THE INSTITUTE FOR
MUSIC & BRAIN SCIENCE

Radio interviews

npr

"Music Benefits Brain-Injured Patients at Crotched Mountain" aired March 25th, 2008

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dianne Finch reports on the benefits of music therapy in patients with congenital brain disorders and brain injuries at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center.

Commentary:

Donna Chadwick: Music Therapist.

David Kontak, MA, MS, OTR/L: Director of Assistive Technology at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center.

Mark Jude Tramo, MD, PhD: Director, The Institute for Music and Brain Science; Neurologist and neuroscientist, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Mass.; musician

npr

Talk of the Nation on NPR

"Music and the Brain" aired May 9th, 2003

Why do certain melodies stick in your head? And why does hearing "Stairway to Heaven" remind you of your high school dance? Join host Ira Flatow and guests for a discussion about the way music affects your brain.

With guests:

Petr Janata, PhD: Research assistant professor, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.

Mark Jude Tramo, MD, PhD: Director, The Institute for Music and Brain Science; Neurologist and neuroscientist, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Mass.; musician

chicagoradio

"http://www.wbez.org/audio_library/od_rajan03.asp" aired on January 3, 2003 (Scroll to bottom of the page to listen to the full hour program.)


We can all enjoy symmetry in a painting, or harmony in music, but are these preferences innate? Gretchen Helfrich and guests discuss human nature and aesthetic experience.

Listen to shorter segments from the show here:

Audio clip 1            Audio clip 2            Audio clip 3           
Audio clip 4            Audio clip 5


With Guests:
James Conant, PhD: Professor of Philosophy at University of Chicago
Robert Richards, PhD: Professor in the Departments of History, Philosophy, Psychology at University of Chicago; Director, Fishbein Center for the History of Science and Medicine.
Mark Tramo, MD, PhD: Director, The Institute for Music and the Brain; Neurologist and neuroscientist, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Mass.; musician

bostonradio

The Connection
WBUR-Boston 90.9 FM

"Musicology" aired August 17th, 2001 (second hour)

The physics are sensual: a rosined bow purposely glides across a string, easing it into harmonic motion. The vibrating wire sends off a wave that caresses a tympanic membrane. Once the eardrum is stroked, an electrochemical extravaganza ensues. Neurons fire in a symphony of sparks and flashes, endorphins waltz through the bloodstream and pleasure receptors pulse in ecstasy.

Humans are undoubtedly wired for sound, especially music, which can elicit a score of emotions from joy and bliss, to agitation and consternation. Despite music's power and presence in life, the human affinity for melody remains a mystery to the scientific community. We're analyzing the links between Bach, the brain, and behavior, trying to resolve the evolutionary tension between biological necessity and sensory stimulation.

Guests:

  • Mark Jude Tramo, M.D., Ph.D., neuroscientist, musician and songwriter at Harvard Medical School;
  • David Huron, Ph.D., musicologist at Ohio State University; and
  • Robert Zatorre, Ph.D., neuroscientist at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University.

 

pri

Gray Matters
Public Radio International (PRI)

"Music and the Brain" produced by the Dana Institute for Brain Initiatives, aired in 1998

Listen to excerpts from the show below:

Musical Experience After Brain Damage
Music and Emotion
Musical Expectations
Music Therapy
Musicians' vs. Non-Musicians' Brains
Bipolar Disorder
Can Music Make You Smarter?
Williams Syndrome

 

npr

Living on Earth
National Public Radio (NPR)

"Birds and Beethoven", aired July 28, 2000

Radio transcript available at:
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=00-P13-00030&segmentID=4

Other radio interviews:

CBS Radio (National), 1998

KCBS Radio, San Francisco, 1998

WAV-FM Radio, Tokyo Today, Tokyo, Japan, 1998

Glocal Today, ZIP-FM Radio, Nagoya, Japan, 1998

Ideas, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio, 2002

"The Infinite Mind," Music and the Mind, WNYC-FM, NY, 2002