Science Night

Event Description:

A night of talks about the psychological and neuroscientific processes which underpin the performing arts, accompanied by the local musical talents of Leipzig.

Leipzig has a prominent cultural background in Arts, Music, Science and Academia. In modern times, it is nationally known as a city which hosts academic excellence particularly in a scientific sense, but also has a growing alternative scene propelled from the growing student and youth population here.

Given this unique cross-section, we have an exciting opportunity to highlight the novel research carried out at MPI CBS, in a contemporary light. Leipzig residents are given an opportunity to learn about neuroscientific research in an interactive and accessible way, in an environment which feels representative of their unique city.

7.00 – 7.30 Doors Open

7.30 – 7.40 Bonnie O’Malley Introductory Speech

7.40 – 8.00 Katarzyna Gugnowska; Neural foundations of Intonation in Speech and Music
Brains link to sync: How do musicians synchronize their performance?
There is no good ensemble performance without precisely synchronized passages. How do musicians fall in sync with each other? Do we synchronize better with some people than with others and why? Is it always beneficial to synchronize? In my presentation I will speak about chosen cognitive and neural mechanisms of interpersonal synchrony and its role for joint music performance

8.05 – 8.10 Pepijn Meurs; Otto-Hahn group Vasculature & The brain Performance
Pepijn is an intern at Max Planck institute and has composed a song to describe the vasculature of the brain, in an accessible format to a non-scientific audience.

8.15 – 8.35 Renzo Torrecuso; Methods and Development Group Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
The Brain’s Default Mode Network and it’s role from dementia to music.
Attention has become an increasingly valuable resource in a world constantly dragging us to virtual reality. Mostly known as the brain’s mind-wandering circuit, the Default Mode Network(DMN) has recently been shown to activate when individuals engage in task which require a specific type of attention. From brain imaging studies on Meditation, Psychedelics and Dementia, I draw a scenario where the functionality of the DMN is more likely to be the ‘Being There’ network, in which music assumes a central role.

8.45 – 9.05 Harin Lee; Department of Neurology
Without a song or a dance what are we: Origins of music and how our musical perception is shaped by culture
Why do all known cultures around the globe have music when there is no obvious benefit to our survival? What are the commonly found patterns across musical cultures, and to what extent are these determined by the underlying mathematical principles, cognitive and physical constraints? I’ll be giving a short overview on the hypotheses regarding the existence and functions of music. I’ll also be discussing how culture shapes the way we experience and feel music, drawing insights from recent large-scale cross-cultural research projects.

9.15 – 9.55 Ariel My Friend
Ariel My Friend, hailing from Israel, but now based in Leipzig is a multidisciplinary Musician and Artist. His sound ranges across genres from psychedelic rock, dream pop, experimental and electronica, creating a fusion of genres he describes as ‘esoteric but necessary’. Part of Ariel’s popularity in Leipzig, comes from his unique performance style. He collaborates with his natural sense of awkwardness and creates playful and comedic interactive sections between songs. He has agreed to give these interactive sections a neuroscientific theme for our night (One idea so far ‘Picture game -Is it a brain or a pastry?’)

10.00 – 10.20 Bonnie O’malley; Social Stress and Family Health
The relationships between Empathy, Stress and Music
Empathy is an important social process – but what does this have to do with music and stress? In addition to the stress, we experience in our everyday lives, there is a body of evidence indicating that we can take on some of the stress of another individual. In this way, is it possible that empathy can give us the ability to share the emotions of performers, musicians and their music? In this talk, I will guide you through what empathy is, give a short overview of ‘empathic stress’ and also summarize the research linking empathy, music and emotion.

10.30 – End; Maw
The Leipzig based band MAW was founded by German born multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and sound artist Theresa Elfin, whose work spans several projects in the Leipzig alternative music scene. MAW’s sound straddles several genres, fusing elements of Art-pop, shoegaze and free improvisation. MPI CBS’s very own Matteo Maran, from the department of Neuropsychology has been MAW’s bassist and co-songwriter since 2018. The two spent much of lockdowns sending back and forth edited tracks, the result of which is an EP ‘Ghost in the building’ out on the 4th of March 2022.