Science Series 4: Dr Karen Barrett / Improvising & Creativity / Music Perception / Dementia & Aging
Dr Karen Barrett is an assistant professor at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) with a joint appointment at the Institute for Health and Aging at the School of Nursing and department of Otolaryngology at the School of Medicine. She is also a classically trained pianist, a faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Her research focuses on the neuroscience of creativity, complex sound perception of cochlear implant users, and the impact of music on the aging brain. Dr Barrett is also researching neural plasticity and musical training, improvisational music and creativity, and exploring the biological basis of musical performance.
https://karenchanbarrett.com
https://iha.ucsf.edu/people/karen-barrett-phd
https://amp.profiles.ucsf.edu/karen.barrett
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Welcome to another episode of
come together
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we are live doctor Karen Barrett
well, Barrett welcome so thank
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you so much for coming on how
are you I'm.
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Good, and I'm delighted to be
here.
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Yes, well, this is going to be
such a fun episode.
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I have been slowly.
It's funny because as my podcast
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comes along, I find what I'm
actually interested in based on
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when I talk to people, what they
say that I pick up on.
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And then I want to dive deeper
into those concepts.
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So I was recently recording with
Doctor Lisa Gable out of
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Lafayette University and she's a
neurologist and physiologist.
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And we touched on music and the
brain a little bit.
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And, and as soon as we started
touching on that, I was like, I
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got to, I got to learn more
about this.
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And so, so here we are and, and
I am so excited to be in your
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wheelhouse right here.
And tell me, tell me a little
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bit about the kind of research
that you do or the audience and
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a little bit about your
background, if you don't mind.
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Yeah.
So why don't I start with my
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background because I think it
kind of explains a lot of what I
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do.
So I grew up in a very musical
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household.
My dad was a classical, well,
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not professional, but he was a
classical guitarist, pretty
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serious.
And we basically had music going
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all the time.
So I started playing piano when
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I was 5, and I was really
serious about it.
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You know, in my childhood I was
doing, you know, the prep
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Conservatory programs and
competitions and all that.
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And then when I got to college,
I did want to do music, but my
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parents were like, you should
probably have, you know, a
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backup plan.
What if you break your hand or
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something?
I was like, OK, that's smart.
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So I went to Wellesley College
and I double majored.
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I did music and I did
neuroscience.
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And at the time they were
totally separate field.
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I was just doing my, my music
and I was doing my neuroscience,
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but I wasn't trying to combine
all of them.
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And then when I, you know, the
only time I finally heard about
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the field of music and
neuroscience was meet my senior
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year.
I had to do a lab project and I
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decided to, you know, we had
these invertebrate crayfish
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brains and we were looking at
neurogenesis.
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So I said, hey, let's expose
them to music.
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They don't have ears
traditionally in the same way
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that we do, but they can feel
vibrations and organized
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vibrations.
So we did it and we found it.
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That did increase neurogenesis.
But like I said, this was just a
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tiny little class paper, and I
kind of just didn't really think
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too much more about it.
After college, I wanted to go to
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really focus on my instrument
because I think at Wellesley I
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felt very split brain, you know,
trying to keep up my
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neuroscience but also practice
and just not finding that there
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was enough time to do
everything.
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So I went to Peabody
Conservatory and there it was.
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I did my master's degrees in
piano performance and musicology
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and was fabulous.
I was getting to music 12 hours
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a day, really got to focus on my
yeah, I got to really do my art.
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It felt wonderful.
The only thing though, is that
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we were always playing at night
and I'm a morning person.
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So this was, I was like, you
know, I don't think this
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lifestyle is working for me.
So after that I decided that I
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was like wanted to go back to
academia and I wanted to do a
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PhD.
And that's how I found the music
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cognition program at
Northwestern.
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It was me because the cognition
in theory.
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So we took all the usual classes
you would need to teach music at
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a university level, so pedagogy,
theory, analysis, etcetera.
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But I also was able to work in
auditory neuroscience.
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So this was the first time I was
really able to combine my
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interest in the brain and how
the brain processes music.
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It must.
Be so exciting.
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Yeah, it was so exciting.
I like felt like it was such a
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privilege to get to do 2 things
that I loved and kind of mesh
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them together.
Was it considered?
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I'm sorry to interrupt.
I just got a couple of quick
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questions if you don't mind is
first of all, if anyone that
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doesn't know neurogenesis that
you mentioned the word that you
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mentioned earlier, can you just
break that down quickly?
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It's OK, no problem.
Yeah, Neurogenesis is the birth
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of new neurons.
So neurons are our brain cells.
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So neurogenesis is looking at
the at the creation of new brain
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cells.
And so does.
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That not usually happen
naturally, Or does that need?
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It does so nowadays.
We do know that our brain is
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plastic.
In fact, this is a whole theme
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of all.
My PhD dissertation work was
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looking at how the brain changes
as a result of experience and
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musical training.
And all of that is known as
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neuroplasticity.
So it's the idea that your brain
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changes as part of learning and
development, but also because of
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your expertise and your
experience.
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So neurogenesis is part of it,
you know, the birth of actual
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new neurons.
But part of what also happens in
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neuroplasticity is that you form
new connections between certain
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neurons, right?
And you prune other things that
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are not used.
So it's this idea that your
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brain is kind of changing in
plastic because you're
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experiencing things.
And that was the whole focus on
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my PhD dissertation was what
happened?
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How are the brains of musicians
different from non musicians?
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How do they hear differently?
How do they think differently,
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you know, because they're
musical experts.
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And so I was always really
interested.
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I guess that is kind of a theme
is this idea of like, how does
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the brain remodel itself?
Because you've done music and I
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loved it, you know, But you
know, that ivory tower and
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academia can be kind of
isolating.
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Sometimes you're doing things in
a really abstract way.
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And so when I finished my PHDI
really wanted to do work that
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was more translational, meaning
like actually get to do it in
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the real world, see how it makes
a difference on patients, people
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living with things.
So I then did a postdoc.
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A postdoctoral fellowship is
basically a period after your
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PhD where you're training in new
skills.
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And that's when I came to UCSFI
was working with Doctor Charles
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Lim.
He was the head of the Musics
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and Sound Perception lab at
UCSF.
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And so when I started working
with him, you know, I, you know,
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during my PHDI had really
focused on these like small
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perceptual experiments.
And I was learning EEG, which is
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when you wear the scalpel, you
know, scalpel on your head,
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right?
And you're measuring all the
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brain waves from your, from your
brain.
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But when I got to UCSFI said,
OK, I know how to EEG, but my
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new skill that I was learning
was F MRI.
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So functional magnetic resonance
imaging, which is this idea that
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you use a giant scanner and you
can see which parts of the brain
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are active or deactivated while
you're doing particular tasks.
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So that was something because I
was working in Charles's lab, I
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basically started having new
research areas.
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One was he the neuroscience of
improvisation.
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And that's because Charles
himself is a really, he's a
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cochlear implant surgeon, but
also a very experienced jazz
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saxophonist.
So he was already studying
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improv and I wanted to study
improv with him.
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And then another research area
that I started during my postdoc
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was music perception in cochlear
implant users.
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So as I said, Charles is a
cochlear implant surgeon.
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So these are devices that get
inserted into your, let's say
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you're deaf and your cochlear is
not functioning, which is your
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hearing organ.
You put the cochlear implanting
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air in and now you can hear.
Now maybe it's, it's very much
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maximized for speech.
Like that's what the cochlear
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implants are really good at
restoring, which is already
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amazing if you go from being
deaf to suddenly being able to
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hear people talk to you.
But we are cochlear implants are
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not as good yet is really
complex sounds.
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So think music or think noisy
restaurants or things that are
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just emotion.
Emotion is a very rich kind of
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acoustic signal.
So we study music perception and
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cochlear implant users.
So those are two of my research
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areas, Neuroscience of improv,
music perception, and cochlear
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implant users.
And then after I finished my
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postdoc, I started, I became a
faculty member here at UCSF.
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I am an assistant professor now
and I have a joint appointment.
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So I'm in the Institute for
Health and Aging, which is a
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research unit within the School
of Nursing.
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And then I'm also still in the
Department of Otolaryngology
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with Charles Lim.
And so the one recent new area
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that I've been adding to my
research area is studying the
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use of music for health and
well-being.
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So that's what I studied now
too, is I've added looking at
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music and health.
So I guess widely you could say
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that, you know, my research
falls in these three pots, the
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neuroscience of creativity and
improv, music perception and
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cochlear implant users and hard
of hearing individuals and then
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music for health and aging.
So it's been kind of a long
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journey, but it it, I don't make
sense, I guess, given they all
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do, you know?
It feels as you're explaining
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it, it feels all very intuitive.
And what, what I noticed also,
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you know, similarly again with
Doctor Gable was that she
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mentioned, you know, we, she and
I mentioned we're talking about
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the fact that she didn't quite
know where her research
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initially was going to lead her.
And she said there was something
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really beautiful about not
searching for having an angle in
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mind and then trying to get
there, but starting with what
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you're excited and passionate
about and then seeing where that
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where your nose and your senses
and your intuition takes you.
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Yeah.
And I think that's absolutely
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what happened to me.
You know, I get contacted by a
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lot of people who want to do
careers in music and science or
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blending the arts and humanities
with the sciences.
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And they're like, do you know,
did you, you know, your career
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was going to be like this?
I'm like, no, not at all.
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Like on paper it looks very
neat.
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Like I lined everything up.
But the reality was every day I
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was just saying, well, what do I
enjoy doing?
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You know, And it's like, I found
the stuff that I love doing.
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I mean, part of why I was drawn
to doing music in the brain
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research is that I was spending
my weekends reading these books
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by, Oliver Said.
Hey everyone real quick if
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you're enjoying the show, click
subscribe and rate the show. 5
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stars helps a ton.
Thanks so much.
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You know, Musicophilia or this
is your brain on music or
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anything.
