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
Updated October 12, 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
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 seminarÕs 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 ordered only 12 of the 20 copies of our required
text that I requested, and they had only 6 copies as of this afternoon. Since there are problem sets due next
week, ordering the 2001 edition of Science of Sound overnight via Amazon is
highly recommended. Professor
Tramo is connected with a charitable organization and would be glad to help
– please email mtramo@hms.harvard.edu
if you are interested.
Required
The
Science of Sound, Rossing, Moore, and Wheeler, 2001
Weekly
Articles from Professional Journals posted at www.BrainMusic.org -> Education link
-> InstituteÕs eLibrary -> download
PDF
Recommended
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
Click here for Homework Due Sept 24th
Sept 19tht
Study Card due for Sophomores, Juniors,
Seniors, & Graduate Students
Sept 22nd
Study Card due for Freshmen
September 24: Lecture II
¥ Pictures of Sound
¥ Experimental Methods in Neuroscience
¥ Experimental Methods in
Psychophysics
Professor Tramo
Click here for Homework Due Oct 1st
Oct 1st
Last day to drop or add a course without
incurring a fee
October 1: Lecture II
¥ Pictures of Music
¥ Experimental Methods in Cognitive
Psychology
Anatomy of the Peripheral and Central
Auditory Nervous Systems
Click here for Homework Due Oct 8th
October 8: Seminar I
Frequency Processing & Pitch
Perception:
Neurophysiology, Microanatomy,
Psychophysics & Functional Anatomy
Study Section Team A & Professor Tramo
Click here for Homework Due Oct 15th
October 15: Seminar II
Virtual Pitch Perception:
Psychophysics, Functional Neuroanatomy
& Neural Coding
Auditory Demonstrations:
Electroacoustics; Music
Study Section Team A & Professor Tramo
Click here for Homework Due Oct 22nd
Oct 13th
Last day to drop or add a course or change to
or from letter-graded or pass/fail.
October 22: Seminar III
Harmony Perception in the Vertical
Dimension:
Psychophysics, Functional Neuroanatomy
& Neural Coding
Study Section Team B & Professor Tramo
Click here for Homework Due Oct 29th
Oct 27th
Last day to petition to withdraw from a
course.
October 29: Seminar IV
Harmony Perception in the Horizontal
Dimension:
Cognitive Psychology, Functional
Neuroanatomy & Neurophysiology
Study Section Team C & Professor Tramo
Click here for Homework Due Nov 5th
November 5: Seminar V
Melody Perception:
Cognitive Psychology, Functional
Neuroanatomy & Neural Coding
Study Section Team D & Professor Tramo
Click here for Homework Due Nov 12th
November 12: Seminar VI
Creativity in Music:
Functional Neuroanatomy &
Psychopathology
Study Section Team E & Dr. Berkowitz,
Harvard Music Department
Click here for Homework Due Nov 19th
November 19: Seminar VII
Rhythm Perception & Production:
Cognitive Psychology, Functional
Neuroanatomy,
Neurochemistry & Auditory-Motor
Integration
Study Section Team F & Professor Tramo
Click here for Homework Due Nov 26th
November 26: Seminar VIII
Emotion & Meaning in Music:
Cognitive Psychology, Functional
Anatomy,
Neurophysiology & Neurochemistry
Study Section Team G & Professor Tramo
Click here for Homework Due Dec 3rd
December 3: Seminar IX
Auditory Development & Musical
Capacities:
Psychophysics, Cognitive Psychology
& Neurophysiology
Study Section Team H & Professor Tramo
Click here for Homework Due Dec 10th
December 10: Seminar XII
Intelligence & Talent in Music
Study Section Team I & Professor Tramo
END