From Perception to Pleasure: How Music Changes the Brain | Dr. Robert Zatorre | TEDxHECMontréal

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Published 2018-04-12
In 2005 he was named holder of a James McGill chair in Neuroscience. In 2006 he became the founding co-director of the international laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound research (BRAMS), a unique multi-university consortium with state-of-the art facilities dedicated to the cognitive neuroscience of music. In 2011 he was awarded the IPSEN foundation prize in neuronal plasticity, in 2013 he won the Knowles prize in hearing research from Northwestern University, and in 2017 was named a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He lives in Montreal with his wife and collaborator Virginia Penhune, professor of psychology at Concordia University. He tries to keep up his baroque repertoire on the organ whenever he can get a chance.
Dr. Zatorre is a cognitive neuroscientist at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University. His principal interests relate to the neural substrate for auditory cognition, with special emphasis on two complex and characteristically human abilities: speech and music. He and his collaborators have published over 280 scientific papers on a variety of topics including pitch perception, musical imagery, absolute pitch, music and emotion, perception of auditory space, and brain plasticity in the blind and the deaf. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx
All Comments (21)
  • @conservativeneurologyb4999
    Thanks for posting; viewing in 2024. As a neurologist living with Arnold Chiari. and dislocated spina bifida occulta, recognizing the difference of velocity between words and sound waves is another frontier of neuroscience.
  • @whiteshadow59
    Ted talks has 17 million subscribers why is it then that only 2.2k have watched this video?
  • @AllenBarclayAllen
    Don't know if our moterator here reads these comments, but with the Casio lighted key piano we turned my Grandaughter dislexic into a 4.2 grade avrage on the mentor program..! God and I, we..!
  • @MrJohnnyOwl
    I came up with similar conclusions in 2005, but I'm no neuroscientist, just a musician. In my formula, I posited that the degree of enjoyment of a piece of music is directly proportional to the ?! factor and inversely proportional to the "age/I've already heard" factor. The ?! notation is chronological: first, the ? (question mark) - that strange sensation when you listen to a piece of music for the first time. Objective and not "good" or "bad" per se - just a sensation of strangeness: the landmark of a diverse piece of music, which has the power to evolve into good or bad feelings. Then, the ! (exclamation mark) part, subjective - here one could experience somatic sensations like thrills down the spine, cold sweat, even a lump in the throat. Here is where your emotions let you determine whether you like a piece of music, or not. I think this parallels the findings presented here, with the interaction between the two systems, the first which allows to analyze sound patterns and make predictions, and the second which evaluates the outcomes of these predictions and generates positive (or negative) emotions depending on expectations. As I said, I can also add to these findings since I don't see the effect of the "I've already heard" factor here. It is my experience that when you're familiar with a piece of music there's no longer a place for predictions. That's why I wrote from the start that the ?! factor is inversely proportional to the amount of music that someone has already experienced. This is just a very synthetic recount of the full theory which was posted on a music forum many years ago and spans multiple pages. I got a lot of vitriol for presenting my "theory" back then, probably because it was too long-winded and not suited to the medium it was created for. I am glad that this is being partly validated by a neuroscientist now. Better late than never, I guess.
  • @iamwe7035
    12:40 T.E.D ( the producer) Wow that song takes me back to the 2010’s. Surprised he used that intro. Groovy.
  • @Chysp010-sd7nt
    Violin video: great training aid for bow control in practice!
  • @t.l.4652
    I'd love to know how music affects deaf people, because they do still enjoy music.
  • @cobraglatiator
    as for the money for music part of the vid, personally i liked the middle bit best.
  • @goldcoastjon
    What are the neurological benefits of MAKING music (instrumental or choral), either solo or together, in connecting the parts of the brain, deriving pleasure, neurological development, etc.? How are the benefits of passive listening to music and making instrumental or choral music different? I would bet that MAKING music offers more benefits than just listening to it...
  • @emelle9705
    In Schoenberg’s discovery of Atonal 12, there was more than just a preferential shift in the appeal of music, there was a tectonic shift in the understanding of what music does to the brain. The Stanford Research Institute in conjunction with Tavistock UK explored what these presentations of musical structure do to the brain. Look into it.
  • @NormanPrather
    I have questions. Will any physical activity which requires precision and intense practice will have a similar impact on the brain? What about people who are specific musical anhedonic?
  • @jacquelinehoward1734
    This is great!! What is the name of the piece by Bartok that you played at the beginning? I love it, Bartok helped me to understand so much when I studied music in college.
  • @ageeblue752
    Please someone, what is the NAME of that first song played by Béla Bartók, please!? THANKS!!!!
  • @Reino_X
    I went here after listening to Bach's cantata BWV 140
  • @cyprianoamadeo6830
    Anyone know the source of the songs starting from 12:17? They sound so banger and I want to hear the full version