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Music and the Brain

By: Aniruddh D. Patel, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Aniruddh D. Patel
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Publisher's Summary

Music is an integral part of humanity. Every culture has music, from the largest society to the smallest tribe. Its marvelous range of melodies, themes, and rhythms taps in to something universal. Babies are soothed by it. Young adults dance for hours to it. Older adults can relive their youth with the vivid memories it evokes. Music is part of our most important rituals, and it has been the medium of some of our greatest works of art.

Yet even though music is intimately woven into the fabric of our lives, it remains deeply puzzling, provoking questions such as: How and why did musical behavior originate? What gives mere tones such a powerful effect on our emotions? Are we born with our sense of music, or do we acquire it?

In the last 20 years, researchers have come closer to solving these riddles thanks to cognitive neuroscience, which integrates the study of human mental processes with the study of the brain. This exciting field has not only helped us address age-old questions about music; it also allows us to ask new ones, like: Do the brains of musicians differ from nonmusicians? Can musical training promote cognitive development? Is there a deep connection between music and language?

Join neuroscientist and professor of psychology Dr. Aniruddh Patel to probe one of the mind's most profound mysteries. Covering the latest research findings - from the origins of music's emotional powers to the deficits involved in amusia, or the inability to hear music - these 18 enthralling lectures will make you think about music and your brain in a new way.

Designed for music lovers and brain enthusiasts at all levels, Music and the Brain is truly interdisciplinary and assumes no prior background in neuroscience or music theory. Here is your unrivaled explanation of this marvelous gift.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2015 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2015 The Great Courses

What listeners say about Music and the Brain

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Epiphany course

This clear, we'll sign-posted series of lectures explores why music and its practice is so important in human experience.
Theories behind its evolution are examined, practical applications in brain research explained and illustrated, and implications for the place of music, it study and practice presented.

It is a relevant, exciting and contemporary course.

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3 people found this helpful

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Interesting, Informative & free of jargon -however

This is an interesting, informative book and thankfully without jargon - the author reads it well and so it is also easy to listen to.

However, it was rather frustrating to see that this is a missed opportunity to include music outside the western classical music. I've just recently listened to The Practice of Practice by Johnathan Harnum and it was brilliant in including all kinds of musicians and all kinds of music in that book. Therefore, I do think the bar has been raised and it is disappointing that while the author talks about 'musicality' at the start of the book (and that is one the BIG reasons why music is so fascinating for us) but he doesn't really elaborate on those research and examples that are more universal.

Other than that, it was an enjoyable book and easy to listen and understand.

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1 person found this helpful

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Boring

As another reviewer stated, this is more a course on evolution than it is on music and the brain.

The delivery was full of mistakes (misread and mispronounced words) and the narrator kept moving closer and further away from the mic. Hearing the differences in background reverb as he moved around was more interesting than the actual content that was being spoken.

Wouldn’t recommend.

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