volume 20, Issue 3, November 2003, Pages 1817-1829 Link to original paper (open access) Overview In order to investigate the differences that a musical training …
Title of paper under discussion Musician advantage for speech-on-speech perception Authors Deniz Başkent and Etienne Gaudrain Journal The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 139, EL51 (2016) Link to original paper (open access) Overview Are musicians better than non-musicians at being able to listen to one human talking whilst hearing two? It is a skill that may …
Musicians good at listening to one person speak whilst hearing two Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Connecting to Create: Expertise in Musical Improvisation Is Associated with Increased Functional Connectivity between Premotor and Prefrontal Areas Authors Ana Luísa Pinho, Örjan de Manzano, Peter Fransson, Helene Eriksson and Fredrik Ullén Journal Journal of Neuroscience, 30 April 2014, 34 (18) 6156-6163 Link to original paper (open access) Overview This Swedish project set out to discover the effects of …
Improvisers have stronger connections between parts of their brains Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Musical Training Influences Linguistic Abilities in 8-Year-Old Children: More Evidence for Brain Plasticity Authors Sylvain Moreno, Carlos Marques, Andreia Santos, Manuela Santos, São Luís Castro, Mireille Besson Journal Cerebral Cortex, Volume 19, Issue 3, March 2009, Pages 712–723 Link to original paper (open access) Overview The idea that passively listening to music can improve your …
Music lessons help language abilities in eight-year-olds Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Automaticity of pitch class-color synesthesia as revealed by a Stroop-like effect Authors Kosuke Itoh, Honami Sakata, Hironaka Igarashi, Tsutomu Nakada Journal Consciousness and Cognition, Volume 71, May 2019, Pages 86-91 Link to original paper (open access) Overview Synaesthesia is a merging of senses that aren’t normally connected, whereby the stimulation …
Musical pitches genuinely evoke colour sensations in some people Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Relationship between Interhemispheric Inhibition and Dexterous Hand Performance in Musicians and Non-musicians Authors Yi-Ling Kuo, Jason J. Kutch & Beth E. Fisher Journal Nature, Scientific Reports, volume 9, Article number: 11574 (2019) Link to original paper (open access) Overview The ability of the brain’s two hemispheres to ‘talk to one another’ is down to hundreds of millions interhemispheric …
One half of a musician’s brain inhibits the other to finesse evenness in timing Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Interaction between physiological and subjective states predicts the effect of a judging panel on the postures of cellists in performance Authors Satoshi Endo, Kristina Juhlberg, Adrian Bradbury and Alan M. Wing Journal Frontiers in psychology vol. 5 773. (2014) Link to original paper (open access) Overview 24 cellists each played a …
Adrenalin opens up the brave and closes down the shy Read More »