This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Daniel LEVITIN

Penguin, 2006 - Psychology - 314 pages

A fascinating exploration of the relationship between music and the mind ;and the role of melodies in shaping our lives Whether you load your iPod with Bach or Bono, music has a significant role in your life ;even if you never realized it. Why does music evoke such powerful moods? The answers are at last be- coming clear, thanks to revolutionary neuroscience and the emerging field of evolutionary psychology. Both a cutting-edge study and a tribute to the beauty of music itself, This Is Your Brain on Musicunravels a host of mysteries that affect everything from pop culture to our understanding of human nature, including: " Are our musical preferences shaped in utero? " Is there a cutoff point for acquiring new tastes in music? " What do PET scans and MRIs reveal about the brain's response to music? " Is musical pleasure different from other kinds of pleasure? This Is Your Brain on Musicexplores cultures in which singing is considered an essential human function, patients who have a rare disorder that prevents them from making sense of music, and scientists studying why two people may not have the same definition of pitch. At every turn, this provocative work unlocks deep secrets about how nature and nurture forge a uniquely human obsession. BACKCOVER: ;I know Dan to have a deep musical knowledge and strong intellect combined with a warm spirit and a big heart. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music . . . He is a fine writer and has the ability to make difficult concepts very clear. ; ;STEVIE WONDER

What people are saying

Review: This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

User Review  - Kelli - Goodreads

I read the title of this book when reading a wiki article about the guy who wrote, "Don't Worry, Be Happy". It was amazing that our library actually had this book in the building - I think that's only ...

Review: This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

User Review  - Loring Wirbel - Goodreads

Two friends called this book the perfect companion to David Byrne's "How Music Works," and I heartily agree. Where Byrne covers issues of cultural cues and personal responses to music in a broad sense ...

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• Foot Tapping: 55
• Behind the Curtain: 81
• Anticipation: 109
• You Know My Name Look Up the Number: 129
• After Dessert Crick Was Still Four Seats Away from: 165
• What Makes a Musician?: 189
• My Favorite Things: 217
• The Music Instinct: 241
• Appendices: 263
• Acknowledgments: 301

Popular passages

Page 273 - If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?‎

About the author

Daniel J. Levitin runs the Levitin Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition, and Expertise at McGill University, where he holds the Bell Chair in the Psychology of Electronic Communications. Before becoming a neuroscientist, he was a record producer with gold records to his credit and professional musician. He has published extensively in scientific journals and music trade magazines such as Grammy and Billboard.

Bibliographic information

• Title: This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
• Author: Daniel LEVITIN
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Penguin, 2006
• ISBN: 0525949690, 9780525949695
• Length: 314 pages
• Subjects: Music / General; Psychology / Neuropsychology