Last summer, I began working on a documentary film about an Iranian mystic and musician named Ostad Elahi. A number of neuroscientists have taken note of Elahi's music and the way he intended it to act upon a person's state of consciousness, and it seems that this man's mystical training, part of a centuries-old tradition, somehow touched upon ideas of music's relationship with the mind that modern neuroscientists are just starting to find in their own studies. This startling congruency led our team to interview both members of Elahi's family AND several neuroscientists. And that's when I got in touch with Petr Janata at UC Davis.
Petr had been studying something akin to trance states - something he referred to as being "in the groove" (don't you hate when scientists try to impress you with their technical jargon?) - but the study wasn't complete and he wasn't comfortable talking on camera yet. However, last summer, Petr told me about some other studies he'd been doing on how music "moves" through the brain, which he discovered was a torus-shaped progression (a torus is a doughnut shape; maybe "doughnut" was considered too technical) of major and minor keys. I found this fascinating, and told him that part of me thought he'd be a terrific guest for Soundcheck... but that the other part of me thought that none of us would know what he was talking about. (Click here, if you dare, for more - way more - information.)
So Petr's study of music and memory, and how music might be used to trigger memories and emotions even in patients with Alzheimer's disease, is a terrific example of neuroscience with such a universal, personal application that we can all understand it. We've all had that experience of hearing a familiar piece of music from years ago, and having a flashback to a time and place when we heard that piece before - usually a time and place with some emotional significance. On Saturday night, for example, I saw David Byrne at Radio City, doing some of the old songs he and Brian Eno co-wrote for the band Talking Heads in the late 70s. When he broke format slightly to play the Talking Heads' version of Al Green's "Take Me To The River," I was suddenly back at a 1978 concert at CW Post College - I could remember how the hall looked, what the opening act was (a magician), a few of the choice heckles hurled at the unfortunate opening act ("disappear!"), and how very different David Byrne looked onstage (not as petrified as in the early days, but still slightly stiff and uncomfortable, as opposed to the guy so clearly having a great time on Saturday). So Petr's study rings true on a very personal, practical level.
Tell us: Have you had a sudden rush of old memories/emotions triggered by an old song? Are there pieces of music you can "use" as a proverbial walk down memory lane?
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John Schaefer has hosted Soundcheck since the show’s inception in 2002. He has also hosted and produced WNYC’s radio series New Sounds since 1982 (“The No. 1 radio show for the Global Village” – Billboard) and the New Sounds Live concert series since 1986.
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