A Neuro-Ethnomusicology of Aging: Exploring Rhythm Perception and Brain Health Between Disciplines University of Florida, 2023 - 305 pages Several ethnomusicologists brought attention to the issues of cross-disciplinary language translation and integration throughout the late-20th and beginning of the 21st-centuries. However, developing support for their arguments is an ongoing process. This research contributes to discourses in ethnomusicology and anthropology addressing empiricism and reductionism. This research also contributes to discourses in neuropsychology and gerontology considering the value of ethnography and qualitative methods as contributors to meaning making from quantitative results. This research builds upon prior work at the intersections of ethnomusicology, neuropsychology, and gerontology, creating a neuro-ethnomusicology of aging. This research focused on relationships between rhythm perception, learning and performance, and cognition in the lives of healthy aging adults. The following three phases occurred: 1) surveys of audience member's experiences listening to live percussion, and symphonic orchestral-based music within a concert hall context; 2) an autoethnography of my experiences in the contexts of this research, including semi-structured interviews of individuals involved with the design and execution of this dissertation; 3a) cognitive assessment and acquisition success of learning and performing rhythms; and 3b) measurement of neurobehavioral correlates of rhythm and timing perception in the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging. I intend for neuro-ethnomusicology to |
