Music Training Improves Language Development

From a study by S Jentschke, S Koelsch, and AD Friederici : Language and music are human universals involving perceptually discrete elements organized in hierarchically structured sequences. The set of principles governing the combination of these structural elements into sequences Read More …

Classical Music – If It Feels Good, Do It!

From a study by Anne J. Blood and Robert J. Zatorre : We used positron emission tomography to study neural mechanisms underlying intensely pleasant emotional responses to music. Cerebral blood flow changes were measured in response to subject-selected music that Read More …

Autistic Persons Might Understand Classical Music Better

From a study by L Mottron, I Peretz, and E Ménard: A multi-modal abnormality in the integration of parts and whole has been proposed to account for a bias toward local stimuli in individuals with autism (Frith, 1989; Mottron and Read More …

Classical Music, Learning and Memory

From a study by Moshe Bar, Elissa Aminoff, and Daniel L. Schacter : The parahippocampal cortex (PHC) has been implicated in both place/scene processing and episodic memory. We proposed that this region should instead be seen as intrinsically mediating contextual Read More …

Our Brains are Hard-Wired for Pleasant Music

From a study by Nathalie Gosselin, Séverine Samson, Ralph Adolphs, Marion Noulhiane, Mathieu Roy, Dominique Hasboun, Michel Baulac, and Isabelle Peretz : Music is typically a pleasurable experience. But under certain circumstances, music can also be unpleasant, for example, when Read More …

Like it or Not, Classical Music is a Workout for the Brain

From a dissertation by Susann Eschrich: The comparison of old to new pieces yielded thalamic and midbrain activity while the contrast of recognized vs. not recognized pieces showed activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus. Retrieval processes from long-term representations Read More …