If you were unable to attend the Zoom lecture on May 19th “Music, Beauty, and the Brain – From Sound Parameters to Cultural Influence” with Elvira Brattico, Aarhus University, Denmark there is now a video available
Humans are naturally drawn to beauty in their surroundings, including in the auditory domain. For centuries, composers have aimed to create music that is perceived as beautiful—although avant-garde movements have sometimes deviated from this goal. Nonetheless, the concept of beauty remains central for both laypersons and musicians, as confirmed by our survey study. Despite its importance, cognitive neuroscience has largely overlooked the neural foundations of musical beauty. In this talk, I will discuss a series of studies aimed at addressing this gap, exploring musical beauty in the brain across various Western music styles and even extending the investigation to distant musical cultures.