Symposium report: Music & Science: Practice & Convergence—An Organic Symposium.

Abstract

The Music & Science Symposium in Boston on April 12, 2013 was designated to merge new findings in the fields of music neuroscience, music therapy, music cognition, music technology, and music medicine. Experts in these respective fields presented four talks as well as musical performances. Dr. Psyche Loui reported recent findings in music-related neuropsychological research, followed by Dr. Concetta Tomaino, who focused on music therapy and how it can benefit from the neurosciences. Dr. Lisa Wong discussed the relationship of music and medicine as healing arts. After a musical performance with innovative electronic instruments by Dr. Richard Boulanger and colleagues, Dr. Aniruddh Patel gave a keynote lecture on core topics for future music research, with an emphasis on neurobiology. This report provides a summary of the presentations at the symposium as well as implications for the field of music science.Keywords: neuroscience, music therapy, cognition, music technology, reviewSupplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000008.suppThe Music & Science Symposium, held at the Berklee Perfor- mance Center in Boston on April 12, 2013, was aimed at bringing together scientists, music therapists, musicians, educators, and others involved in the study or practice of music to discuss ad- vancements in the respective fields and their implications. About 300 people attended the symposium, which was also transmitted online via live stream. The symposium was organized by Professor Suzanne Hanser, chairperson of the Music Therapy Department of the Berklee College of Music. As Professor Hanser pointed out, "the burgeoning field of cognitive psychoneuroimmunology and the fact that music therapy is an evidence-based practice was the impetus for learning and sharing the latest thinking and research in music and science, notably music cognition, music therapy, music neuroscience, music technology, and music medicine from the world's leaders in these disciplines" (Hanser, personal communi- cation, April 2013). Four key talks were given by Dr. Psyche Loui, Dr. Concetta Tomaino, Dr. Lisa Wong, and Dr. Aniruddh Patel, as well as a musical performance by Dr. Richard Boulanger and colleagues. The audience had the opportunity to post comments and questions on Twitter at #musicscience that were displayed on screen during the symposium. Furthermore, it was possible to communicate with researchers, music therapists, and others around the world who were attending the symposium via live video streaming of the event. The program was accompanied by a musical welcome and farewell by students from the Berklee Col- lege of Music. This report provides a summary of the talks and performances at the symposium as well as implications for the field of music science. Additional information on the symposium such as interviews, article reviews, and relevant links can be found online at http://www.berklee.net/mt/musicscience.html.Dr. Psyche Loui - Towards the Convergence of Music, Brain, and Cognition & EEG-Generated Music PerformanceDr. Loui's talk focused on recent findings regarding the pro- duction and perception of music. She reported findings on persons with congenital amusia, a neuropsychological condition character- ized by the inability to sing in tune and a deficit in pitch discrim- ination: although amusics could not indicate whether the second of two presented tones was higher or lower than the first, they were able to hum the two tones in the correct direction when asked to repeat them (Loui, Guenther, Mathys, & Schlaug, 2008). This result suggests a production-perception mismatch in congenital amusia. Diffusion tensor imaging showed that the arcuate fascic- ulus connecting the superior temporal gyrus and the inferior frontal gyrus (also known as Broca's and Wernicke's Area) was signifi- cantly reduced in persons with congenital amusia (Loui, Alsop, & Schlaug, 2009), indicating that the reason for a production- perception mismatch might be a reduced connectivity between the associated brain areas. …