 "Photo: Victoria Peng '11")
Where do you conduct your research and what
kind of research do you do?
I research with a team, the Institute for Music and
Brain Science, at MGH and at MIT. Our lab research
involves understanding how the brain perceives music,
so localizing which area the brain processes music.
One way we study this is through observing the
behavioral deficits in patients with brain lesions. We
also conduct infant studies to explore which aspects
of music are innate versus environmentally acquired.
How long have you been on this research team and
how did you become a part of it?
I’ve been with this team for a year now. I got involved
with the Institute for Music and Brain Science after
attending a guest lecture by Dr. Mark Tramo, Harvard
professor and neurologist at MGH, for my Neuro 200
class.
What do you think is most interesting between music
and the human brain?
An interesting question that I find myself often thinking
about is whether our perception of pleasant and
unpleasant sounds a product of something neurologically
ingrained or acquired through exposure to music
in our Western culture at an early age. Music, like
language, is a universal aspect of culture. So from
a neurological perspective, what phenomena occur in
the brain to result in the creation of different tonal systems
within different regions of the world?
Have you made any interesting discoveries?
When babies are born, they get blood drawn from the
heel. This procedure causes their heart rates to rise
significantly, which results in stress. Currently, there
are no procedures to help babies cope with the stress
and pain. We discovered that playing lullabies with
a woman’s voice brings their heart rates down. So
the connection here is that the brain processes these
sounds and translates them into calming effects. After
confirming these results, we were prepared to test the
innateness hypothesis.
How does this research help the world?
Every scientist aspires to understand how the brain
works. It’s not the same as finding a cure for cancer
or Alzheimer’s, but it progresses the world’s understanding
of how the brain works and tells the story of
how people have evolved into how we are today. So
understanding a little bit more about ourselves.
How did you first get interested in this field?
I’ve always been a performing artist. From solo violin
performances to singing with the Widows, I have
always had a deep interest in music. Once I went to
listen to a live symphony orchestra, and I heard the
music on CD before, but listening live was such a different
emotional experience for me, that I wanted to
find out why our brains give off such different behavioral
responses to music.
Be the first to comment on this article!