"This is Your Brain on Music"
Recently, we've been seeing a lot of information about how music affects the brain. Although this is not a new topic, there are some fresh discoveries that help provide a better understanding of the powerful effect of music and creativity on brain function. Here are a few of the latest stories:
David Byrne: How Do Our Brains Process Music?David Byrne's recent book, "How Music Works," is a fas-cinating look at music and creativity from many perspectives: historic, anthropologic, and even the physics and business of music. This article is an excerpt from this much-praised book.
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Can Singing, Dancing and Drumming Improve Pain Thresholds?
Photo: Flickr/Ibrahim Lujaz
A recent study at the University of Oxford found that people who have just been playing music have a higher tolerance for pain—an indication their bodies are producing endorphins, which are sometimes referred to as natural opiates. Here's what they found.
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Inside Rappers' Brains: The Roots of ImprovisationPhoto: Flickr/Eugene Solomonik
Some rappers have an impressive ability to make up lyrics on the fly, in a style known as freestyle rap.
A new study has found that these performers have a lot in common with jazz musicians. Scientists learned that artists in both genres are using their brains in similar ways when they improvise. Here's why. |
The Bimusical BrainPhoto: Flickr/Sourav Das
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To read more about how music affects the brain, check out these books:
All Ears! An Underwater Sculpture that ListensSince 2009, sculptor, diver and photographer Jason deCaires Taylor has submerged nearly 500 statues underwater off the coast of Cancún, Mexico - creating a sunken sculpture park that is “one of the largest and most ambitious underwater artificial art attractions in the world."
But this project is not just about art: the statues also play a role in helping the marine ecosystem. Taylor's intent was, in part, to help reduce the number of visitors to the fragile coral reefs nearby, and also provide a solid structure for reef building. Read more about this fascinating project, and what's been learned since it began. |
From Smithsonian Magazine:
About "The Listener": “The Listener” is a life-sized human figure covered in ears. Taylor invited a group of schoolchildren, ages eight to 12, from Cancún to his studio for a workshop. He taught them how to make casts of people, and, in turn, the students volunteered to have models made of their ears. For two years on and off, Taylor worked on “The Listener.” In late May 2012, the sculpture was deployed in water about 13 feet deep at the museum site at Punta Nizuc. Inside, an ecological acoustic recorder was installed, which records 30-second clips every 15 minutes. " In this way, scientists can hear the development of a new coral reef - which has never been done before. |
Georgia O'Keefe's HawaiiA few months ago, we looked at travel writer Paul Theroux's "Quest to Define Hawaii." This month, we see how Georgia O'Keefe, one of America's most famous painters, created her own vision of Hawaii.
In 1939, in an era when advertisers often hired fine artists to add a touch of class to their campaigns, O'Keefe, the “least commercial artist in the U.S.” (as Time Magazine once described her) was persuaded by the Dole pineapple company to visit the remote Pacific archipelago and produce two canvases. The project resulted in beautiful lush paintings of Hawaii that were a stark contrast to her more familiar depictions of the arid Southwest desert. |
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Film: "Otelo Burning"This South African coming-of-age film tells the story of a group of township kids who discover the joy of surfing. It's set in 1989, against a backdrop of brewing conflict between two political groups in Lamontville.
When 16-year-old Otelo Buthelezi takes to the water for the first time, it's clear that he was born to surf. But then tragedy strikes. On the day that Nelson Mandela is released from prison, Otelo is forced to choose between surfing success and justice. For more info, see the film website, and this short New York Times review. (A NY TImes critic's pick) |