Download music and the brain - College of Natural Sciences

The University of Texas at Austin
MUSIC AND THE BRAIN
"Music’s role in human experience has been a widely studied
topic dating back to Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. These
philosophers studied the influence and effects of music on
an individual and a society as a whole; each knew that
music was a powerful force but lacked the tools to
understand why. Today, research in this field has the
potential to clarify fundamental aspects of human brain
function, from language and complex sequence processing
to how the auditory and motor systems are joined together
in beat perception and synchronization..."
Alexandra Wiechmann
Natural Sciences
BIOLOGY
Describe your proposed field of study. Which academic disciplines does it cross over?
In my interdisciplinary study, “Music and the Brain,” I propose to examine what happens in
the brain when an individual listens, performs, composes, or reads music. This interest would
include studies of cognitive neuroscience, along with neuroanatomy and psychology.
Music’s role in human experience has been a widely studied topic dating back to Plato,
Socrates, and Aristotle. These philosophers studied the influence and effects of music on an
individual and a society as a whole; each knew that music was a powerful force but lacked the
tools to understand why. Today, research in this field has the potential to clarify fundamental
aspects of human brain function, from language and complex sequence processing to how the
auditory and motor systems are joined together in beat perception and synchronization.
All humans come into the world with a capability for music. Humans are the only species able
to perform a beat consistent with a perceived rhythm. Magnetic Resonance Imaging reveals
that the brain is highly active when we listen to music. Moreover, the basic human capability
to make music is linked to other skills: studies show that children who are involved in music
tend to perform better in other fields of learning. Fibers that connect the left and right part of
the brain show increased activity when music is involved; unlike in reading, music requires
the participation of both sides of the brain. Researchers believe this communication between
both hemispheres contributes to music’s capacity to aid in memory function. Another way
music has aided people is music therapy, a growing field combining psychology with music,
which has proven to help treat patients with psychological disorders as well as serious brain
injuries and strokes. One example is former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who has
relearned how to talk by retraining her brain with melody and rhythm.
Neuroscientists have shown that the power of music is even greater than the ancient
philosophers understood, reaching into the very neurons with which we remember, learn and
reason. I would like to discover how the different hemispheres, axons and neurons interact
when the individual is visually reading or hearing music. My curriculum will incorporate the
fields of psychology, music, and neurobiology.
Why are you interested in studying this topic?
One morning when I was nine, I skipped into my parent’s bedroom and saw my mother on
the floor unconscious, shaking violently. I ran to get my dad for help and called 911. The next
morning we learned that my mother had a brain tumor called glioblastoma multiforme.
Though my father knew the condition was terminal, he didn’t tell me. Over the next year, I
watched my mother rapidly deteriorate. The tumor had attached itself to the part of the brain
that deals with language and memory. Throughout the year my parents would take frequent
trips to Duke Medical Center in North Carolina for treatment while I stayed with my
grandparents. Each time she returned, her speech and hand-eye coordination were worse.
After two months she lost the ability to walk on her own, and after about nine, she began to
forget names of people, including myself.
One thing that my mother always asked me to do for her over that last year was to play my
violin. I had begun the summer before and wasn’t exactly a prodigy. I would practice my
Suzuki songs and scales while she would practice on her writing and memory. Although it got
harder to communicate with her, she would never stop smiling when I played. She may have
been having a tough day, but she never stopped paying attention; the music helped her to stay
relaxed and focused. She always wanted to keep trying at what she was working on when I
played for her. As she began to lose the ability to speak and understand speech, music became
our bridge. Though she could no longer understand my words, I could use my weak skills to
not only make my mother happy but to communicate with her through the language of
music.
For many, music is a form of entertainment. It was for my mother, but it was also something
more. What was happening in her brain when I played for her? I would like to explore the
idea of how music affects the brain--whether we’re listening, performing, or even reading
notation. I have always been aware of music’s beauty and mystery, but with the IP Fellows
program I will be able to study its mysterious connection with the brain.
Name two faculty with research interests in your area. Include their home departments
and relevant research interests. If a research interest isn't obviously related to your
topic, explain its relevance.
-Eugenia Costa-Giomi
Butler School of Music
Dr. Costa-Giomi is studying the psychology of music; musical development; music perception
and cognition during childhood and infancy; the nonmusical benefits of music instruction; and
inequalities in access to music education in public schools.
-Russell Poldrack
School of Biological Sciences
Dr. Poldrack's primary research interests are in the cognitive neuroscience of learning and
memory, decision making, and executive function, using neuroimaging as the primary method
to examine these questions. His recent work has focused on the neural systems that support
flexible and rapid inhibition of ongoing behavior, and their role in adaptive behavior and
decision making. Dr. Poldrack is also heavily involved in the development of informatics tools to
support the mapping of cognitive function to neural systems, primarily through the Cognitive
Atlas project.
-Alison Preston
School of Biological Sciences
Dr. Preston is studying the understanding of memory and how it is implemented in the human
brain. Using a combination of behavioral and brain imaging techniques, Dr. Preston's research
explores how we form new memories, how we remember past experiences, and how our
memory for the past can influence our present behavior.
Explain how each course is relevant to this field. What do you hope to learn from each?
Primary Courses
BIO 365R
VERTEBRATE NEUROBIOLOGY
This course will introduce the nervous system and other excitable tissues. Membrane
potentials, ion channels, synaptic transmission, learning and memory, skeletal and cardiac
muscle, and how systems of neurons lead to sensation and motor output will also be looked
at. This course would help me understand the function of the brain and also the connection
of the brain to the rest of the body.
PSY 341K
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
This course takes the rapidly developing "Embodiment" perspective on the evolution of brainbehavior relations in function and speech, considering in particular the evolution of
hemispheric specializations of the brain and the organization of speech in the left cerebral
hemisphere. This course would help me understand the development of the brain over time
in function and organization.
PSY 341K
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSIC
This course explores the cognitive foundations of music; the full range of physical,
psychophysical, and cognitive mechanisms that lead to musical experience. The course begins
with the physics of musical instruments and the physical qualities of musical pitch and then
leads into the psychophysics of hearing sounds and how individuals experience consonance
and dissonance. The course will also explore the structure in working memory that allows
individual pitch to be organized into musical expressions.
This course would help me in my minor because it specifically focuses on the psychological
aspects of music and its physical properties.
Alternate Courses
PSY 305
INTRO TO COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
This course offers a broad survey of topics in cognitive psychology including perception,
attention, memory, problem solving, and decision making. This course would help me
understand the cognitive functioning of the brain and would teach me how the brain reacts
during communication.
MUS 392
PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSIC
This class focuses on the psychological aspects of music, emphasizing perception, experimental
aesthetics, music function, and the nature of musical ability. It is also an overview of current
research in music learning, music preference, acoustics, the influence of music on listener
behavior, and measurements of music achievement and performance. This is a graduate course
and my enrollment would need to be approved by the instructor. The course covers everything I
want to learn.
PSY 308
BIOPSYCHOLOGY
This course is an introduction to brain function and psychological processes. There is a
biological approach to understanding the neural basis of behavior and processes that affect
emotion, perception, and cognition. This course would help me understand the nervous
system and its control of sensations throughout the body and its emotions.