The
Music Cognition Lab studies the many ways music can impact our thoughts, from the spontaneous retrieval of memories to images, movement, and more. Itamar was part of a
fascinating project that investigated the stories we can imagine when listening to music.
One of the stunning outcomes of Itamar’s research involved shared narratives- aka stories- imagined while listening to music. It turns out that music can function like words, creating movie-like scenes in our minds strikingly similar to what other listeners experience. Music is another way of sharing one’s thoughts with others- I suppose that’s a rather obvious statement when you consider the motivation behind music-making: self-expression.
Itamar’s work emphasizes the importance of giving space for deeper experience. If we are always rushing from one thing to the next, we miss out on subtle but beautiful layers of experience. Maybe one way to start is taking a quiet moment to listen to one of your favorite songs. Close your eyes and listen. See what pops up in your mind.
In addition to a fun exploration of our imaginative capacity, this episode is a deep dive into neuroscience and how the brain processes information. If you're interested in learning more about some foundational neuroscience concepts, including neural patterns and association cortices, this is a great episode for you!
