Music, Cognition, and the Brain
Western University’s Music, Cognition, and the Brain Research Group involves faculty members, postdoctoral scholars, and students from the Don Wright Faculty of Music, the Western Centre for Brain and Mind, and the National Centre for Audiology. We host regular workshops, conduct collaborative research on music, and support distinctive opportunities for cross-disciplinary training, including Western’s Collaborative Specialization in Music Cognition.
Faculty Members
Blake Butler - Psychology, Western Centre for Brain and Mind
Jonathan De Souza - Music Theory, Don Wright Faculty of Music
Jessica Grahn - Psychology, Western Centre for Brain and Mind
Ingrid Johnsrude - Psychology & Audiology, Western Centre for Brain and Mind, National Centre for Audiology
Ewan Macpherson - National Centre for Audiology
Kevin Watson - Music Education, Don Wright Faculty of Music
History
This initiative was spearheaded by Katie Overy, Director of the Institute for Music in Human and Social Development (IMHSD) at the University of Edinburgh, who was a Visiting Professor of Music Education at Western from 2014 to 2015. Initial meetings and conversations with faculty members across the Western campus revealed shared interests in the topic of musical expertise and the brain, and support for interdisciplinary research collaborations and graduate dissertations. With funding from Research Western, the Don Wright Faculty of Music, and a SSHRC Connection Grant, our first interdisciplinary research retreat was held in October 2014, followed by further retreats, interdisciplinary pilot studies, and a public symposium. From 2017–2020, the initiative was supported by a Western University Interdisciplinary Development Initiative grant.
Contact
If you are interested in collaborating, supervising, volunteering, or other research opportunities, please contact Jonathan De Souza at jdesou22@uwo.ca.
