Let’s get musical: Behind the scenes, behind the songs, behind the mind

Come tour BRAMS cutting-edge laboratory for background on international conference, Neurosciences and Music III: Disorders and Plasticity, hosted from June 25 to 28

Montreal, June 20, 2008 – Can stroke victims regain lost motor skills by playing the piano? How does music affect newborns? Come question the experts on these and other subjects at a media tour of the Brain, Music and Sound (BRAMS) research centre:

• When: 11 am to noon, Wednesday, June 25; light lunch included.

• Who: Doctors Isabelle Peretz and Robert Zatorre, BRAMS co-directors, on their research and Neurosciences and Music III: Disorders and Plasticity conference.

• What: Music scientists in cutting edge labs featuring a self-playing piano. • Where: BRAMS - Université de Montréal, 1430 du Mont-Royal Blvd., Outremont.

• How: Map to BRAMS.

A world of music experts The special BRAMS tour will kick-start an international conference held in Montreal from June 25 to 28 – The Neurosciences and Music III: Disorders and Plasticity – organized by Fondazione Mariani, BRAMS and partner institutions: the Université de Montréal, McGill University and the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital.

The scientific happening, held at McGill University, will feature an extensive scientific program delivered by top European and North American researchers. Media are welcome to attend any session. Highlights include:

• Gottfried Schlaug, Harvard University, on how singing can help survivors of brain-damage regain speech.

• Sandra Trehub, University of Toronto, on how profoundly deaf children with cochlear implants enjoy the rhythms of music.

• Patrick C.M. Wong, Northwestern University, on how music training can shape our perception of sounds and facilitate language learning.

Which came first: songs or speech? A keynote lecture, delivered by Steven Mithen, will examine how humans evolved musically. His hypothesis? That music preceded human speech. Mithen, a professor of early prehistory at the University of Reading in England, is the acclaimed author of the book Singing Neanderthals: The origins of music, language, mind and body (Weidenfeld & Nicolson). • Timeline: Friday, June 27, 11:45 am to 12:45 pm; McGill University, Leacock Building (855 Sherbrooke St. W), Montreal. Lunch will follow lecture.