The Library's Music and the Brain events offer lectures, conversations and symposia about the explosion of new research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and music. Project chair Kay Redfield Jamison convenes scientists and scholars, composers, performers, theorists, physicians, psychologists, and other experts at the Library for a compelling 2-year series, with generous support from the Dana Foundation.
Latest episodes
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28 min
The Future of Music
Host Steve Mencher talks with Tod Machover, composer and Director, Professor of Music and Media, and Director of the Opera of the Future Group at MIT.
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20 min
Music Therapy, Alzheimer’s and Post-Traumatic Stress (Dr. Deforia Lane)
Host Steve Mencher talks with Dr. Deforia Lane, Director of Music Therapy, Univeristy Hospitals of Cleveland.
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18 min
Music Therapy, Alzheimer’s and Post-Traumatic Stress (Alicia Clair)
Host Steve Mencher talks with Alicia Clair about Music Therapy, Alzheimer’s and Post-Traumatic Stress.
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17 min
Music and Grief
Host Steve Mencher talks with Music and the Brain Series advisor Kay Redfield Jamison about her book Nothing Was The Same.
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21 min
Wellness and Growth: Acoustic Medicine and Music Therapy (Dr. Jayne Standley)
Host Steve Mencher talks with Dr. Jayne Standley, Director of the Music Therapy Program, Florida State University.
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17 min
Wellness and Growth: Acoustic Medicine and Music Therapy (Dr. Vera Brandes)
Host Steve Mencher talks with Dr. Vera Brandes, Director, Research Program Music Medicine, Paracelsus Medical Private University, Salzburg.
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19 min
Making Music Changes Brains
Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, Director of the Music, Neuroimaging and Stroke Recovery Laboratories, Beth Deaconess Israel Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, talks with host Steve…
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18 min
Music, Memories, and the Brain
Dr. Peter Janata, associate professor at University of California, Davis, and member of the Center for Mind and Brain talks with Steve Mencher about how the brain creates an autobi…
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18 min
The Positive Effects of Music Therapy on Health
Steve Mencher from the Library of Congress talks with Concetta M. Tomaino, Executive Director, Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, about “The Positive Effects of Music The…
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21 min
Why Do Listeners Enjoy Music that Makes Them Weep?
Host Steve Mencher and Professor David Huron, Head of Ohio State University’s Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory,answer to the question in a conversation on emotions, t…
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25 min
Music, Trance, Religious Experience, and the Brain
Steve Mencher from the Library of Congress talks to Dr. Robin Sylvan, Director of the Sacred Center, El Cerrito, California about “Trance Formation: Music, Trance, Religious Experi…
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25 min
States of Mind: Music in Islamic Sufi Rituals
Steve Mencher from the Library of Congress discusses “States of Mind: Music in Islamic Sufi Rituals” with Dr. Taoufiq ben Amor, Gordon Gray J. Lecturer, Arabic Studies, Columbia Un…
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17 min
Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia
Dr. Richard E. Cytowic, MD, of George Washington Medical Center discusses his presentation “Wednesday Is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia.”
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26 min
The Mind of the Artist
Michael Kubovy and Judith Shatin of the University of Virginia discuss their presentation “The Mind of an Artist.” Debate has long raged about whether and how music expresses meani…
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22 min
“Halt or I’ll Play Vivaldi!” Classical Music as Crime Stopper
Helfgott and Middleton examine the use of classical music by law enforcement and other cultural institutions as social control, to quell and prevent crime. Their conversation touch…
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20 min
From Mode to Emotion in Musical Communication
From Mode to Emotion in Musical Communication: Steven Brown, Director of the NeuroArts Lab at McMaster University, discusses his work looking at the expression of emotion in both W…
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13 min
Dangerous Music
Artistic anathemas, musical mayhem, and cultural conundrums such as “the devil’s music” – Middleton and Krash explore the psychological and social issues associated with the human…
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22 min
Your Brain on Jazz: Neural Substrates of Spontaneous Improvisation
Johns Hopkins otolaryngolost and jazz musician Charles Limb talks about “The Brain on Jazz”–Neural Substrates of Spontaneous Improvisation.”
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22 min
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature
Daniel Levitin’s new book The World in Six Songs has attracted a serious fan following, including Sting, Joni Mitchell and Willie Nelson. Neuroscientist, rock producer, and best se…
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19 min
The Music of Language and the Language of Music
In our everyday lives language and instrumental music are obviously different things. Neuroscientist and musician Ani Patel is the author of a recent, elegantly argued offering fro…