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 »
Title of paper under discussion A filled duration illusion in music: Effects of metrical subdivision on the perception and production of beat tempo. Authors Bruno H Repp and Meijin Bruttomesso Journal Advances in cognitive psychology vol. 5 114-34, 13 January 2010 Link to paper (free access) Overview Scientists have long recognised that a “filled” time interval …
Did an auditory illusion lead Schnabel to rush subdivided passages in Beethoven? Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Increased Gray Matter Volume of Left Pars Opercularis in Male Orchestral Musicians Correlate Positively With Years of Musical Performance Authors Ihssan A. Abdul-Kareem, Andrej Stancak, Laura M. Parkes and Vanessa Sluming Journal JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING 33:24–32 (2011) Link to paper (free access) Overview Broca’s area, a region in the left …
Musicians’ brains have an enlarged speech area – and it keeps growing with experience Read More »
Title of paper under discussion Electromyographic analysis of muscular activity in the upper extremity generated by supporting a violin with and without a shoulder rest Authors Charles E. Levy, Wynne A. Lee, Alice G. Brandfonbrener, Joel Press, Alexis Engel Levy Journal Medical Problems of Performing Artists (vol 7, no. 4, pp 103-109, January 1992) Link …
Title of paper under discussion Early neuronal responses in right limbic structures mediate harmony incongruity processing in musical experts Authors Clara E. James, Juliane Britz, Patrik Vuilleumier, Claude-Alain Hauert, Christoph M. Michel Journal NeuroImage, Volume 42, Issue 4, 1 October 2008, Pages 1597-1608 Link to journal (open access) Overview Reckoning that interrupted cadences “should evoke a …
Interrupted cadences trigger musicians’ right hemispheres within 200 milliseconds Read More »