Dappen et al 2026 doi: 10.1016/j.heares.2025.109483. A case of acquired amusia and misophonia following right temporal resection

THE DEATH OF US SCIENCE ☠️

Thrilled to share that The New Yorker featured my work on musical anhedonia - why some people don’t experience pleasure from music, and what this reveals about how our brains predict and process reward. www.newyorker.com/culture/anna... #neuroskyence #musicskyence #psychscisky

Glaset & Schlaug 2003. Brain structures differ between musicians and non-musicians Gray matter volume differences in motor, auditory, and visual-spatial brain regions were found between pro musicians with amateur musicians and non-musicians. cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/6e...

Jing Lu et al The Brain Functional State of Music Creation doi: 10.1038/srep12277. Compared composing vs resting state fMRI of 17 composers. Stronger functional connectivity appeared between anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right angular gyrus and bilateral superior frontal gyrus during composition.

The latest issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease has a special section entitled "Neuropsychological impact and mechanisms of creative movement: Implications for rehabilitation for aging, neurodegenerative disease, and neurotrauma." See link and abstract below. #neuroskyence

my latest, in Trends in Cognitive Sciences this review lays out what I think the fundamental specializations are for music perception in humans, namely, the hierarchical processing of pitch and rhythm or, how our minds turn vibrating air into music authors.elsevier.com/a/1lG9G_V1r-...

Curse of Neuroanatomy Training Part 4. Tessellation of Mona Lisa, but looks like gyri to us. Thanks to Dr. Jeff Browndyke. Original post by Kevin Atkinson Mathematical Tiling and Tessellation. #neuroskyence

Donnay et al doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088665 An fMRI Study of ‘Trading Fours’ in Jazz Improvisation between musicians-->activation of perisylvian areas linked to processing of syntactic elements in music, including inferior frontal gyrus & posterior superior temporal gyrus... #neuroskyence

Gustavson et al doi: 10.1007/s10519-023-10135-0. Parents reported on children's music experiences (N = 11,876 children). Instrument exposure... was associated with language (r = .27) and executive functions (r = .15-0.17), stronger than music listening, visual art, or soccer. #neuroskyence

Vuust, P et al doi: 10.1038/s41583-022-00578-5. Epub 2022 Mar 29. Music in the brain Review of the cognitive neuroscience literature of music perception. Music perception, action, emotion & learning all rest on the human brain's fundamental capacity for prediction. #neuroskyence

Gaser & Schlaug doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-27-09240.2003. Brain structures differ between musicians and non-musicians Gray matter volume differences in motor, auditory, & visual-spatial brain regions in pro musicians vs matched group of amateur musicians and non-musicians... #neuroskyence

Elbows up, Canada.

💃🧠 Psyched to share my latest paper in Neuron on the past, present and future of dance neuroscience research! Crazy to think where this field will be in 20 more years 🚀 authors.elsevier.com/a/1kkh3_KOmx... #PsychSciSky #neuroskyence #Dance #CognitiveNeuroscience #Neuroaesthetics #BrainScience

Strong, J doi: 10.1080/13825585.2018.1448356. The cognitive functioning of older adult... musicians and non-musicians Adult non-musicians vs low-activity musicians vs and high-activity musicians. Differences found on tasks of visual spatial ability, naming, and executive functioning. #neuroskyence

Särkämö, T et al doi: 10.1093/geront/gnt100. Cognitive, emotional, and social benefits of regular musical activities in early dementia Compared with usual care, both singing & music listening improved mood, orientation, remote episodic memory, also attention & executive function. #neuroskyence

Saarikivi et al 2023 doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhad034. Advantage in executive functions in musically-trained vs not trained children is more pronounced at an earlier age than in late adolescence. But there was more efficient recruitment of neural resources executive tasks after childhood. #neuroskyence

The second, we synthesized 84 studies comparing neuro-structural and -functional differences between musicians and non-musicians in the search of a neural signature of musical expertise. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

For all #musicscience newcomers, two recent meta-analysis @musicinthebrain.bsky.social on MUSIC COGNITION and MUSIC EXPERTISE. First, we synthesised 130 studies and discussed our meta-analytic findings under the light of the predictive coding of music theory www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Omar, R et al Structural neuroanatomy of music emotion recognition [in] frontotemporal degeneration doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.03.002 Impaired recognition of music emotions was associated with grey matter loss in insula, orbito/medial frontal cortex, anterior cingulate & other areas #neuroskyence

Kinra, S & Okasha, M. Unsafe sax: ... impact of too much sax on the mortality of famous jazz musicians. doi:0.1136/bmj.319.7225.1612 Among jazz musicians, playing saxophone is a major health hazard. Playing more than one instrument or being a bandleader has a protective influence. #neuroskyence

Eierun, C et al. doi: 10.1093/psyrad/kkad003. eCollection 2023.Resting-state functional connectivity in lifelong musicians On resting state fMRI, musicians show an increase in average functional network connectivity (FNC) with age while controls show a decrease (P = 0.013). #neuroskyence

Belfi, AM & Tranel, D. doi: 10.1037/neu0000051. Impaired naming of famous musical melodies is associated with left temporal polar damage It was previously shown that damage to the LTP is associated with impaired naming of unique entities (e.g. famous people and landmarks). #neuroskyence

Gasenzer, ER et al. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2016.11.144. The Unforgettable Neurosurgical Operations of Musicians in the Last Century 4 musicians from the twentieth century who underwent neurosurgical interventions: Maurice Ravel, George Gershwin, Clara Haskil, and Pat Martino. #neuroskyence

