Cozmic Pizza

People sometimes talk of being "moved" when listening to a piece of music, or about "traveling" up and down the scale when hearing a sequence of notes. Do these experiences have some real relationship to physical motion and how is it connected to the feelings we have when we listen to music? This Science Pub will explore recent research in cognitive science using music analyses, psychological experiments, and computer modeling to show how physical motion relates to what we experience when we hear music, as well as the important role metaphor plays in creating musical meaning out of our sense of motion. Come see for yourself how music moves you, complete with live musical examples drawn from a variety of styles.

Steve Larson, PhD, is the Robert M. Trotter Professor of Music and a member of the Institute of Cognitive and Decision Sciences at the University of Oregon, where he teaches courses in music theory. He also serves as visiting faculty researcher at the Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition (the artificial-intelligence lab of Douglas Hofstadter) at Indiana University. He is a jazz pianist, performing solo and with the group BLUE SONJA. A few of his recordings can be found at his website.

How much of our brain development is determined by our experiences, and how much is hardwired into our physiology? By studying an array of people, including deaf and blind individuals, researchers at the Brain Development Lab at the University of Oregon have begun to understand the changeability (i.e., neuroplasticity) of the human brain. Some neural systems appear strongly determined?experience doesn't alter them at all. Others are highly affected by experience, and a third neural system is capable of change throughout life. Come find out about current research on brain function, including intervention studies with 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers that hope to unravel the learning processes of developing children.

Helen J. Neville, PhD, is the Robert and Beverly Lewis Endowed Chair and professor of psychology and neuroscience, director of the Brain Development Lab, and director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oregon. Her major research interests are the role of biology and experience in neurosensory and neurocognitive development in humans. She has written several books and her work has been widely published in journals, including Nature and Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.