So I was like, well, if I'm
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doing this for my fun anyways,
why don't I study it, you know,
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And so I think I've always just
been someone who, you know, I
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don't really know where my
research career will be.
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I think I'm still trying to
figure that out.
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But you know, it's fun.
It's fun as long as I I always
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have this unifying love of music
and how it affects our health
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and our brain so.
Yeah, yeah.
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And I think it's super, super
important.
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And again, I think that there's
a real value in being, I, I
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talked about this in different
contexts, but there's a real
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value in my opinion in play.
And this actually probably goes
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directly in with your team with,
with play and experimentation to
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see where we go.
And it feels, it feels to me and
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part of the reason why I'm
actually why I, why I, I don't
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typically fit into any kind of
formal box.
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And I have a little bit of a
push back towards typical
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academia or, or anything like
or, or even any kind of typical
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bureaucracy or corporate
democracy or anything like that
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I have a very hard time with.
But I just like to kind of sense
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out and sniff out where I'm
going.
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I have no problem with the work.
I just like to have that kind of
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play in spirit of adventure
while I go along.
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Absolutely.
And as a creativity researcher,
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I fully support that.
I think play is way more
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important than we realize.
I mean, we play with our kids
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all the time, but adults really
need play too, and I think play
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is a huge component of being
creative, so I think it's great.
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00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:56,040
Yeah, and this is actually going
to take me.
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So I wonder where we you can
actually choose which kind of
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path we're going to go down.
I was going to ask you based on
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we work with Doctor Charles
about improv versus classical
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playing because you mentioned
that your father and you, you
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know, your background and your
music that you played was
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classical.
And I, and from my
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understanding, and please
correct me if I don't, if I'm
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wrong, classical music tends to
be very structured, I believe.
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And then obviously jazz music
and improv, improvisational
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music, you know, like this, like
the ones that are so active in
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San Francisco historically
especially, has really, really
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focused a lot more on being
unstructured.
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So yeah.
So we can either kind of discuss
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that or I was actually going to
ask you about the difference
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between the cochlear implants
and their and processing music
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as opposed to speech and why
that would be.
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Let's go to the F MRI one
because I think that's that
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covered that that links really
well with our idea of play and
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so yeah so this idea, you're
right, I think classical music,
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at least the way we learn it now
and Conservatory.
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So when you go to music school,
it is very structured and
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hierarchical.
It's creative in that you are
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trying to play really
expressively, but it's still
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within constraints, right?
Like Beethoven wrote the score,
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you have the notes, you are
supposed to interpret it.
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But it's creativity within risk
constraints.
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00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:24,240
And I think that's really
different from jazz, for
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example, an improv, because then
you're doing something we call
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generative creativity, right?
You have just pulling new notes
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out.
This hasn't been pre written.
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You write it, you know, you're
trying to spin something on the
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spot.
And I think something that
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00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:39,400
really fascinated me about
improv when I first started
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00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,840
researching it as a postdoc was
that I'm not very good at
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improv.
So no, in the in the past,
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00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,040
actually in classical music,
there used to be a ton of
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improv.
So back in the time of Mozart,
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00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,120
he would have improvised the
entire cadenza.
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00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,160
Every time he had a concerto, he
would have taken material from
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00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,400
the concerto and then just, you
know, spring something together
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00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:03,720
that's like 2 to 3 minutes.
Or, you know, if you're a
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00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:06,080
vocalist, you just suddenly make
up all the trills and the
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00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:08,080
ornamentations.
There used to be be a ton of
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00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:12,400
improv, but I will say our way
of learning music now, classical
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music now is very structured.
And so I, I find for me, I'm not
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00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:18,360
very good at it.
And I think I was really
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00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:22,040
fascinated because to me, improv
always looked like this really
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00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:24,160
magical thing.
Like, how are they pulling those
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00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,760
notes out of thin air?
And how did they not make
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00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:29,240
mistakes?
And, you know, and I think
274
00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,120
that's what fascinated me about
it in the first place.
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00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:37,080
And so to study, you know,
creativity in the F MRI scanner,
276
00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:38,600
right?
So there's what we do as
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00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,520
artists, but then we have to
think about how to make this
278
00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,240
rigorous as a scientist, right?
So in one of Charles's original
279
00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,880
studies, this is the Lemon Bron
2008 + 1 paper.
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00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,920
Basically, he created a paradigm
where you were either going to
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00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:54,160
play a control.
So the control was he wrote this
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00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:56,840
12 bar Blues piece, he called it
magnetism.
283
00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,960
And so he either had jazz
experts play that piece that he
284
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had written, they memorized it
and played it before they went
285
00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,800
into the into the scanner, or
for the experimental condition,
286
00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:09,240
they improvised based on it.
So they still use that 12 bar
287
00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,760
Blues architecture, but now they
could do whatever they want with
288
00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:13,840
it.
They had to keep the same tempo,
289
00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,040
the same general framework, but
they could improvise.
290
00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:20,080
So if you think about it, the,
the control condition is kind of
291
00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:22,160
like what I as a classical
musician would do, right?
292
00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,480
Play a piece from memory,
interpret it the way I want, but
293
00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,400
we're contrasting it against an
experimental condition where
294
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:31,360
they're generating new material.
So really then the two
295
00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,200
difference, the difference
between these two conditions is
296
00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:38,240
what what happens in the brain
when you are generating new
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00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:40,120
musical material right from
scratch.
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00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:44,000
So what you do as an fMRI, you
know when you're doing these
299
00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:48,200
fMRI studies is you put your
jazz musician in the scanner and
300
00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,120
you can imagine a scanner is
like basically a big magnet,
301
00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,480
like a tube.
So what they had to do is they
302
00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:57,600
created this special keyboard.
It's a non ferromagnetic custom
303
00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,960
made keyboard that's safe to go
into the scanner.
304
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,440
And then basically all the
musicians lie down and they hold
305
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,760
the keyboard on their lap.
And then as they go in the
306
00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,200
scanner, we have what we call it
the face quick, but it's the
307
00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:13,200
Darth Vader mask basically.
And there's a little mirror on
308
00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:16,720
it and they can see their hands.
So while they're in the scanner,
309
00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,000
you know, they have to stay
really, really still.
310
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,880
So you get a good picture of the
brain, but they can just use
311
00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:23,960
their their hands.
So they're playing with the
312
00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:25,680
right hand.
They're either playing that 12
313
00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,920
bar Blues when when prompted, or
they're improvising on that,
314
00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:31,920
that 12 bar Blues.
And what Charles's original
315
00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,120
study found is that if you take
the you you to isolate what
316
00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,080
activity is specific to
improvisation, it's really
317
00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:39,760
interesting.
There's like a distinct both
318
00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,640
neural activation and
deactivation in the brain that's
319
00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,680
associated with improv.
So essentially what they find is
320
00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:48,360
when you look at the structures
in the brain, we see an
321
00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:52,120
activation of the medial
prefrontal cortex, which is kind
322
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:53,360
of here in the front of the
head.
323
00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,640
And that's an area that's
usually very goal oriented and
324
00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,440
task oriented that parts gets
activated, which makes sense.
325
00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:01,560
You're trying to like do
something right in the in the
326
00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,120
scanner.
But at the same time, we also
327
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,280
saw deactivation of a plate part
of the brain called the
328
00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:11,400
dorsolatto prefrontal cortex.
And this dorsolateral prefrontal
329
00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,560
cortex deactivates when you,
when you're trying to, you know,
330
00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,560
turn off the judgment area of
your brain when you're trying to
331
00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,400
just get in the in flow states,
you know, when you're, you're
332
00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,920
kind of, so it's, it's like
improv is this kind of goal
333
00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:27,560
oriented task, but with this
defocused kind of form of
334
00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,400
attention, right?
And so because we had this very
335
00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,080
distinct pattern, right,
activation of the medial
336
00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,960
prefrontal cortex and
deactivation with dorsolateral
337
00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,760
prefrontal cortex, Charles said
not only are these the neural
338
00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:42,640
substrates of improv, but also
maybe about flow, right?
339
00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:45,640
Because when an artist is in the
zone, especially a really
340
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,600
experienced jazz musician
improvising on something simple
341
00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:50,600
like a 12 bar Blues, they're
hitting flow.
342
00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:54,680
And so that was one of his first
groundbreaking papers.
343
00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,720
And ever since then, his lab,
and by extension me, because I
344
00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:01,600
work with him, I've as I've been
with him since I was a postdoc
345
00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:05,040
and now as a faculty member now,
we've continued to study the
346
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:06,960
neural correlates of
improvisation.
347
00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,319
So we looked at, OK, those were
jazz experts, but what happens
348
00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:12,800
if we do have kids who don't
play piano?
349
00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,480
What happens when they're being
created or what happens to older
350
00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,000
adults when they do it?
Or what about, you know, if
351
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,160
you're improvising in different
artistic domains?
352
00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,280
Does music look different from
comedic improvisers versus,
353
00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:26,800
like, an artist who's trying to
generate something?
354
00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:28,760
Right.
So that's what our lab studies.
355
00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:33,040
Wow, so, so you actually go
beyond the realm of just music
356
00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,840
and you actually look at the
flow and improv and everything.
357
00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:39,960
We're trying to, at least
certainly the field that studies
358
00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:43,440
the neuroscience of generative
creativity or improv, it's the
359
00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:45,760
most we know the most in the
music domain.
360
00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,520
And I think that's because music
kind of lends itself easily to
361
00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,200
the scanner, right?
You can like put a little
362
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:55,360
instrument in music has these
discrete parameters that you can
363
00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:59,080
isolate whether it's rhythm or
tempo or so people study music a
364
00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:01,080
lot.
But I think what what our lab is
365
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,680
recently doing, Charles and I
have had funding from the
366
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:07,920
National Endowment for the Arts
to start A to fund our research
367
00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:10,960
lab for the last 10 years.
And our big project is like, OK,
368
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,520
that's great, but what happened?
What are the neural and
369
00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,840
cognitive correlates of doing
improv in different art forms?
