SLHS1912: Music, Language and the Brain

Music and language are fascinating products of the human brain, which most uniquely define us as human beings. Every human culture has its own form of music and language with historical roots dated as early as about 40,000 years ago. Understanding music and language involves complex processes converting sound sequences into meaningful units and structures. This seminar compares music and language in all aspects of structure and use. We will highlight modern brain research studies on the associations and disassociations between music and language. We will also study how infants acquire their linguistic and emotional expressive power and how the early learning experience alters the brain, thereby affecting an individual’s future perceptions and actions. Both historical perspectives and current research including musical therapy for speech and language intervention will be introduced and discussed.

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