The curse of neuroanatomy training, Part 3. Natural objects that look like brains. Put together by six neuroscience postgraduate students from Cardiff University. thebraindomain.wordpress.com/2016/12/24/t... #neuroskyence

Demarin, V et al Psychiatr Danub. 2016 Dec;28(4):343-348. Arts, Brain and Cognition Another good short review of this topic. Music is a strong stimulus for neuroplasticity. fMRI studies have shown reorganization of motor and auditory cortex in professional musicians. #neuroskyence

Hyde, K et al doi.org/10.1093/cerc... Functional MRI Evidence of an Abnormal Neural Network in ... Congenital Amusia Auditory cortex of amusia pts responds normally to pitch, but right inferior frontal gyrus showed abnormal deactivation & reduced connectivity with auditory cortex. #neuroskyence

Trimble, M & Hesdorffer, D J doi: 10.1192/s2056474000001720 Music and the brain: the neuroscience of music and musical appreciation An elegantly written brief review with evolutionary insights, and discussion of links between musical creativity and psychopathology. #neuroskyence

Levitin,D & Grafton,S doi: 10.1080/13554794.2016.1216572. Measuring the representational space of music with fMRI: a case study with Sting When Sting composed, and even of imagined melody and rhythm, he activated a similar cluster of brain regions distinct from prose and visual art. #neuroskyence

Kaelen, M et al doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2016.03.018. LSD modulates music-induced imagery... Parahippocampal cortex is linked with music-evoked emotion, psychedelics effects, mental imagery. fMRI showed increased PHC-visual cortex functional connectivity during music listening on LSD. #neuroskyence

The curse of neuroanatomy education, Part 2: On the left is my soapdish. On the right is a CT scan of the lateral ventricles of the brain. As Dr. Jeffrey Browndyke points out, this affliction is technically known as pareidolia. 😀 #neuroskyence

The curse of a neuroanatomy education: Dr. Laura Frakey saw the tree on the right and immediately noted the similarity to brain white matter pathways on the left (shown using DTI imaging). 😀 #neuroskyence

Chia-Wei Li doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2024.10.024. The presence of drum and bass modulates responses...to pop songs. Drum & bass elicited stronger activation in frontal regions associated with mirror properties: R ventral premotor and L dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. #neuroskyence

full text links Trost, W et al 2024 Live music stimulates the affective brain.. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2316306121. Live music stimulated a dense functional neural network with the amygdala as central node influencing other brain systems. Many other interesting findings. #neuroskyence

Belden, A et al 2020 doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116384. Improvising at rest: Differentiating jazz & classical music training with resting state connectivity More tight-knit cortical networks in Classical musicians; more disperse, globally-connected cortical networks in Improvisational musicians.

Schlaffke, L et al 2020 doi: 10.1002/brb3.1490. Boom Chack Boom-A multimethod investigation of motor inhibition in professional drummers Drummers had more efficient cortical motor areas, and stronger link between right-left brain connections and GABA (associated with motor inhibition).

Eierud, C et al 2023 Resting-state functional connectivity in lifelong musicians. doi: 10.1093/psyrad/kkad003. Musicians show increase in average FC with age while controls show a decrease (P = 0.013). Lifelong musicianship may contribute to enhanced brain & cognitive reserve. #neuroskyence

Tanaka, S & Kirino, E The parietal opercular auditory-sensorimotor network in musicians doi.org/10.1016/j.ba... Musicians have enhanced connectivity of the auditory-sensorimotor network. The left parietal operculum connects the auditory, somatosensory, and motor areas. #neuroskyence

Jacoben, J-H 2015 doi: 10.1093/brain/awv135. Why musical memory can be preserved in advanced Alzheimer's disease In AD pts, regions encoding musical memory had minimal cortical atrophy (on MRI), and minimal disruption of metabolism (on PET scan), compared to the rest of the brain. #neuroskyence

Here’s what we’ve learned so far on Neuroscience and Music: 1. Drumming results in plasticity in many brain regions, including cerebellum and cerebral cortex 2. Music therapy can help people with Alzheimer’s, Huntington”s, and autism. See comments for more... #neuroskyence

Bruchhage, MMK et al doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-65877-2. Drum training induces long-term plasticity in the cerebellum and connected cortical thickness After 8 weeks of group drumming instruction, cerebellum significantly changing its grey and white matter microstructure. Cortical changes also found.

Bleibel, M (2023) doi: 10.1186/s13195-023-01214-9. The effect of music therapy on cognitive functions in pts with Alzheimer's: review Compared to control groups, there is an improvement in cognitive functions after music therapy. Greater effect when pts involved in the music making. #neuroskyence

Sesso, G (2020) Safe and sound: Meta-analyzing the Mozart effect on epilepsy. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2020.03.039. 9 meta-analyses showed reductions in seizures and interictal epileptic discharge frequencies after long-term music treatment. #neuroskyence

Aubé, W et al Fear across the senses: brain responses to music, vocalizations and facial expressions doi.org/10.1093/scan... Processing of fear expressed through music engages some of the same brain areas known to be crucial for detecting and evaluating threat-related information. #neuroskyence

Fuentes-Sánchez, N. Imaging Neuroscience (2025) 3: imag_a_00425.On joy and sorrow: Neuroimaging meta-analyses of music-induced emotion. Meta-analysis shows amygdala activation was dependent on hedonic valence, other areas due to general arousal.

Slater, J Eur J Neurosci. 2017 Apr;45(7):952-963. Studies of musicians and non-musicians have revealed enhanced cognitive and sensory processing in musicians. Percussionists outperform non-musicians and vocalists in inhibitory control.