370
00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,800
So we're still studying
musicians, but we're studying
371
00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:22,120
them as case studies.
So we're like, OK, you know,
372
00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:24,920
most of data and science is
about averaging a bunch of
373
00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:26,720
brains together and seeing
what's common.
374
00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,320
But, you know, you don't go to a
concert hoping for like, an
375
00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,960
average concert, right?
The people like Esperanza
376
00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:37,160
Spalding are Hiromi are these
great musicians are unique in
377
00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:39,800
their voices and likely in their
brains, too.
378
00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,440
So we're studying a bunch of
these musicians as case studies,
379
00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:45,920
meaning we look at each musician
as their own artistic outliner.
380
00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,880
And we like create things that
are very much tailored to them
381
00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:50,560
and see what's really unique
about their brain.
382
00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:53,520
But then at the same time, we're
also being, OK, well, can we
383
00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:57,320
design some improv tasks that in
the scanner that look at comedic
384
00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:59,720
improvisation?
So think professional
385
00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:04,120
improvisers from SNL or Second
City, which was the training
386
00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:06,600
school for SNL.
So we worked with Second City in
387
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:08,880
Chicago.
You know, so we're like what
388
00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,920
happens in amazing, amazing
improvisers like Tina Fey or,
389
00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:13,800
you know, these people who are
just generating stuff on the
390
00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:15,800
spot.
And then also we're looking at
391
00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:17,720
visual artists.
You know, visual artists don't
392
00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,080
improv per SE, but like if you
think about it, they do sketch
393
00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:22,640
and just create things
generatively.
394
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,400
And so we're looking at, well,
how is that different versus
395
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,400
copying them?
Like if you give you like, you
396
00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,560
know, of still life, you know,
and they're just copying what
397
00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:32,040
they see versus trying to be
creative.
398
00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:35,560
So that in general has been our
large 10 year project for the
399
00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:37,880
last, you know, like I said, for
the last decade we've been
400
00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,520
working on trying to understand
different domains, not just
401
00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:42,440
music.
That's amazing.
402
00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:44,360
That's really amazing.
What I would imagine the way
403
00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:46,440
that I kind of, while you're
explaining all this, the way
404
00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:51,200
that I kind of imagine this is
you have almost a playground is
405
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,320
the way I look at it.
And and then you can choose to
406
00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:57,120
either play a game and have
organized structure, or you can
407
00:19:57,120 --> 00:19:59,720
kind of say, Hey, run around and
figure something out and allow
408
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,040
the emergent activities within
this playground happen.
409
00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:05,440
Now, generally rules within the
playground like you can't beat
410
00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:06,920
kids up.
You can't, you know, you can't
411
00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:08,320
take kids lunch or whatever it
is.
412
00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:11,840
And there are rules that you got
to stick to, but that doesn't
413
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:16,320
mean that doesn't by any means.
Restrict your creative
414
00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:18,560
abilities.
Yeah, absolutely.
415
00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:19,680
I think that's the hardest
thing.
416
00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,400
For the longest time, no one
wanted to study artistic
417
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:24,800
creativity in the scanner until
Charles started doing it
418
00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,160
because, well, on some of it's
hard, right?
419
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,880
Scientists are trying to use
rigor and reproducibility and it
420
00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:33,320
just feels like, well, that's
not what creativity is like.
421
00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,960
But I think one of the beauties
of the way Charles designed his
422
00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:39,960
experiment is that, yeah, you're
right, you get to be creative.
423
00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:42,560
There's still constraints, but
you can still be creative.
424
00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:45,600
And you also make a good point
too, which is that something we
425
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,920
started looking at is
improvisation paradise with
426
00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:50,280
different degrees of
constraints.
427
00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,800
So if we give you a very, you
know, let's just take the
428
00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:54,920
comedic improvisers we could
have, you have a very
429
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,160
constrained improv task where
all you're saying is like words
430
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,680
versus like completely doing a
monologue or a solilokey, right?
431
00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:04,440
So it's like, that's a spectrum
of creativity, right?
432
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,320
And so with our comedian, we
created several paradigms to
433
00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,840
kind of look at what is it like
to go from something that's
434
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,920
narrowly creative versus really
creative, right?
435
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:16,640
And so, yeah, it's taken a lot
of creativity, honestly, from
436
00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,400
Charles and I to come up with
these paradigms.
437
00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,720
But that's partially why I love
it, you know, because I think
438
00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:27,200
both of us are artists and
musicians and and, you know,
439
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,360
scientists.
He's a surgeon and APHD.
440
00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:32,640
But so we're polymats and we
like both parts using both parts
441
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:34,360
of these, the sides of
ourselves.
442
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:38,000
And so I love having to use
creativity and be like, OK, I
443
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,640
can make this rigorous for
science, but I can still study
444
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,720
the arts and creativity, right?
In a way that's that's fun.
445
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:46,800
That's like going to make a
difference, so.
446
00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:51,160
Can I ask, just out of
curiosity, what your definition
447
00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,000
of creativity is?
Yeah.
448
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,560
So when I say creativity, at
least in the in the, you know,
449
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,480
context of my work, I basically
mean improvisation.
450
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,560
And I specifically mean improv
as a form of like generative
451
00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,920
creativity.
So meaning that you generate
452
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:06,560
material on the spot
spontaneously without having
453
00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,200
mapped it out, which as we said,
is kind of like a different
454
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,240
creativity than like playing
classical music where you again
455
00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:13,880
have constraints.
You know exactly what you're
456
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,680
going to play, but you get to
play with the tempo or the
457
00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:18,920
expression or, you know, things
like that.
458
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,800
So when I say creativity, I mean
artistic creativity.
459
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:25,120
I mean improvisation.
I mean generative creativity.
460
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,040
Cool, cool.
Yeah, because the way that I
461
00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:29,480
always thought of it and the way
that I like to think of it is
462
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,160
kind of A and again, you
mentioned this sort of towards
463
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:36,920
the beginning of the interview
already, but it's a lot to do
464
00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,600
with our associations.
And because all of us have our
465
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:43,240
own very subjective experiences,
what makes our creativity so
466
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,200
much fun is that there's no two
people with the same
467
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,320
experiences, no two people in
genetics.
468
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,200
And So what they would if you if
I asked you what do you
469
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:54,400
associate with B.B.
King?
470
00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:56,800
You and I will have very
different answers.
471
00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:00,880
My only association with him
might be this, do this duets
472
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,520
album that he has and I'm
associating him with with other
473
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:04,720
artists.
And you could associate him as,
474
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,520
as a, as a Blues, you know, a
performer by himself and and
475
00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,080
what you get.
There are totally different
476
00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,640
universes, even though we're
talking about the same subject.
477
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:14,320
Yeah.
And I think that's actually the
478
00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,240
beauty of the arts, right?
That it is very, you know, we we
479
00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,120
talk about music and music
exists in a culture, right?
480
00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:22,880
And exists in a context.
So that's me wearing my my
481
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:26,120
historical musicology hat.
That music has a context and
482
00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:28,960
culture and no artist creates in
a vacuum.
483
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,160
They were influenced by so many
different things.
484
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,040
And so it's, it's interesting
trying to blend these things,
485
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,200
you know, in the, in musicology
and in the arts.
486
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,160
We understand that arts have a
context, but at the same time, I
487
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,840
think sometimes our science is
all about trying to find what is
488
00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,120
common to a bunch of things,
what is replicable, rigorous.
489
00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:50,400
And so I think we, we, we found
a good way to navigate both,
490
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,160
right?
We do the group size, what that
491
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,880
we call cohort studies.
When you take a bunch of people
492
00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,000
and you average all the results
together, We do that because
493
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,160
that is what we need for
science, right?
494
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,040
Reprint, you know, rigor,
reproducibility, but then we're
495
00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,000
also doing these case series
because as Charles and I talked
496
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,640
about and like as an artist, you
would never say like Renee
497
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:11,920
Fleming is the same as Coltrane,
right?
498
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,920
Like we're all artists, we're
both all they're all equally
499
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,560
talented, but they do really
different things.
500
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:19,680
So why would you average them
together, right?
501
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,760
And so that's why we do these
case studies because I'm like,
502
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,720
you know, and Esperanza Spalding
is different from her Romy.
503
00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,120
They're both top of their game
and jazz right now, but their
504
00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:32,120
braids probably have these
unique things that make them
505
00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:35,040
them as well as like, you know,
when they create, you have their
506
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,360
unique voice, right?
Everyone brings their, their
507
00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:39,120
experiences to their
performance.
508
00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:43,120
So This is why we advocated for
using a case study approach too.
509
00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:45,680
Now, of course, the, the hard
part about it from a science
510
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:48,600
perspective, they're like, well,
if it's only an N = 1, right?
511
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:52,440
If you only have one case study,
you can't, you can't generalize
512
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:53,840
to the rest of the people,
right?
513
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:55,880
Like Esperanza Spalding isn't
like the rest.
514
00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,200
I'm like, understandable.
And that is a fair, fair
515
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:00,600
critique.
Of course we can't generalize
516
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:03,800
Esperanza's brain into somebody
else's, but maybe there's
517
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,200
something we can learn like the
more of these case studies we
518
00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:09,000
do, maybe there is then we can
there's maybe patterns that come
519
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,040
out or there's things that we
learn just from looking at
520
00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,200
somebody's unique brain, right?
It's just like, yeah, but when
521
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,680
people studied Beethoven's
brain, I'm pretty sure they
522
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:20,440
analyzed Beethoven's brain,
Einstein's brain, all these
523
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,280
greats throughout history.
There probably are things that
524
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:25,760
make them very unique.
And then there's probably things
525
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:29,520
that are pretty common to high
achieving scientists, artists,
526
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,840
etcetera too.
So I think it's a it's, it's
527
00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:35,840
we're always mirroring both.
And to be fair, the whole field
528
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,360
of neuroscience of creativity is
relatively young.
529
00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:42,200
I mean, Doctor Lamb Charles says
that when he started this, there
530
00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:43,920
was not a lot of people doing
it.
