Program Overview
Type: Vanderbilt Initiative Award (ViA)
Scientists, clinicians, musicians and leaders in the music industry are increasingly interested in understanding how music affects behaviors and perceptions. Emerging research shows that music perception, appreciation and practice can influence cognition, language, memory, emotional state and social cohesion. In addition, there is rapidly expanding interest in using music as a therapeutic tool to treat a variety of brain disorders ranging from autism to language impairments to Parkinson’s disease. Despite great thirst for knowledge in this domain, there is a surprising lack of trans-institutional research examining the biological impacts of music. Our location in “Music City,” where we have access to some of the most creative and innovative talents in music, offers the chance to create a trans-institutional platform for the study of music that would be unparalleled. Vanderbilt has a unique opportunity to become a world leader in this domain.
Faculty Participants
Lead Faculty in bold
Peabody College
- Elisabeth Dykens, Professor of Psychology and Human Development
School of Engineering
- Philippe Fauchet, Dean of the School of Engineering
Blair School of Music
- Marianne Ploger, Associate Professor of Music Perception and Cognition
- Emelyne Bingham, Senior Lecturer in the Teaching of Music
College of Arts & Science
- Jay Clayton, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor, Department of English
School of Medicine
Ron Eavey, Guy M. Manness Professor of Otolaryngology- Mark Wallace, Director, Vanderbilt Brain Institute
- Reyna Gordon, Research Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology
- Nicole Baganz, Research Assistant Professor