I now have something else to thank my parents for–all those years of piano lessons they forced me to take. New research published in Neuropsychology shows that kids who take music lessons get a brain boost that lasts even into old age. Researchers looked at a group of older adults between ages 60 and 83, [...]
Tags: music, music and the brain, research studies
Posted April 20, 2011 by Karen Merzenich under Brain plasticity, Memory, Research studies
Ed. note: This week, in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, we’re featuring a 5-part series about the neuroscience of love and romance. At the end, we’ll put the full series on our website. Enjoy! Does all this romantic mumbo-jumbo make you feel a little queasy? I have good news: a recent study showed that listening [...]
Tags: brain, dopamine, junk food, love, MRI, music
Posted February 11, 2011 by Karen Merzenich under Neuroscience, Research studies
Sometimes I wonder how anyone living hundreds of years ago survived into adulthood. My daughter wouldn’t have–she has had a couple of terrible illnesses that in an earlier era would have been untreatable. It wouldn’t take much: things as simple as an ear infection, a deep cut, or even being very near-sighted would have been [...]
Tags: brain function, depression, epilepsy, Frederic Chopin, mental illness, music
Posted January 26, 2011 by Marghi Merzenich under Neuroscience, Research studies
Studying and actively listening to music develops the brain in ways that help beyond just enjoying music.
Tags: music, music therapy, musicophilia, plasticity
Posted August 18, 2010 by Steven Aldrich under Brain exercise, Evolution of the Brain, Research studies
Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale in this video clip. But how does it work?
Tags: Bobby McFerrin, brain, culture, music, pentatonic scale
Posted April 27, 2010 by Karen Merzenich under Neuroscience, Odds and Ends
When used properly, music can be an incredibly powerful treatment tool. Music therapist Kimberly Sena Moore shares the top 12 brain-based reasons why music works in therapy.
Tags: music, music therapy, therapy, treat
Posted April 22, 2010 by Kimberly Sena Moore under Neuroscience, Odds and Ends
A jazz concert reminds us of the importance of moving beyond our comfort zone in order to learn
Tags: brain speed, improvisation, jazz, music
Posted April 2, 2010 by Steven Aldrich under Brain exercise, Odds and Ends
Is there really anything more interesting to talk about than music? Personally, I can’t think of anything else I would rather occupy my thoughts and conversations with. That’s probably because for me, music connects to everything worth caring about in the first place: culture, technology, and language. Mark Richardson, one of my favorite modern writers [...]
Tags: brain fitness, brain injury, music, therapy, treatment
Posted March 31, 2010 by Cyrus Hedayati under Brain exercise, Brain plasticity, Neuroscience, Research studies
As someone with a deep interest in music, I’ve often wondered about that age-old question: where does music come from? It’s become a cliché for musicians to wax philosophical about how their creative impulses come from “deep within” or that improvisation is a way of expressing their “true self”, but good luck getting anything more [...]
Tags: Charles Limb, creativity, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, improvisation, jazz, Johns Hopkins, medial prefrontal cortex, MRI, music
Posted March 1, 2010 by Cyrus Hedayati under Brain exercise, Neuroscience, Odds and Ends, Research studies
Posit Science's corporate blog is the place where our employees share their thoughts about Posit Science and its products, brain fitness, breakthroughs in neuroscience, and any other topic they find interesting and relevant. 