531
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,840
And now we have an entire
academic society, the Society
532
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,200
for the Neuroscience of
Creativity, that does work in
533
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:52,880
this field.
So it's changed a lot, just even
534
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,680
in like 25 years.
So it's really exciting.
535
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,120
It's really exciting because,
because, because we could see
536
00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,600
that there are benefits and I
want to talk to you about some
537
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:02,400
of them and one of the benefits
potentially.
538
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,520
And again with creativity and,
and this is an observation that
539
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,160
I've had and I wonder what you
think about it.
540
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:11,360
I've noticed that a lot of the
great improv improvisers or the
541
00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:18,160
improv, Oh my gosh, players or
bands all tend to be extremely
542
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,960
steeped in a lot of different
types of musical backgrounds.
543
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:24,480
And so whether you're talking
about The Allman Brothers or
544
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:26,120
you're talking about the
Grateful Dead, you're talking
545
00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:28,520
about Billy Strings, you're
talking about even Ella
546
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,560
Fitzgerald.
And again, we, I think we talked
547
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:35,920
to you about in Doctor Dan
Levitan's book about her, her
548
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,280
scatting, I believe, or maybe I
don't remember if I talked to
549
00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:39,760
you about that.
But then you know that there's
550
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:43,880
something about the like what
you said, the, the, the vocals,
551
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,320
the words as opposed to just
playing where you can kind of
552
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,800
riff based on your, on your
experiences.
553
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:53,760
It it almost seems that in order
to be able to be a great
554
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,680
improviser, you got to be able
to have a big pool of data to
555
00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:58,000
draw from.
Yes.
556
00:26:58,040 --> 00:26:59,520
And in fact, that's actually
here.
557
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:01,920
I'm going to pause one second
because I hear my husband
558
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,000
starting to play cello.
So I'm going to just.
559
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:06,960
There you go.
Yeah, thank you.
560
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,480
So yeah your to your point about
that a lot of the great
561
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,800
improvisers have a lot of
knowledge of different genres or
562
00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:14,480
if you I think that's absolutely
true.
563
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:18,280
So there have been theorists who
have put forth these frameworks
564
00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:21,360
for improvisation and for
example, pressing.
565
00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:25,040
Pressing is someone who
theorized like how do people
566
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:26,640
improvise?
Like what is the process?
567
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,000
And what he basically says in,
and I'm summarizing, it's
568
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,480
basically that if you're really
experienced improviser, you have
569
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,240
all these licks and schemas in
your head, right?
570
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:38,320
You've played all the scales,
you know the scheme, you know
571
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:42,120
the licks, you know what to do.
And so then when you get very
572
00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:45,280
good at it and you've practiced
all those that knowledge and
573
00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,840
it's at your fingertips or your
mouth or whatever it is, then
574
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:50,600
when you sit down to just
create, you're not playing for
575
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:52,280
nothing.
You're just concatenating and
576
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,040
bringing things together in
really unique ways on the spot.
577
00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,480
But it's not that you're
actually pulling from thin air.
578
00:27:57,480 --> 00:27:59,600
You're actually pulling from a
lot of knowledge.
579
00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:01,960
So you know, and that's
something like, for example,
580
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:05,280
Zakir Hussein, who's the
greatest Dublin master that ever
581
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:07,080
lived.
He just passed away in December.
582
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,320
But one of the things that was
really great about him is not
583
00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:13,160
only is he fantastic at Dubla,
which is Hindustani classical
584
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,280
percussion improvisation, but he
was genre bending, right?
585
00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,080
He would work with jazz
musicians or you know, and I
586
00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:20,760
love that.
I love, I love artists who
587
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:25,160
really kind of go outside their
normal routine and can work with
588
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,440
all sorts of different artists
and create something really new.
589
00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:30,360
I know yo-yo Ma as a classical
musician does that too, right?
590
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:34,440
So I think This is why we love
the idea of looking at each
591
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,800
artist.
Each artist has their own unique
592
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:38,680
way of things and recombining
things.
593
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,640
And I think this is where the
case study approach has a lot of
594
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:44,800
benefit, even if it means we
can't generalize to the whole
595
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:46,880
population.
Definitely, definitely,
596
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:48,800
definitely.
And I'm also, and I also wonder
597
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,920
if you were to tell someone,
hey, if you want, if you want a
598
00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:54,720
healthier brain or a little bit
more of a if you want to
599
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,320
experience a more
neurogeneration or more
600
00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:01,920
neuroplasticity would expose
themselves to more and different
601
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:05,440
types of either music or just in
general different types of
602
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,960
information be a necessary
requirement in order to do so.
603
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,880
Yeah, absolutely.
So that was definitely the focus
604
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,880
of my PhD is like I would say as
a researcher that if you want to
605
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:21,120
increase neuroplasticity, right,
you should learn new skills, do
606
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,200
things that are complex and
multimodal.
607
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:27,200
So when I say that the reason
music is very powerful as a tool
608
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,840
for neurogenesis, for
neuroplasticity, is because
609
00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,360
music involves so many different
activities and processes and
610
00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,120
domestics, right?
There's pattern recognition and
611
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,200
emotional processing and sound
matching and moving your body
612
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,800
and moving your fingers and
matching to space and your
613
00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:45,560
memory.
And so because of that, I often
614
00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:48,160
say that that's why music is
biologically powerful.
615
00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:50,960
So let's say you were, and you
know, a lot of the research
616
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:55,600
shows if you play music, if you
try it as a new skill, it does
617
00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:58,280
do great things for the brain.
And this is particularly
618
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:00,520
important because if you think
about it from the opposite
619
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:04,280
spectrum, by the time we get
old, right, when we're older,
620
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,520
there are neurodegenerative
disorders, right?
621
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:08,240
There's Parkinson's and
Alzheimer's.
622
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:09,960
That's from the death of
neurons, right?
623
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,440
So if you can do things like
music, which almost will serve
624
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:16,040
as a prophylactic kind of thing
where you're increasing
625
00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:18,760
neurogenesis, right?
That helps combat this kind of
626
00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:21,240
cognitive decline that's going
to happen with age for all of
627
00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,880
us.
So I for a long time, I've
628
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,560
always told everyone do music,
you know, like even listening to
629
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:29,960
music is good, listening to new
things is good, but actually
630
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:33,360
doing it to like that procedure,
cubedral memory of trying to do
631
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,400
something is really important.
And if you're not into music,
632
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:37,720
there are other things you can
do, right?
633
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:39,720
That's why people recommend
things like learning new
634
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:43,040
languages or crossword puzzles
or doing a new learning a new
635
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,520
art form, right.
But I do think music is as a, as
636
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,160
a researcher studies music, I
think music is particularly
637
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,760
powerful because it is so
multimodal is draws from sound
638
00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,400
and pattern recognition and
emotion and, and everything
639
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:57,000
language.
And so it's all, it's very
640
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,480
powerful when packaged together.
I love that.
641
00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:02,440
I really do Okay, I want to talk
about perception a little bit.
642
00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:04,480
I'm really excited about
perception because.
643
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:08,800
And I have a, I guess I have
maybe one example that I've
644
00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:10,200
given before the podcast, but
I've.
645
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,640
So I for many years, I was a
Bruce Springsteen nut.
646
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,360
Yeah, many of us.
And I found really, really,
647
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,240
really that he had, as far as
I'm concerned, save my life in
648
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,920
emotional way, emotional ways
throughout the years and the
649
00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:28,840
biggest risks and the times that
I've really had to step up to
650
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:32,160
the plate.
Most of my life I was I was
651
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,280
helped along by his lyrics and
his music.
652
00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:40,400
And then I tried showing his to
my high school students and I
653
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,440
found that they weren't as crazy
about it as I was.
654
00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:48,640
And so I, so I tried an
experiment, my own self
655
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,200
experiment as a high school
teacher, where I played the song
656
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,800
Badlands from then the
Springsteen song Badlands every
657
00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:58,200
day for four days.
It's a, it's a, it's a school
658
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,240
week.
And I asked them to point out
659
00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:02,600
what they noticed about the song
the first day and then the
660
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:04,080
second day, the third day and
the fourth day.
661
00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:07,400
And as music became more
familiar to their ear and as
662
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,880
they became to and as the song
wasn't so strange because they,
663
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,320
you know, they're not hearing
this new rock tone, rhythm,
664
00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:17,360
whatever it is, for the first
time, they started to notice
665
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:21,720
drum fills and guitar riffs and
specific lyrics that jump out at
666
00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:23,320
them.
And the way that I like to set
667
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,080
the way that the metaphor that I
walked away from with is almost
668
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,200
like when you meet someone for
the first time, you judge them
669
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,360
initially based on the most
external aspects of them.
670
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:32,960
And then as you get to talk to
them.
671
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:34,640
Oh, you like music too?
I like music too.
672
00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:36,200
You like psychology.
I like psychology.
673
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:37,960
You have a family.
I have a family All of a sudden
674
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:41,200
you, even though I would have,
you know, I would have judged
675
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,800
one way, as I got to know you a
little bit more, my perception
676
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,360
evolves and my and I'm able to
notice more nuance.
677
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:50,240
I feel like that's the way that
we actually go ahead about
678
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:52,440
processing things like music as
well.
679
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:54,280
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
680
00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:56,920
Yeah, absolutely.
So I wish I could remember
681
00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,720
exactly who the author of this
paper is, but there was AAI
682
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:03,560
think I want music theorist or
musicologist who talked about,
683
00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,200
you know, if you're reading a
detective story, you get
684
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:09,680
something on the first reading,
then the second reading and the
685
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:11,320
third reading, right?
So if you were reading a
686
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:13,560
detective story, right, the
first reading, you're just like,
687
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,160
OK, I want to know who did it,
You know, like, OK, does this
688
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:16,880
all make sense?
Right.
689
00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:21,040
But then you can still go back
and read a mystery novel again,
690
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:23,840
because then we're like, oh,
were there clues all along?
691
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:24,960
Like should I have seen
something?
692
00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:28,160
And then then 30, I picked up
all these details I didn't
693
00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:30,440
notice the first time, right?
Which is kind of like analogous
694
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:33,160
to your saying that like when we
see each other, there's only the
695
00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:36,520
surface things before you get to
deeper, deeper meaning and deep
696
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:39,760
in common underground.
So we so someone in I'll have to
697
00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:42,560
find the paper for you later.
But someone also said it's
698
00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:45,560
analogous to music listenings
where you have a first hearing,
699
00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:47,160
a second hearing and a third
hearing.
700
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:50,840
So maybe on the first hearing,
you're just getting very surface
701
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:52,600
things like how long is the
piece?
702
00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:54,360
What's the general feel, things
like that.
703
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:56,360
But by second hearing, you're
starting to know where is it
704
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,480
going?
What are the details?
705
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,360
What do the lyrics really mean?
And you know, and then by the
706
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:03,720
third hearing, you're getting
all those smaller details like
707
00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:05,760
where is their silence?
Where are their drum fills?
708
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,280
Where does it like pick up and
if the chorus sounds really
709
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:11,159
different, right?
And I think with any what
710
00:34:11,159 --> 00:34:14,639
beautiful art, whether that's
writing music, whatever, you
711
00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:18,320
gain a lot from multiple
hearings and I think or multiple
712
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:20,280
listenings, hearings, readings,
etcetera.
713
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:23,760
I think definitely with music,
and that's something I think is
714
00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:26,239
very hard for a lot of people
who need to classical music.
715
00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,239
It has a complexity, you know,
like the first time you hear it,
716
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:30,719
you're not going to grab
everything.
717
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,800
There's too many chords that go
so it's 1/2 hour piece.
718
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:36,840
How can you take that all in the
first time that you can, right?
719
00:34:37,159 --> 00:34:39,880
But if you keep keep with it and
you keep listening to it, you
720
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:41,400
will start discovering new
things.
721
00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,880
And there is cognitive science
work that shows that familiarity
722
00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:47,320
increases liking.
The more familiar you are with
723
00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:51,560
something, the more you like it.
Now there is at the same time,
724
00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:54,639
that's with a caveat.
So there was this person who
725
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,400
designed something called the
Burline curve and they said
726
00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:00,400
really where you have your peak
interest and something is when
727
00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:04,040
it's optimum complexity.
So if it's too simple, you don't
728
00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:06,800
like it because it's boring.
If it's too hard, you can't
729
00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:08,840
understand it, right?
The optimum place where you're
730
00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:11,120
really starting to get it is
when it's like the medium, the
731
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:13,800
optimum complexity.
And I think I tie that a lot to
732
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:16,160
these listenings to write the
first at the first time, it's
733
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:17,840
too hard to understand
everything.
734
00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,280
And then if it were too simple,
you would just get bored
735
00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:22,400
eventually.
But like, good music or good art
736
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:24,680
is worth a second try where you
really are starting to bring in
737
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:27,840
all those complexities.
So basically that phenomenon
738
00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:30,800
that you notice with your high
school students is pretty much
739
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:32,600
backed up by cognitive science
as well.
740
00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:37,000
Here we go.
I'm happy to hear that.
741
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:37,920
I'm happy to hear that.
I'm not.
742
00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:42,280
That's so great.
That's so great.
743
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:43,840
Well, yeah.
And I noticed that too, by the
744
00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:45,480
way, because I was listening to.
So I was listening to a Billy
745
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:47,280
Strings song yesterday while I
was jogging.
746
00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:49,640
And obviously one of the
benefits of listening to some
747
00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:53,160
great live performers as opposed
to studio variations is that
748
00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:55,760
they tend to be a little,
especially if you're a fun
749
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:58,480
jammer, quote UN quote.
And you're and you don't then
750
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:00,440
then even though you might
recognize the bare bones of the
751
00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:03,000
song or the structure of the
song, there's something fun
752
00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:06,640
about the, the new, the, the,
the newness and the novelty to
753
00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:07,920
the jam.
Yeah.
754
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,840
And I'm listening to a song and
it's called While I'm Waiting
755
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:14,280
Here and, and I was thinking, I
just, I know I was thinking I'm
756
00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,760
jogging like I love this song.
It just is something about the
757
00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:19,240
song that really hits.
And I realized it kind of sounds
758
00:36:19,240 --> 00:36:22,800
like a lot of songs that I know,
but it's just being done really,
759
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:25,360
really like well with the cool
flair that I like.
760
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:28,360
And I and I was, and I was like,
oh, maybe that's why it's, you
761
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:30,560
know, that's why it's hitting
particularly well for me.
762
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:34,200
Whereas if there's a song whose
title I don't recognize and
763
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,840
source I don't recognize, and if
the name sounds a little weird
764
00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,080
for what I would imagine the
song, a song titled to be
765
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:43,160
called, I'm far, far more
hesitant.
766
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:45,520
Even if I love the artist and
even if I already know that I
767
00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:48,320
like the artist, I'm hesitant to
jump into it.
768
00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:52,640
And I, and, and, and I don't and
I don't, I, I one of the bigger
769
00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:54,800
struggles that I have actually,
even though I like to be open
770
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:58,120
minded, is that I'm, I am very
quick to judge books by a cover,
771
00:36:58,120 --> 00:36:59,960
by their covers.
And and it's really hard for me
772
00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:01,920
to get over.
I mean, that's also pretty
773
00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:04,160
normal, right?
So there has been work in music
774
00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:06,200
cognition about music
preferences, right?
775
00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:10,320
And music preferences are not
only shaped by biological things
776
00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:12,520
like your temperament, your
psych, you know, that you're
777
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:15,680
your natural temperament force
things, but also by like, you
778
00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:18,080
know, your culture and your
experience, your lived
779
00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:19,840
experience and things like that,
right?
780
00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:23,520
And you know, something that we
often talk about too is how do
781
00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:26,760
we define creativity, right?
A lot of the really creative
782
00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:30,760
things that we deem creative are
not so completely novel that you
783
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:32,240
can't even recognize them,
right?
784
00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:35,400
Like, you know, I think there's
this idea that creative things
785
00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:40,160
are things that are useful and
novel and like recombine
786
00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,240
familiar elements.
I mean, I always think about
787
00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:44,200
this, like when Harry Potter
came on the scene.
788
00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:46,560
I, I think it's hugely creative
back from when we were young,
789
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:49,440
right in the 90s and stuff.
But it, it does use tropes,
790
00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:51,400
right?
Like Harry Palmiter uses, you
791
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:54,160
know, the boarding school, the
British boarding school, magic
792
00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:56,560
things.
But the way that she recombined
793
00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:58,960
them was so unique for the time,
right?
794
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:02,440
And so a lot of what we think is
create creative is also
795
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:05,200
sometimes just about recombining
them in a really cool
796
00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:06,840
juxtaposition that we hadn't
seen.
797
00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:09,560
I mean, that I think goes back
to what we're saying with jazz
798
00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:12,440
and improv, right.
They're not pulling it from out
799
00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:14,840
of thin air, even though it
seems to imagine playground.
800
00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:16,320
Yeah, there's still a
playground.
801
00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:18,560
There's still some structure.
They're still playing schemas
802
00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:21,400
and licks and things like that.
Like if you were going to take I
803
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:22,600
like.
So one of the things I love is
804
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:26,600
Coltrane's my my Favorite Things
from Sound of Music.
805
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:28,320
Well, you start with a lick,
right?
806
00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:30,920
The, you know, my favorite
things, and then he improvises
807
00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:33,280
on it.
But like if he improvised so far
808
00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:35,520
that it broke down and you
couldn't even hear that was my
809
00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:38,040
favorite things anymore.
Probably not as enjoyable,
810
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:39,800
right.
The reason it's enjoyable is it
811
00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:43,360
has that familiarity.
Like it still sounds like my
812
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:47,320
favorite things, but done so
well, you know, so I, I, I think
813
00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:50,000
that's completely normal.
Like your experience, not only
814
00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:52,600
is there interaction with, you
know, like I said that your
815
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:54,920
biological and your
psychological temperament, but
816
00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:59,000
then there's also this idea that
like it's familiar enough, but
817
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:01,560
novel enough that it's both
creating of an interest.
818
00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:02,280
I.
Have to check that out.
819
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:03,800
I have to check that out.
I might.
820
00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:06,840
One of my favorite examples of
that is Duke Ellington
821
00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:10,360
Nutcracker.
Yeah, Oh my God, it's so much.
822
00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:14,360
It's so cool, yeah.
And then you're like, and you're
823
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,040
like, yeah.
What would Kaikowski think?
824
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:19,400
But he'd probably love it, yeah.
Totally.
825
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,040
And what I, what I've done is
and what I, what I like to do is
826
00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:24,160
I do creative writing
assignments in my class where
827
00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,680
I'll just play all, you know,
instrumental music and I have
828
00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:31,000
the class write what pops into
their mind, what associations
829
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:32,320
and imagery pops into their
mind.
830
00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:36,840
And, and what's fun is to do
comparative, I'll play the nut
831
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:39,560
Nutcracker and then I'll play
Duke Ellington's The Nutcracker.
832
00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:42,000
I just see, like, does this take
you to the same place?
833
00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,520
Where does this take you to and
how and how does it how does it
834
00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:47,080
differ?
What aspects of music causes the
835
00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:48,320
change?
And I try to actually get them
836
00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:50,920
to identify.
Is it the fact that it's a brass
837
00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:53,520
section that changes things?
Is the fact that it's a horn
838
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:56,800
section that creates a new world
in your head as opposed to just
839
00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,760
a soft piano?
So it's really cool, the
840
00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:03,800
cochlear implants and the
trouble in perception with music
841
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:06,120
as opposed to speech.
Yeah, let's talk about that.
842
00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:08,920
Yeah.
So if you think about speech
843
00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:12,160
versus music, music is actually
one of the richest acoustic
844
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:16,720
stimuli we ever hear as humans.
