The Neuroscience of Music

In-person lecture-style day event

This day school looks at recent advances in neuroscience that allow us to investigate the cognitive and neural mechanisms that underpin musical perception, creation, performance, and reward.

The first session will look at basic brain anatomy and key neural pathways involved in complex auditory processing. We will explore how the brain decodes elements such as pitch, rhythm, and harmony, and look at the role of the key brain systems in shaping music perception and cognition.
 
The second session look closely at the neural substrates of music expectancy, the cognitive process by which the brain continuously anticipates upcoming notes, rhythms, and chord progressions. We will show how these processes strongly recruit the brain’s affective and reward systems, how they are shaped by both musical structure and listening experience, and how they play a key role in how listeners extract emotion and meaning from music.

Session 3 will switch gears to examine what neuroscience methods are revealing about the nature of musical performance and expertise. Here we will explore the multiple neural systems that interact to coordinate solo and group musical performances of varying degrees of virtuosity. We will also consider the role of neuroplasticity in the development of expertise, showing how repeated practice strengthens neural pathways and supports the development of musical skill, precision, and automaticity.

Session 4 will show how the neuroscience of music is rapidly expanding to provide a deeper understanding of how we create and experience music. We will examine current frontiers in the field, including the neural basis of aesthetic emotions, musical imagery and creativity, as well as the challenges and opportunities of studying music in real-world contexts, and identify some key questions that the neuroscience of music will increasingly face; this, given new and emerging technologies that influence how music is composed, delivered and experienced.

Please note: this event will close to enrolments at 23:59 GMT on 3 February 2027.