We all know the importance of music and its use to train and enhance our emotions, for example. But why does music do that? How does music do that?
This aspect of music research may not have been on the minds of musical leaders when the Faculty of Music was established 100 years ago, but it is now. We believe music and health interdisciplinary research will have great significance for the future of music in the next 100 years.
Originally led by Professor Lee Bartel, the Music and Health Research Collaboratory was established in 2012. It is now led by Professor Michael Thaut who in 2017 was a named a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Music, Neuroscience and Health.
What research is happening now?
Professor Thaut is leading research on Alzheimer’s and music. Read about it in this November 7 CBC article, “Familiar music could give Alzheimer’s patients a cognitive boost, study suggests”.
Faculty members like Professor Daphne Tan (photo above) research historical and present-day intersections of music theory, philosophy, and psychology. Join us on Tuesday, November 20 at 3:15 pm in EJB room 215 for her lecture as part of the MaHRC Colloquium Series, “Expressing and Perceiving Emotion: Perspectives from Music Cognition”.