Localization of brain functions
Overestimation of localization is apparently not the case. Findings in the NM I conference by Griffiths
(no. 3), Samson (no. 13), and Thaut (no. 40) indicate the importance of neural networks, as opposed
to single locations in the brain.
Limitations of techniques
The low temporal resolution of PET and fMRI brain imaging and the inexact spatial localization of
EEG and MEG responses are inherent problems in these techniques. The combination of different
techniques contribute to solving some of these problems.
As the fMRI scanner produces considerable noise, a sparse imaging technique can be ap-
plied, as described by Griffiths (no. 3, p. 42). Sparse imaging takes advantage of the fact that the
blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response induced by a stimulus builds up rather slowly, typ-
ically in the course of 10 seconds. This implies that the musical stimulus can be presented in quiet,
whereupon the scanner is turned on to record the BOLD response.
Conference in Leipzig 3.2 The Neurosciences and Music II: From Perception to Performance.
Conference in Leipzig 2005
The themes of the 2005 conference were the following:
I. Ethology / Evolution: Do Animals have Music or Something Else?
II. Music and Language
III. Mental Representations
IV. Developmental Aspects and Impact of Music on Education, including a roundtable on
Music therapy
V. Neurological Disorders and Music
VI. Music Performance
VII. Emotion in Music
A survey of the papers published in the conference proceedings: Annals of the New York Academy
of Sciences 2005, Vol. 1060, is provided in Appendix 3.02. The survey indicates the aim of each
study, its musical material and cultural references, its technology and procedure, and the main focus
and conclusion of the study.
Parts III and IV of the 2005 conference continued investigations from the 2002 conference; the neu-
ral correlates and the developmental aspects of music. Parts II, V, VI and VII introduced new fields
of research; language, neurological disorders, performance, and emotion. In the preface to the con-
ference proceedings, the organizers noted that the field of research in the neurosciences and music
had experienced a favorable growth of academic interest.
Composers and cross-cultural researchers were not invited to the 2005 conference. Two new
academic communities participated, ethology / evolution scholars, and music therapy researchers.
3.2.1 A selection of papers in NM II
This paragraph summarizes noteworthy papers from the 2005 conference. To facilitate an overview,
the categories of investigation are grouped as follows: