Specialist Research Laboratory

Music Neuroscience Laboratory

There are currently a range of research studies running in the Music Neuroscience Laboratory. Several of these are investigating the role of brain plasticity in the development of cognitive skills, with a specific focus on auditory and musical abilities. In particular, these studies are concerned with the influence of genetic and environmental factors on morphological and functional changes in the brain, and the relationship of these changes to cognitive skill development and expertise.

A number of methodological techniques are being used to explore these issues, including structural and functional neuroimaging (MRI, fMRI, PET) and the approaches of experimental and cognitive neuropsychology. At present, imaging techniques are specifically being used to interrogate the neurocognitive basis of absolute pitch perception in high calibre musicians, and singing and language skills in musicians and non-musicians.

Research investigating the basic perceptual processes involved in pitch and rhythmic discrimination has been ongoing in the lab, with recent projects employing computer modelling and psychoacoustical techniques to examine these fundamental auditory skills.

Current Areas of Research

• Disorders of musical ability (amusia) and their co-occurrence with disorders of language (aphasia) as a means of further examining the neurobiological basis of auditory cognition.
• Effects of brain injury on the performance and rehabilitation of musicians.
• The use of music to facilitate cerebral recovery.
• The development of music cognition and its interrelationship with other cognitive skills (e.g., visuospatial, mathematical skills) in both normal children and adults.

Research Staff:

Dr Sarah Wilson

Associate Professor Neil McLachlan

Research Collaborators::

• Professor David Reutens, Monash Institute for Neurological Diseases, Monash Medical Centre
  
  Professor Graeme Jackson and Dr Regula Breillman, Brain Research Institute, Melbourne
  
  Associate Professor Jenni Ogden, Department of Psychology, University of Auckland

Research Assistant/Lab Manager:

• Dr Dean Lusher

Funding & Grants:

Current Research Students:

Ben Williams, Catherine Wan.