A science journalist, two eminent neuroscientists, and four talented musicians walk onto a stage. No, this is not the beginning of a joke—it’s the beginning of an engaging event that took place in Montreal last October. The event, titled Your Brain on Music, was the result of a collaboration between the Montreal Neurological Institute and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM). Around 200 members of the public gathered in the beautiful concert hall of the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal in order to experience a unique blend of scientific presentations, musical performances, and open discussion.
From left to right: Olivier Thouin (violinist), Ariane Lajoie (violinist), Sofia Gentile (violist), Sylvain Murray (cellist), Robert Zatorre (neuroscientist), Simone Dalla Bella (neuroscientist), and Michel Rochon (science journalist).
The evening was hosted by Michel Rochon, science journalist and author of two books on music and the brain (Le cerveau et la musique and La musique qui défie la science). Mr. Rochon’s long-standing passion for neuroscience and music was evident in the way that he energetically guided the audience through the different portions of the event. He was joined by two equally passionate experts: cognitive neuroscientists Dr. Robert Zatorre from McGill University and Dr. Simone Dalla Bella from the University of Montreal.
After an introduction from Mr. Rochon, Dr. Zatorre gave a presentation about the research that he has conducted over the past few decades. He and his lab members have found creative ways to study the brain during music perception and production; for instance, they have developed the only cello in the world that is compatible with a magnetic resonance imaging machine, enabling them to record real-time brain activation while a musician plays the (futuristic-looking) instrument. Dr. Zatorre showed how listening to music creates feelings of pleasure, as well as how musical training shapes the brain in a number of ways. As one example, musicians tend to have thicker cortices than non-musicians in various auditory, motor, and frontal areas of the brain. At one point, he explained that some effects of musical training on the brain are most pronounced if training begins before age 7—he elicited a laugh from the audience as he admitted that he did not receive any musical training until after that age, which is why he is now a scientist and not on stage with the OSM musicians. His presentation was as charming as it was scientifically rigorous.
Cello compatible with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Source: https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.1721414115
Next, Dr. Dalla Bella provided an overview of his extensive work on rhythm perception and on the use of rhythm as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool in clinical contexts. He explained that there isn’t a single “rhythm area” in the brain; instead, rhythm is processed by widespread and complex brain networks that include regions of the cortex, the cerebellum, and deeper brain areas such as the basal ganglia. Interestingly, these rhythm processing networks show a lot of overlap with the brain networks involved in movement. Dr. Dalla Bella then elaborated upon the strong link between rhythm and movement. This link has been harnessed by humans for millennia to create dance; and researchers have now realized that it can be harnessed to help those with movement disorders. Dr. Dalla Bella showed the audience two videos of the same person with Parkinson’s disease walking around a room. In one video, the person is walking without listening to anything, and his strides are small, slow, and effortful. In the other video, the person is walking while listening to rhythmic music. With the help of music, his strides are strikingly longer, faster, and more natural-looking. This impressive demonstration of music’s power was just one of the examples that kept the audience rapt during Dr. Dalla Bella’s presentation.
Throughout both presentations, a quartet of musicians from the OSM played excerpts of pieces by Schubert, Vivaldi, and Beethoven. The musical excerpts were chosen to illustrate and complement the scientific concepts under discussion—the precision of movement required to play an instrument, the emotion elicited by music, the strong rhythmic nature of certain musical passages…this clever pairing of artistic performances with scientific information provided everyone with a fresh perspective both on the music and the science being presented. Indeed, as I listened to the musicians play, I felt a new appreciation for the complex neural activity and the blend of skills (pitch, rhythm, movement, group coordination, and more) that underlie such beautifully executed music.
Following the presentations, Mr. Rochon moderated a lively discussion between the neuroscientists, the musicians, and the audience. During this more informal portion of the evening, the neuroscientists elaborated on some of their findings—for example, the whole brain is implicated in processing music, but the right hemisphere plays a particularly important role in certain musical abilities such as the perception of pitch. The musicians also shared their personal experiences, including the importance of playing their instrument to help them get through challenging times. Mr. Rochon concluded the event after just over two hours, but it was clear that everyone was engaged and that the discussion could have continued well into the evening.
Overall, the event was a stimulating and refreshing dive into the art-science of music, bringing together top figures from Montreal’s neuroscience and music scenes. I appreciated the fact that it involved an element of open exchange with the public, that it was free to attend, and that it was geared towards a general audience. These elements made the event accessible, hopefully broadening the number of people curious about art-science and interdisciplinary work. I would be really interested to see more of this type of collaboration in the future—and judging by how packed the concert hall was that night, I’m not the only one!
Musicians from the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) onstage as Dr. Robert Zatorre presents his research on music and the brain.
Interested in learning more about music and the brain? You can listen to a recording of the whole event here (note that it took place in French). You can also read Mr. Rochon’s books, which are available for purchase online and in stores. Finally, Dr. Zatorre has recently released a new book entitled From Perception to Pleasure: The Neuroscience of Music and Why We Love It, in which he provides an in-depth discussion of music’s emotional impacts as they relate to brain activity.
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