Harvard College
Fall Term, 2008-2009 Academic Year
 September 15 – December 16, 2008

Mind/Brain/Behavior 91: Music & The Brain
Wednesdays 6:30 – 9:30 PM
William James Hall, 13th Floor, Room 1305
No Sections

Syllabus
Last Updated September 21, 2008 

Faculty
Mark Jude Tramo, MD, PhD
Director, The Institute for Music & Brain Science
Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts General Hospital
Steering Committee, Harvard University Mind/Brain/Behavior Interfaculty Initiative
Board of Honors Tutors, Department of Psychology, Harvard University
Teaching Affiliate, Department of Biology, Harvard University
Research Affiliate, Research Laboratory of Electornics, M.I.T.
Songwriter Member, ASCAP
MTramo@HMS.Harvard.edu    
www.BrainMusic.org
Office hours by appointment, The Institute for Music & Brain Science, 175 Cambridge St, Suite 340, Room 382, Boston

Course Description
MBB 91: Music & The Brain, now in its 12th year in the FAS courses of instruction (formerly Psychology 987b), takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding neural systems governing music perception, performance, and cognition. The course begins with a series of lectures by Professor Tramo that provides students with diverse backgrounds a common fund of knowledge in functional neuroanatomy, auditory neurophysiology, psychoacoustics, cognitive psychology, and music.  Thereafter, individual seminars focus on specific themes, such as pitch perception, harmony perception, emotion and meaning in music, development, and creativity.  Seminars are designed to help students: 1) understand methodologies currently used to investigate physical-perceptual-neural correlates; 2) cultivate analytical skills through critical appraisals of "primary-source" experimental literature published in peer-reviewed science, medical, music, and education journals; and 3) develop oral presentation skills in a supervised setting.  Semi-weekly reading and homework problem sets from the required text, Rossing's Science of Sound, solidify working knowledge of basic concepts (e.g., resonance, decibels, scales) needed for the advanced readings that are the springboard for each seminar’s provocative discussions of neuroscientific data collection and analysis methods, results, interpretation, and corroboration. By the end of the course, students will have both a broad understanding of empirical research in cognitive neuroscience and specific knowledge about brain mechanisms mediating music perception and performance.

Prerequisites
Secondary school mathematics and physics. No music background necessary.  If you are not familiar with the vocabulary of music, get the Harvard Dictionary of Music, which is listed below under Recommended Books and is available at the Coop and Harvard University Press bookstore on Massachusetts Avenue, the Music Library, and on-line. 

Books The Harvard Coop under-ordered The Science of Sound, the only required book in this course. I checked before our first class and there were only six copies available; they only ordered 12 despite my request months ago for 20. Therefore, ordering the 2001 edition of Science of Sound overnight via Amazon is highly recommended. One of our guest professors, Dr. Aaron Berkowitz, is connected with a charitable organization and would be glad to help – please email mtramo@hms.harvard.edu if you'd like to take advantage of this. Only2-3 copies of each recommended book were ordered.
Required Book & Journal Reading
The Science of Sound, Rossing, Moore, and Wheeler, 2001
Weekly Articles from Professional Journals posted at www.BrainMusic.org ->
Go to the Education link -> Institute’s eLibrary -> download the assigned pdf. I will try to have as many of the assigned professional journal articles posted on the syllabus webpage on www.brainmusic.org as possible by the end of the day on Monday Sept. 22, 2008.
Recommended Books
The Harvard Dictionary of Music: Fourth Edition, D.M. Randel (Editor), 2003
Introduction to the Psychology of Hearing, 5th Edition, Brian Moore, 2003
The Psychology of Music, 2nd Edition, Diana Deutsch (Editor), 1999
Music, Language, and the Brain, Aniruddh D. Patel, 2007

Requirements & Grading
• Weekly attendance and participation in seminar discussions that reflects you have read the assigned journal papers (20-25%)
• Performance on homework problem sets (35-40%)
• Oral presentations of papers using overheads or powerpoint at 2-3 seminars (35-40%; first presentation is not graded to allow for practice and feedback)
• No exams, no term papers
• Check www.BrainMusic.org Education link for updated Syllabus and Homework assignments

Lecture & Seminar Schedule

September 17: Lecture I
• Course Overview
• Music Cognition
• Human Brain Organization
Professor Tramo
Homework Due Sept. 24th
Reading
Tramo MJ, Music of the Hemispheres Science 2001; 291:54-56
Tramo MJ, Brain & Music in Randel D (Ed), Harvard Dictionary of Music, 4th Ed, 2003
Rossing T, Science of Sound, Chapter 3, “Waves”
Problem Set 9/24
Rossing T, Chapter 3 Review Questions 1, 3, 6, 7, 8

Sept 19th
Study Card due for Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors, & Graduate Students
  Sept 22nd
Study Card due for Freshmen

September 24: Lecture II
• Experimental Methods in Neuroscience and Psychology
• Structure and Function of the Auditory Nervous System
Professor Tramo
Homework Due Oct 1st, except for Study Section A
Reading
Rossing T, Science of Sound, Chapter 7, “Pitch and Timbre”
Problem Set 10/1
Review Questions 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, Exercise 2

Oct 1st
Last day to drop or add a course without incurring a fee

October 1: Seminar I
Psychophysics, Neurophysiology, Microanatomy,
& Functional Anatomy of Frequency Processing & Pitch Perception
       1. Morel A,  Garraghty  PE, Kaas JH 1993 Tonotopic organization, architectonic fields, and connections of auditory cortex in macaque monkeys. J Comparative Neurology 335: 437-459.
            2. Evarts EV 1951 Effect of auditory cortex ablation on frequency discrimination in the monkey. J Neurophysiology 1951, 443-448.
            3. Zatorre RJ 1988  Pitch perception of complex tones and human temporal-lobe function. J Acoustical Society of America 84: 566-572.
            4. Tramo MJ, Shah GD, Braida  LD 2002 Functional role of auditory cortex in frequency processing and pitch perception. J Neurophysiology 87: 122-139.
All PDFs are available for download in the Institute's eLibrary
Study Section A & Professor Tramo

October 8: Seminar II
• Functional Neuroanatomy & Neural Coding of Pitch Perception
Study Section Team B & Professor Tramo

October 15: Seminar III
• Psychophysics & Cognitive Psychology of Harmony Perception
Study Section Team C & Professor Tramo

Oct 13th
Last day to drop or add a course or change to or from letter-graded or pass/fail.

October 22: Seminar IV
• Functional Neuroanatomy, Neurophysiology, & Neural Coding of Harmony
Study Section Team D & Professor Tramo

Oct 27th
Last day to petition to withdraw from a course.

October 29: Seminar V
• Cognitive Psychology & Functional Neuroanatomy of Melody Perception
Study Section Team E & Professor Tramo

November 5: Seminar VI
• Cognitive Psychology & Functional Neuroanatomy of Rhythm Perception & Production
Study Section Team F & Professor Tramo

November 12: Seminar VII
• Neurophysiology & Psychodynamics of Musical Creativity
Study Section Team G & Dr. Aaron Berkowitz, Harvard Music Department

November 19: Seminar VIII
• Cognitive Psychology & Neurophysiology of Emotion & Meaning in Music
Study Section Team H & Professor Tramo

November 26: Seminar IX
• Development of Musical Competence
Study Section Team I & Professor Tramo

December 3: Seminar X
• Auditory Capacities in Animals & Music Evolution
Study Section Team J & Professor Tramo

December 10: Seminar XI
• Intelligence & Talent in Music & the Arts
Study Section Team K & Professor Tramo

END