daniel levitin this is your brain on music

SHAPIRO: The scientists expected very different neurons to fire in the musician's brain. (SOUNDBITE OF UNIDENTIFIED ASTOR PIAZZOLLA SONG) THE BEATLES: (Singing) Is there anybody going to listen to my story all about the girl who came to stay?ĬORNISH: And this tango by Astor Piazzolla. SHAPIRO: Levitin also tested Sting's brain on two songs that seemed dissimilar, like this Beatles song. They both have the same tempo of 132 beats per minute. LEVITIN: I don't think of those two songs as being particularly similar, but his brain did.ĬORNISH: What Sting reacted to was what most people would not. STING: (Singing) Oh, you'll never see my shade or hear the sound of my feet while there's a moon over Bourbon Street.ĬORNISH: And there were others, like 'Green Onions' by Booker T. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, 'MOON OVER BOURBON STREET') Among the tunes was one of Sting's own songs, 'Moon Over Bourbon Street.' So he used functional magnetic resonance imaging to record Sting's brain activity while Sting listened to music. SHAPIRO: Levitin tries to understand how the brain is organized, especially the musical brain. LEVITIN: I asked if he might want to have his brain scanned at the same time, and he said sure. And after Sting read Levitin's book, he got a tour in the neuroscientist's lab.

Of course, he's a longtime solo performer. He is author of 'A Field Guide To Lies.' And in 2006, he published the book 'This Is Your Brain On Music.' About a year after it came out, Levitin got a visit in his lab from one of the book's fans.ĬORNISH: Yes, Sting - English-born principal songwriter, singer and bassist for the band Police.

SHAPIRO: Levitin teaches at McGill University in Montreal. Here's someone who knows about the topic - Daniel Levitin, cognitive neuroscientist.ĭANIEL LEVITIN: I scan brains for a living.

This next story is about what goes on inside the brain of a rock star. 'Music seems to have an almost wilful, evasive quality, defying simple explanation, so that the more we find out, the more there is to know. In This Is Your Brain On Music Levitin offers nothing less than a new way to understand music, and what it can teach us about ourselves. Music is an obsession at the heart of human nature, even more fundamental to our species than language.įrom Mozart to the Beatles, neuroscientist, psychologist and internationally-bestselling author Daniel Levitin reveals the role of music in human evolution, shows how our musical preferences begin to form even before we are born and explains why music can offer such an emotional experience. 'What do the music of Bach, Depeche Mode and John Cage fundamentally have in common?' From the author of The Changing Mind and The Organized Mind comes The New York Times bestseller which unravels the mystery of our perennial love affair with music

Daniel levitin this is your brain on music