neuroscience

5…No! 6 Bits of Mish-Mash and Nuggets

February 23, 2010

Today’s article is a bit of a mish-mash of different topics. I tried to find a common thread between them…but no luck. And I didn’t want to focus on one particular area because I thought you’d be interested in all of them! (You are, aren’t you?)
So here are 5 bits of mish-mash and nuggets, in [...]

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Watch and Learn: The Mirror Neuron Song

January 28, 2010

In the 1990s, scientists at the University of Parma were studying motor neurons in monkeys. They attached electrodes to a monkey’s brain cells responsible for movements. These electrodes recorded whenever those cells fired…a.k.a. whenever the monkey moved.
Monkeys like peanuts. The researchers set out peanuts for the monkeys to grab. Monkey grabs a peanut, motor neuron [...]

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Book Review: This is Your Brain on Music

January 7, 2010

If you read my blog, you know that I am a big fan of neuroscience. The brain  fascinates me and understanding how it works is a big part of my clinical work.
So it should be no surprise that Dan Levitin’s book This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession has been [...]

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71 Things Everyone Ought to Know About the Brain (Part 2)

November 12, 2009

This post is the second in a two-part series of ideas, facts, and resources all about the brain. They are based on a workshop I attended last weekend called “Linking Neuroscience to Clinical Practice.” The fabulous speaker was Dr. Martha Burns.
The first article, published on Tuesday, listed the first 35 points.
71 Fun Facts About the [...]

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71 Things Everyone Ought to Know About the Brain (Part 1)

November 9, 2009

Have you ever attended a seminar or workshop that got you so excited about something you wanted to start working right away, even though you just spent over 9 hours sitting, listening, and taking notes?
I just did.
If you follow me on Twitter or are a fan of Neurosong on Facebook, you know that I attended [...]

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Mr. Teachout, Here’s Why We DO Need to Know About the Power of Music

November 3, 2009

A couple weeks ago, an article titled “The Mystery of Music: What about it has such power over human beings?” appeared in the Wall Street Journal. The author, Terry Teachout, wondered why it’s important for us to understand music’s effect on our emotions (he was inspired by a study showing that music can influence a [...]

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On Attention, Plasticity, Learning, Individuality

October 15, 2009

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about the 4 different types of attention–sustained, selective, divided, joint–and gave examples of how you can address each in a therapy session. After reading the article, my friend Lisa contacted me on Facebook and asked:
(C)an the different types of attention really be learned or do you [...]

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How To Recognize the 4 Types of Attention

September 29, 2009

One of the most common goals music therapists address are attention goals. For example:

Goal: To increase attention span.
Goal: To promote on-task behavior.
Goal: To improve attention to task.
…and so on.

Attention. It’s a basic yet foundational skill. The ability to focus and pay attention is a precursor to a host of other cognitive skills  (another foundational skills [...]

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The 5 Most Important Things to Know About Neurodevelopment

September 10, 2009

My favorite graduate courses were the neuroscience courses. It fascinated me how the brain was organized, how it functioned, and how this incredibly complex and dynamic organism could be broken down and understood in simpler parts. Amazing.
And now that I work with trauma-influenced children, I’ve learned much more about neurodevelopment. I have had first-hand experience [...]

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