Title of paper under discussion The influence of Mozart’s music on brain activity in the process of learning Authors Norbert Jaušovec, Ksenija Jaušovec and Ivan Gerlič Journal Clinical Neurophysiology, Dec 2006: Volume 117, Issue 12, pp 2703-14 Link to paper (free access) Overview Listening to Mozart improves your ability to solve mental rotation puzzles, or …
Mozart, but not Brahms, helps the brain solve puzzles Read More »
Title of paper under discussion When coloured sounds taste sweet Authors Gian Beeli, Michaela Esslen and Lutz Jäncke Journal Nature, 434, 38 (2005) Link to paper (free access) Overview Written up in 2005, this ‘short communication’ to the journal Nature describes a professional musician who cannot help sensing tastes on her tongue when she hears …
Title of paper under discussion Musicians outperform nonmusicians in magnitude estimation: evidence of a common processing mechanism for time, space and numbers Authors Christian Agrillo and Laura Piffer Journal The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol 65, issue 12, pp 2321-2332 Link to paper (free access) Overview Could it be that the human brain uses the same …
Can a musician’s superior maths ability be explained by superior timing ability? Read More »
Title of paper under discussion The fate of sounds in conductors’ brains: an ERP study Authors Wido Nager, Christine Kohlmetz, Eckart Altenmüller, Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells and Thomas F. Münte Journal Cognitive Brain Research, 17 (2003) pp 83–93 Link to paper (free access) Overview Based in Hannover, Germany, this research team set out to test the hypothesis …
Conductors’ brains ‘flash positive’ on hearing a deviant noise in their periphery Read More »
Title of paper under discussion The Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: An Epidemiologic Perspective Authors Richard H.C. Zegers, Andreas Weigl and Andrew Steptoe Journal Annals of Internal Medicine – 2009; 151 (4): 274-278 Link to paper (free access) Overview The cause of 35-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s death in the winter of 1791 has ever since puzzled …
Did Mozart die in a young men’s ‘strep throat’ epidemic? Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Cortical plasticity in an early blind musician: an fMRl study Authors David A. Ross, Ingrid R. Olson, John C. Gore Journal Magnetic Resonance Imaging, vol 21 (2003) pp 821–828 Link to paper (free access) Overview Blindness is often reckoned to be associated with a high level of musical competence, “perhaps …
Music is processed in ‘visual areas’ of a blind musician’s brain Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Broca’s Area Supports Enhanced Visuospatial Cognition in Orchestral Musicians Authors Vanessa Sluming, Jonathan Brooks, Matthew Howard, John Joseph Downes and Neil Roberts Journal Journal of Neuroscience 4 April 2007, 27 (14) 3799-3806 Link to paper (free access) Overview In solving freshly presented 3D mental rotation puzzles, members of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) consistently demonstrated levels of skill …
Musicians’ brains use ‘sight-reading area’ to excel at 3D mental rotation Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Sex Differences in Music: A Female Advantage at Recognizing Familiar Melodies Authors Scott A. Miles, Robbin A. Miranda, and Michael T. Ullman Journal Frontiers in psychology vol. 7, 278; 1 March 2016 Link to paper (free access) Overview Working in the Brain and Language Laboratory of Georgetown University, Washington DC, Scott …
Title of paper under discussion Keeping brains young with making music Authors Lars Rogenmoser, Julius Kernbach, Gottfried Schlaug and Christian Gaser Journal Brain Structure and Function (2018) 223:297–305 Link to paper (free access) Overview Already known for its effect on brain development and its potential to help brain rehabilitation, might music-making have a further benefit: …
Title of paper under discussion Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion Authors Anne J. Blood and Robert J. Zatorre Journal PNAS, 25 September 2001, vol 98 no 20, pp 11818-11823 Link to paper (free access) Overview Using a scanning technique called positron emission tomography (PET) to detect changes …
Chocolate, cocaine and Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto excite common brain circuitry Read More »