Colloquium: Music, the Brain, and Enjoyment

John Iversen (SCCN/UCSD) - Rhythms in music and the brain

Valorie Salimpoor - Musical "chills" and other pleasures: How sounds gain reward value in the brain
Music is merely a sequence of sounds, each of which contain no independent reward value, but when arranged into a sequence they are perceived as intensely pleasurable in the brain. How does a transient and fleeting sequence of sounds bring us to tears or strong physiological reactions like chills? Although music has no clear survival value, it has been a fundamental part of humanity, existing as far back as history dates (prehistoric era) and has developed spontaneously in every recorded culture. In this talk we explore how sophisticated cognitive functions integrate to give rise to musical pleasure and why you cannot find two people in the world with the exact same taste in music.