So what I mean by that is music
845
00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:21,040
offer goes through a much wider
pitch range than speech.
846
00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:24,080
Speech is in a much more narrow.
We also have wider dynamics,
847
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,800
right, like much more sound, you
know, soft and loud.
848
00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,120
We have a lot more different
tambers.
849
00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:32,640
You know, in speech, we have
female male voices and there's
850
00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:34,480
different tambers.
But then think about how many
851
00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:37,360
instruments there are, right?
And so that's it's, it's
852
00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:41,560
basically music is much more
acoustically rich than speech if
853
00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:42,840
you just look at them as
stimuli.
854
00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,040
And for that reason, you know,
cochlear implants are amazing
855
00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:48,320
devices, right?
And that they help people Now
856
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:50,960
here again.
But what happens is the cochlear
857
00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:55,080
implant has like 12 electrodes
in this little implant device
858
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,400
that's supposed to stimulate the
thousands of hair cells that you
859
00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:00,760
would normally have, right?
If in the human ear.
860
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:05,000
And there's no way 12 to 24
electrodes could simulate, like,
861
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:07,680
be as pristine as thousands and
thousands of hair cells.
862
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:10,720
And so that's why there's a
technological limitation for why
863
00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:14,360
cochlear implants can't pick up
all the richness of things like
864
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:16,920
music and speech.
And so really right now, what
865
00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:19,600
the research field is trying to
figure out is, OK, well, what
866
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:22,200
does music sound like to a
cochlear implant user?
867
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:25,040
And, you know, and it, it really
varies, you know, for kids who
868
00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:27,440
get cochlear implants, let's say
you had a deaf child and they
869
00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:30,440
get implanted early.
They adapt very well, again, not
870
00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:33,640
surprisingly, because they have
very plastic brains, right?
871
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,760
They're developing.
So the brain's already going
872
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,680
undergoing a lot of structure.
It's not hard to get used to,
873
00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:41,480
you know, to remodel itself and
get used to listening to a
874
00:41:41,480 --> 00:41:43,520
cochlear implant.
But let's say you're an older
875
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:44,960
person getting a cochlear
implant.
876
00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:48,000
Well, it is going to be harder
to train your brain to hear now
877
00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:50,440
with this device instead of, you
know, your ears.
878
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:54,040
And so we are trying to look at
what how do music, how do
879
00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:56,480
cochlear implant users hear
music?
880
00:41:56,720 --> 00:41:59,200
And how is that different from
something like a hearing aid?
881
00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:01,480
You know, so the cochlear
implant actually replaces all
882
00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:03,960
those thousands of hair cells in
your cochlea, right?
883
00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:06,680
A hearing aid is different.
It just amplifies.
884
00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:09,240
It's like an acoustic signal
just amplifies what you might
885
00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:11,360
not hear very well.
And then that's really different
886
00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,120
from someone who's deaf.
So I've learned recently that
887
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:17,000
how the deaf experience music is
also very unique.
888
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:19,680
So people are like, well, deaf
individuals can't hear music.
889
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:22,760
Maybe they don't hear music.
They don't perceive music the
890
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:25,400
way you and I would, but they
definitely hear music.
891
00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:27,640
And the reason what they would
do it is they can feel the
892
00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:29,400
vibrations.
For example, I've seen a lot of
893
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:32,400
deaf individuals hold like
balloons or things like that on
894
00:42:32,400 --> 00:42:33,880
there and they can feel the
vibrations.
895
00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:36,880
Particularly if you go to a show
like Stomp or, you know, taiko
896
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:39,080
drumming, something that has
really good rhythm, they can
897
00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:41,400
feel that.
But I've also learned from my
898
00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:44,680
colleague Annabelle Monahan that
the deaf community, you know,
899
00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:47,080
will sign music.
And what they do is they sign
900
00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:50,120
the music very differently for
music versus something like
901
00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:52,720
poetry or language, like their
expression in using sign
902
00:42:52,720 --> 00:42:55,120
language.
So really this idea of music in
903
00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:59,000
the hard of hearing is really
fascinating because it's not
904
00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:01,840
that they don't hear music, they
don't hear it the way we do,
905
00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:04,800
basically.
Cool, that's amazing.
906
00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:12,000
I I while you're speaking, I was
curious when you were describing
907
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:14,960
the issue with the cochlear
implant that the fact that you
908
00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:18,120
know, it's using 1212 electrode
electrodes is that.
909
00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:20,880
Yeah, 12, like 12 to 24
electrodes that are trying to
910
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:23,960
replace the thousands of hair
cells that you would normally
911
00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:27,040
have.
But the but but kids seem to be
912
00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:29,560
able to adapt faster.
Would that indicate that there's
913
00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:35,920
more than just the, the, the,
the cochlear that there's more,
914
00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:39,600
there's more to the way that we
perceive music than just that.
915
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:42,120
It's also about our, our brains
ability to translate that.
916
00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:44,920
And so if you're a kid, you
might be more likely to be able
917
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:48,480
to do more with less.
And when you're adult or getting
918
00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:52,120
older, your brain already has
learned at that point to not use
919
00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:55,400
that part of your brain your.
Body, yeah, think about it this
920
00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:57,560
way, you know so if you think
about hearing as a peripheral
921
00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:00,400
thing so it's not just that the
the cochlear implant, there's a
922
00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:03,960
signal your brain, your cortex
has to interpret these signals,
923
00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:05,960
right.
And in many ways, you know, a
924
00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:09,800
lot of kids will often be very
happy with their cochlear
925
00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:13,000
implants have high device
satisfaction because they don't
926
00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:14,800
really have anything to compare
it to, right?
927
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:18,640
If they never heard music, quote
UN quote, normally music still
928
00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:22,480
sounds great in a code, right
but but then pretend you are an
929
00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:26,320
adult and you were a musician
for example and then you lost
930
00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:28,120
your hearing because you
suddenly had an illness or
931
00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:29,880
something and you have to get a
cochlear implant.
932
00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:32,760
Well, then you have all this
lived experience too, right?
933
00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:36,360
Trying to compare what music
sounds like now with your
934
00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:38,880
cochlear implant versus what it
used to sound like, right?
935
00:44:38,880 --> 00:44:41,240
And that's like any sort of
prosthetic device.
936
00:44:41,240 --> 00:44:43,800
If you were used to having your
arms and your legs, and now you
937
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:46,560
have to adjust to a device,
you're gonna be comparing it to
938
00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:48,120
what it used to feel like,
right?
939
00:44:48,600 --> 00:44:51,720
And so that's the music.
Expression different among among
940
00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:56,600
those kids is do they learn.
What we find is that the kids, a
941
00:44:56,600 --> 00:44:59,720
lot of the research shows that
kids have better music
942
00:44:59,720 --> 00:45:01,960
perception than adult cochlear
implant users.
943
00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:05,640
So like not only are they better
able to hear music with their
944
00:45:05,640 --> 00:45:08,200
devices, but you can train them
too.
945
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:11,360
So let's say I use musical
training as like a targeted like
946
00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:13,760
intervention to see if I can
increase your music person.
947
00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:15,840
Like, OK, you're, you're bad at
hearing melody.
948
00:45:15,840 --> 00:45:18,360
Let me give you lots of melodies
to listen to and then test and
949
00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:20,680
see how you do.
Kids do way better.
950
00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:23,080
They've had much bigger
experiment like effects of
951
00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:26,200
learning from these music
interventions compared to
952
00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:28,120
adults.
And so we do think there is this
953
00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:31,000
kind of plasticity, just like,
you know, how kids can learn
954
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:33,040
languages very easily when
they're young.
955
00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:36,680
This is like critical period for
us to learn language well, and
956
00:45:36,680 --> 00:45:37,920
it's harder when you're an
adult.
957
00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:40,840
Not that you can't learn a new
language, but it's a lot more
958
00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:43,120
effort, that sort of thing.
That's kind of the same thing
959
00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:45,680
that we're seeing.
Kids can just adapt so easily
960
00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:48,360
compared to those of us who
would have to adapt later and
961
00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:50,240
work harder for the same same
results.
962
00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:52,400
That's so interesting.
It's really cool.
963
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:54,160
So what?
So if I'm understanding
964
00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:58,800
correctly, adults seem to
struggle.
965
00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:01,040
There are people, you know,
people that have already got had
966
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:05,560
associations and and and
memories and expectations have a
967
00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:10,080
harder time using the cochlear
implants because they already
968
00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:13,640
have a perception of what things
should be and the are not
969
00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:17,160
creating that and won't have
such an issue.
970
00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:20,800
And so they are not as dependent
on.
971
00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:24,560
So it sounds like the implants
are more of a bridge than they
972
00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:28,680
are actual means to actually
hear processor.
973
00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:31,240
Yeah.
And I feel, feel like we
974
00:46:31,240 --> 00:46:34,000
haven't, you know, Charles and I
have talked about this like if
975
00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:37,080
we had to lose any sense
hearing, you know, sight,
976
00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:39,200
whatever.
I mean, even though I'm a
977
00:46:39,200 --> 00:46:42,640
musician, I would still want to
lose hearing simply because
978
00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:45,600
we've gotten the farthest in
terms of perfect sensory
979
00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:48,760
restoration, Right.
So the cochlear implants are
980
00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:51,080
remarkable devices.
They really like change your,
981
00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:53,680
your life in terms of being able
to not hear and then suddenly
982
00:46:53,680 --> 00:46:56,080
you can hear.
But where we are is it's not
983
00:46:56,080 --> 00:46:59,120
perfect yet, right?
And so there are things you can
984
00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:01,000
do, right?
So there are technical logical
985
00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:03,480
limitations, but cochlear
implant manufacturers are
986
00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:06,200
constantly playing with, well,
can we change the programming?
987
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:09,160
How do we update the processor?
Can we do other things that will
988
00:47:09,160 --> 00:47:10,520
improve it?
