Projects

  • Music Perception from a Cross Cultural Perspective

    The music you like and the way you hear it heavily depend on the society and music you grew into.
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    Within this context I study the perception of music of a special group of people: Israeli Arabs who are exposed to music ranging from traditional Arab with all its microtones, special scales (maqamat), modulations, melodic embellishments etc., through semi- Westernized popular Arab music, to Western and Israeli pop, rock, and world music.  Can we learn something about how such exposure can actually shape our (in)sensitivities to certain elements in the music? our emotional responses to it? and even the signals our brain emits when we listen to different types of music?
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  • Music and Emotions

    How can a succession of air-vibrations which move the small tympanic membrane of our ear become "music to our ears"? why should we be thrilled, feel elated or be moved to tears by such changes in air pressure? We are still very far from understanding this mystery. One approach is to look for connections between what happens in the music as it unfolds in time and how these changes may be tied to three simultaneous levels of responses: the reported experience (free descriptions or forced choices from sets of adjectives); the physiological responses (like change in heart rate or breathing); and changes in brain responses.
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     Importantly we focus on the dynamics of changes which are so basic to our emotional inner life as well as to music (moving back and forth from loud to soft, fast to slow, one to many voices, harmonious to nonharmonious etc. etc.). Though promising, this approach also challenges us to find new ways of quantifying what happens in the music second by second.
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  • Music and Cross Modal Correspondences

    We perceive the world through all our senses simultaneously and very often two senses deliver corresponding information. For example when we hear a high tone we might associate with it an object that is relatively small, light, fast, but also -- interestingly bright rather than dark. Many of these correspondences are learned but some may be innate. In my research I examine the ability to transmit through music (improvisations) non musical dimensions such as size, brightness, and sharpness.
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    What do improvisers do to give the sense of darkness or size? Is it easier to communicate sharpness rather than size? Do they all use the same musical elements or "devices"? Can we figure out which constellation of musical characteristics best communicates each of these dimensions?
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  • Music, Genetics, and Neurohormones

    We often assume that "musical giftedness" runs in families. But once you try to break down what abilities underlie "musical giftedness" you realize that it includes a large set of abilities and social conditions. In my research I focus on musical memory for melodies under the assumption that if this trait is not highly developed in an individual her musical abilities will be limited. Of course memory can be driven by a whole set of neurochemicals and neurohormones.
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    One such neurohormone which plays such a role is in musical memory is vasopressin. Interestingly this neurohormone is associated in animals and in humans (among other functions) with affiliative/aggressive social behaviors and social memory. We currently work on understanding the mechanism through which it exerts this effect and explore whether it is also associated with the ability to recognize emotions communicated in music.
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