vi value of music as a means of studying perception, memory, attention, and performance
(see Refs 2–5 for the three benchmark textbooks). Second, neuropsychology, which had
always been based on knowledge from neurophysiology and neuroanatomy, began also to
adopt experimental and cognitive paradigms, permitting advances in understanding lesion
effects on musical functions. Third, developmental psychologists exploited new techniques
that allowed them to probe the mind of even neonates. Finally, and most dramatically per-
haps with the arrival on the scene of neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI and MEG, the
stage was set for the explosion to which we alluded above, and which forms the core of the
present volume.
The objective of the conference, from which most of the present texts are derived, was to
demonstrate the dynamism and richness of the discipline. The conference was held in May
2000 in New York, and was initiated and sponsored by the New York Academy of Science.
Major scientists from six different countries, working in a variety of interrelated disciplines
and pursuing sustained research activities on music were invited to present their work.
Most responded enthusiastically and addressed issues crucial to a better understanding of
the neural substrates underlying musical functions. Their presentations first appeared in
the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, volume 930, under the title ‘The Biological
Foundations of Music’ in 2001. Given the success of this issue, Oxford University Press
invited us to edit an updated version of it in their collection of books. We eagerly accepted
and invited a few other major players in the field who originally presented a poster to pub-
lish a full chapter in the present volume. Therefore, you will find here an updated version
of the 25 original chapters as well as three new chapters.
The contributions in the present volume will reveal how much progress has been made
in the field over the last decade. Besides providing research overviews, many texts also
delineate significant avenues for future research. Indeed, it is clear that this is a very young
field still, and that much remains to be done. We hope that the material presented in this
volume, coupled with an increase of interest for the biological foundations of music in the
scientific and general community, represent the initial spark for building a solid and stim-
ulating cognitive neuroscience of music.
I.P. and R.Z.
February 2003References
1.Wallin, N., B. Merker and S. Brown(ed.) (2000) The Origins of Music. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
2.Bouillaud, J.(1865) Sur la faculté du langage articulé.Bulletin de l’Académie de Médecine30,
752–68.
3.Deutsch, D.(ed.) (1982) The Psychology of Music. New York: Academic Press.
4.Dowling, W. and D. Harwood(1986) Music Cognition. Series in cognition and perception. New
York. Academic Press.
5.Sloboda, J.(1985) The Musical Mind: The Cognitive Psychology of Music.London:Oxford
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