And you know, then there's
989
00:47:10,520 --> 00:47:12,520
researchers like me who are
like, well, if we put you
990
00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:14,280
through training, can we change
things?
991
00:47:14,680 --> 00:47:17,520
But then there's also what we
call other determinants of
992
00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:19,360
health.
So something that my lab now
993
00:47:19,360 --> 00:47:22,200
studies with Doctor Nicole Jim,
she and I run a lab together in
994
00:47:22,200 --> 00:47:25,600
otolaryngology is we're looking
specifically at this early
995
00:47:25,600 --> 00:47:28,960
auditory rehabilitation period.
So what are you like right
996
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:31,000
before you go in for your
surgery and you get your implant
997
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:33,680
versus one month, three months,
six months, right?
998
00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:35,760
And there's actually a lot of
variability.
999
00:47:35,760 --> 00:47:38,680
So some people, let's just say
even adults, some people do
1000
00:47:38,680 --> 00:47:41,760
great with their device.
They're like, they work very
1001
00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:44,160
hard.
They do they go to every single
1002
00:47:44,160 --> 00:47:47,560
follow up appointment, you know,
they spend time listening to
1003
00:47:47,560 --> 00:47:49,960
sound, watching subtitles,
really working and trying to get
1004
00:47:49,960 --> 00:47:52,480
used to their their cochlear
implant.
1005
00:47:52,720 --> 00:47:54,840
But then there's others who
don't do as well.
1006
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:57,600
Maybe this could be a case too.
You hear it, it doesn't sound
1007
00:47:57,600 --> 00:47:59,440
good to you.
So you feel like, oh, was this
1008
00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:01,360
worth me going through this
painful surgery?
1009
00:48:01,560 --> 00:48:03,920
Now I'm upset with this device.
I don't want to use it, so I
1010
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:06,080
take it off and I don't use it.
Well, if you don't use it,
1011
00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:07,600
you're never going to get better
at it, right.
1012
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:10,360
So this is something that I
often counsel people is like,
1013
00:48:10,360 --> 00:48:14,600
yes, it's a huge transition to
go through the surgery, but it's
1014
00:48:14,680 --> 00:48:17,920
like music, you know, when we
sit down and play as musicians,
1015
00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:19,720
we don't sound perfect right off
the bat.
1016
00:48:19,720 --> 00:48:22,600
We sound like beginners every
time we learn a new piece.
1017
00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:24,960
Practice makes perfect.
You have to practice to get
1018
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:26,720
better.
Same thing with your cochlear
1019
00:48:26,720 --> 00:48:28,280
implant.
You're going to have to practice
1020
00:48:28,280 --> 00:48:31,960
using it to get better at it.
So if you get frustrated right
1021
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:34,520
off the bat and take it off and
don't use it, well, you're never
1022
00:48:34,520 --> 00:48:36,880
going to get better, right?
And so we're really starting to
1023
00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:40,320
learn about like, how can we
counsel patients to better set
1024
00:48:40,320 --> 00:48:43,120
up expectations?
And normally that maybe we will
1025
00:48:43,120 --> 00:48:45,360
have predictors of like we'll,
we'll maybe we'll have
1026
00:48:45,360 --> 00:48:47,680
eventually like these kind of
like, you know how when you take
1027
00:48:47,680 --> 00:48:50,360
your kid to the doctor and they
have growth curves.
1028
00:48:50,360 --> 00:48:53,880
So you can be like, OK, your kid
is on track to be 6 foot 2 and
1029
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:57,080
then a percentile, right?
We don't have any sort of those
1030
00:48:57,080 --> 00:48:59,920
kind of developmental curves for
cochlear implant users.
1031
00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:02,280
We can't say like, OK, you're on
track to be a really good
1032
00:49:02,280 --> 00:49:04,560
performer or you're on track and
you're not doing as well as you
1033
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:07,080
should be at this, this
rehabilitation, Mark, we need to
1034
00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:09,640
intervene and do better, right?
So that's the kind of work that
1035
00:49:09,640 --> 00:49:12,560
our lab is doing now.
Like imagine if we could have
1036
00:49:12,560 --> 00:49:15,320
that analogous, you know, growth
curve and we could tell
1037
00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:18,200
patients, OK, I can see you're
not doing as well as you need to
1038
00:49:18,200 --> 00:49:20,680
right now at the one month mark.
Let's intervene now so that
1039
00:49:20,680 --> 00:49:22,400
you'll do better at the three or
six months.
1040
00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:24,400
And then or someone's doing
really I'd be like, you're doing
1041
00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:25,320
great.
You know, I think you're
1042
00:49:25,320 --> 00:49:27,520
starting to hit the limit of
what we can expect right now
1043
00:49:27,520 --> 00:49:28,640
with the cochlear implant,
right?
1044
00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:31,800
These are all things that would
help be help patients,
1045
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:36,000
especially if you think it's a
huge decision to get a cochlear
1046
00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:37,600
implant.
In fact, there's still a divide.
1047
00:49:37,600 --> 00:49:40,920
There are, you know, the deaf,
deaf community who don't ever
1048
00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:43,520
want to use cochlear implants
that just want to remain sign
1049
00:49:43,520 --> 00:49:45,520
language only, which is, you
know, totally.
1050
00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:47,440
But then there's the people who
get cochlear implants.
1051
00:49:47,440 --> 00:49:49,640
So there's even like a culture
difference between these two
1052
00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:52,000
groups.
And so our lab is is trying to
1053
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:53,960
start navigating some of these
issues.
1054
00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:57,280
I would be, I'd be really
curious and if you haven't done
1055
00:49:57,280 --> 00:50:01,320
it, I would be curious to look
into this, if what the
1056
00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:07,080
difference as far as adjusting
would be to cochlear impact,
1057
00:50:07,360 --> 00:50:10,920
cochlear patients who have a
history of playing music as
1058
00:50:10,920 --> 00:50:12,080
opposed to those who.
Don't.
1059
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:14,160
Yeah.
And unfortunately, there haven't
1060
00:50:14,160 --> 00:50:17,000
been enough yet.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1061
00:50:17,040 --> 00:50:18,840
That's a problem with a small
pool like this, right?
1062
00:50:19,320 --> 00:50:21,840
Emerging science.
Yeah, it's a small subject pool.
1063
00:50:21,840 --> 00:50:25,200
I think the first cochlear
implant was done at UCSF and I
1064
00:50:25,200 --> 00:50:29,400
want to say it wasn't even that
long ago, like 1950s, sixties,
1065
00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:30,800
something like that.
I have to look it up.
1066
00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:33,080
It's not it hasn't been a new
technology.
1067
00:50:33,320 --> 00:50:35,560
It was, but one of the first
ones was done here on the West
1068
00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:37,840
Coast.
And so, so far, we don't even
1069
00:50:37,840 --> 00:50:40,840
have enough data yet.
I I realized that I mean, it's.
1070
00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:42,960
Really good.
Because I mean, the way that
1071
00:50:42,960 --> 00:50:44,960
you're describing, it almost
sounds like you have to kind of
1072
00:50:44,960 --> 00:50:47,680
prep your brain for.
And if and if your brain is
1073
00:50:47,680 --> 00:50:49,960
already plastic from playing
different types of music, or
1074
00:50:49,960 --> 00:50:51,720
playing different types of
instruments, or doing things
1075
00:50:51,720 --> 00:50:55,040
along the way, then it might be
quicker to adapt to such a YEAH
1076
00:50:55,280 --> 00:50:56,480
transition.
Yeah.
1077
00:50:56,560 --> 00:50:59,720
And you know something I have.
So I've given a whole keynote to
1078
00:50:59,720 --> 00:51:03,200
the Hearing Loss Association of
America because we were giving
1079
00:51:03,200 --> 00:51:06,520
this expert panel in 2023.
It's called The Joy of Music.
1080
00:51:06,720 --> 00:51:09,000
And it was for all these
individuals with hearing loss
1081
00:51:09,400 --> 00:51:12,160
and as part of the expert panel,
these these people with hearing
1082
00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:14,480
less could come up and ask
specific questions, right?
1083
00:51:14,480 --> 00:51:17,560
So I would get questions like I
used to be in a choir.
1084
00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:21,520
I used to be in a a band before
I got the surgery or my hearing
1085
00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:23,080
aid.
And now everything sounds awful.
1086
00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:25,480
What should I do?
And I was like, well, you know,
1087
00:51:25,480 --> 00:51:27,320
you kind of have to go back and
practice.
1088
00:51:27,360 --> 00:51:29,320
You know, one thing I recommend
is practice the way we would
1089
00:51:29,320 --> 00:51:32,240
have as beginner, you know,
isolate, you know, practice by
1090
00:51:32,240 --> 00:51:34,240
yourself first.
Don't go straight back to the
1091
00:51:34,240 --> 00:51:35,800
group.
That's a really complex acoustic
1092
00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:37,600
situation.
Just practice by yourself.
1093
00:51:37,880 --> 00:51:42,160
Use tools right Metro gnomes
recording yourself teachers
1094
00:51:42,160 --> 00:51:43,840
right to help you get as you
adjust.
1095
00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:46,960
You can't just expect that you
will be at the top of your game
1096
00:51:46,960 --> 00:51:49,000
right away.
And, you know, I think people
1097
00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:53,120
think that musicians are, are
just naturally good and
1098
00:51:53,120 --> 00:51:56,200
naturally talented at music.
No, the fact is we work really
1099
00:51:56,200 --> 00:51:58,280
hard.
Musicians spend like for me,
1100
00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:01,840
when I was a performer, I spent
a lot of, I never relied on my
1101
00:52:01,840 --> 00:52:04,440
own ears actually.
Like, because for example, when
1102
00:52:04,440 --> 00:52:07,880
I'm playing up at the piano,
what I hear is really different
1103
00:52:07,880 --> 00:52:10,200
from what they hear at the back
of the concert hall, right?
1104
00:52:10,200 --> 00:52:12,520
Because of reverb and, and
acoustics.
1105
00:52:12,520 --> 00:52:16,240
And so I always had teachers or
recorders to help me.
1106
00:52:16,240 --> 00:52:18,800
We didn't rely on these.
And I spent a lot of time like
1107
00:52:19,000 --> 00:52:21,240
with really complex pieces.
No, you have to sit there
1108
00:52:21,440 --> 00:52:24,760
spending a lot of time isolating
the lyrics, isolating the sound,
1109
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:28,880
right hand only, left hand only,
rhythm only, melody only, right.
1110
00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:33,440
Like we spend a lot of time
taking a very complex thing and
1111
00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:36,600
putting it together.
And so basically at this hearing
1112
00:52:36,600 --> 00:52:40,000
loss Association of America
talk, I was like, OK, maybe we
1113
00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:42,880
can learn from the kind of
practice techniques that
1114
00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:46,680
musicians use to get used to
using our cochlear implant, You
1115
00:52:46,680 --> 00:52:49,400
know, And you know, it's not
perfect, but it's like, I don't
1116
00:52:49,400 --> 00:52:52,440
think people just like I used to
think in prov was like this
1117
00:52:52,440 --> 00:52:53,920
magical thing that just comes
out of nowhere.
1118
00:52:54,080 --> 00:52:56,560
People think when I sit down at
the piano, that's this magical
1119
00:52:56,560 --> 00:52:58,440
thing.
It's not though, it's hard work,
1120
00:52:58,440 --> 00:53:00,360
right?
It's hours and hours and years
1121
00:53:00,360 --> 00:53:02,840
and years of hard work.
And I'm sure you've read about
1122
00:53:02,840 --> 00:53:05,160
it, right?
This the old adage that 10,000
1123
00:53:05,160 --> 00:53:06,640
hours to become an expert,
right?
1124
00:53:06,640 --> 00:53:09,600
Like it's lots of practice.
It's not it doesn't come
1125
00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:12,040
naturally.
And then even an experienced
1126
00:53:12,040 --> 00:53:14,520
pianist like me, when I learn a
new piece and back to being a
1127
00:53:14,520 --> 00:53:17,000
beginner again, right?
It's like, all right, I have to
1128
00:53:17,000 --> 00:53:20,520
go super slow and I'm going to
go one note at a time.
1129
00:53:20,520 --> 00:53:22,240
I'm going to listen to the I
don't know what I'm doing.
1130
00:53:22,240 --> 00:53:23,800
I have to start all over again,
right?
1131
00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:27,320
And I think that's actually
humbling, but good to remember
1132
00:53:27,320 --> 00:53:30,480
right, that that's just the
experience of doing art.
1133
00:53:30,640 --> 00:53:32,560
We also.
Yeah, and then eventually you
1134
00:53:32,560 --> 00:53:36,200
come to cherish that process.
And I know that, you know that
1135
00:53:36,320 --> 00:53:39,160
I've, I've started to, in the
last bunch of years, I've had a
1136
00:53:39,160 --> 00:53:42,560
lot of firsts to my life, you
know, getting married, first
1137
00:53:42,560 --> 00:53:46,600
time having a kid, first, first,
first guitar lesson, first open
1138
00:53:46,600 --> 00:53:48,840
mic.
And every single time I do all
1139
00:53:48,840 --> 00:53:52,920
these First things, first
podcast, I, you know, I, I, I
1140
00:53:52,920 --> 00:53:56,880
have an enormous sense of fear,
but I've come to, I've come to
1141
00:53:56,880 --> 00:54:00,800
appreciate the process and, and
I've found that people are so
1142
00:54:00,800 --> 00:54:04,520
forgiving and, and saying it's
good that you're starting this
1143
00:54:04,520 --> 00:54:05,880
from the beginning.
And it, and, you know, and it's
1144
00:54:05,880 --> 00:54:08,160
really something that's more
commendable than it is that
1145
00:54:08,160 --> 00:54:11,040
everyone expects you to be a
expert at anything you do the
1146
00:54:11,040 --> 00:54:13,040
first time you pick it up.
And it's, you know, so I think
1147
00:54:13,080 --> 00:54:16,280
that's something in general that
if people in, if anyone
1148
00:54:16,280 --> 00:54:20,640
listening and people in general
want to grow and want to advance
1149
00:54:20,880 --> 00:54:23,640
to embrace the this starting
something beginning and be OK
1150
00:54:23,640 --> 00:54:26,360
with with being a beginner and
then, you know, get better.
1151
00:54:26,800 --> 00:54:27,880
Absolutely.
You know, that's something that
1152
00:54:27,880 --> 00:54:30,280
I hear all the time, right?
As someone who researches the
1153
00:54:30,280 --> 00:54:33,320
arts and music and the brain and
they're, and I very much
1154
00:54:33,320 --> 00:54:36,400
advocate everyone should do the
arts and play every day, right?
1155
00:54:36,440 --> 00:54:38,440
And they're like, but I suck at
the arts.
1156
00:54:38,440 --> 00:54:41,480
I have no talent whatsoever.
I'm like, it's not about talent,
1157
00:54:41,480 --> 00:54:45,120
it's about doing it anyway.
So like for me, I mean, OK, I'm,
1158
00:54:45,120 --> 00:54:48,840
I'm, I'm a musical expert, but
when I sit down and like
1159
00:54:49,080 --> 00:54:52,920
drawing, I draw like a musician.
I mean, I don't, it doesn't come
1160
00:54:52,920 --> 00:54:55,280
out good.
I'm back to coloring because I'm
1161
00:54:55,280 --> 00:54:57,760
learn trying to learn color
theory and shading and things
1162
00:54:57,760 --> 00:54:59,560
like that.
And that's good for me, right?
1163
00:54:59,560 --> 00:55:02,840
Like, I, I mean, how boring
would life be if we were only
1164
00:55:02,840 --> 00:55:05,840
doing the things we're good at?
I personally think it's good for
1165
00:55:05,840 --> 00:55:09,720
our ourselves and our brains to
try new things that are scary.
1166
00:55:09,960 --> 00:55:12,600
But everyone, no one, it's, it's
kind of a false belief to think
1167
00:55:12,600 --> 00:55:14,760
that you would be good at
something the first time you,
1168
00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:16,840
you do it right.
And I know that that's like a, a
1169
00:55:16,840 --> 00:55:20,040
culture of that's very like goal
oriented.
1170
00:55:20,040 --> 00:55:23,040
But if you look at the arts as a
process, the process is being
1171
00:55:23,040 --> 00:55:24,520
uncomfortable and trying new
things.
1172
00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:26,080
And it is good for your brain
because.
1173
00:55:26,360 --> 00:55:28,920
Yeah, the first time I learn a
new language, I'm going to
1174
00:55:28,920 --> 00:55:31,760
struggle.
But that struggle is part of why
1175
00:55:31,760 --> 00:55:34,840
it helps my brain, you know?
So the struggle is inherent to
1176
00:55:34,840 --> 00:55:36,120
it.
And that's, there's the beauty
1177
00:55:36,120 --> 00:55:38,160
of the struggle that is actually
good for you.
1178
00:55:38,160 --> 00:55:40,480
You know, I mean, not so hard
that you feel really
1179
00:55:40,480 --> 00:55:42,360
demotivated.
But I guess I would encourage
1180
00:55:42,360 --> 00:55:46,560
anyone who's listening that it's
always OK to try and make
1181
00:55:46,560 --> 00:55:48,080
mistakes.
And you know, here's the thing
1182
00:55:48,080 --> 00:55:49,400
too.
That's something I learned from
1183
00:55:49,400 --> 00:55:52,080
improv.
I was, you know, I, as I told
1184
00:55:52,080 --> 00:55:54,160
you, I'm a classical pianist,
and so I'm not used to
1185
00:55:54,160 --> 00:55:55,920
improvising.
But every now and then Charles
1186
00:55:55,920 --> 00:55:57,600
would be like, come on, just
come play with me.
1187
00:55:57,960 --> 00:56:00,560
And I was like, I don't like it.
What if I make a mistake, you
1188
00:56:00,560 --> 00:56:02,400
know?
And he'd be like, so make a
1189
00:56:02,400 --> 00:56:05,640
mistake and then do it again and
then do it again and then do it
1190
00:56:05,640 --> 00:56:07,160
again.
And it's no longer a mistake,
1191
00:56:07,160 --> 00:56:08,320
right?
And that's something my husband
1192
00:56:08,320 --> 00:56:10,840
also echoes, right?
The idea of improv is it just
1193
00:56:10,840 --> 00:56:13,680
kind of take it as it comes.
There are no mistakes.
1194
00:56:13,680 --> 00:56:15,000
You did it.
You did it again.
1195
00:56:15,000 --> 00:56:17,040
Just do it again deliberately
until it gives you your next
1196
00:56:17,040 --> 00:56:19,280
idea, right?
And I think that's a very
1197
00:56:19,280 --> 00:56:22,600
beautiful philosophy, right,
that there are no mistakes.
1198
00:56:22,600 --> 00:56:25,960
You just try and you try again.
And you know, I think, and maybe
1199
00:56:25,960 --> 00:56:29,160
this is a nice leading to my my
study with the kids is like, you
1200
00:56:29,160 --> 00:56:31,320
know, we watch kids who are
really creative.
1201
00:56:32,040 --> 00:56:34,200
I don't know about your kids.
My kids love doing like it
1202
00:56:34,200 --> 00:56:37,200
doesn't matter that he doesn't
know how to bake or be an
1203
00:56:37,200 --> 00:56:39,720
architect or guard and he's
going to do it anyways.
1204
00:56:39,720 --> 00:56:42,320
And he finds it fun, right?
And we noticed that kids are
1205
00:56:42,360 --> 00:56:44,880
just kind of very creative in a
way that's different from
1206
00:56:44,880 --> 00:56:46,960
adults, right?
Like obviously adult has lived
1207
00:56:46,960 --> 00:56:49,640
experiences and voice and domain
knowledge, right?
1208
00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:52,080
Like if you're at Esperanza
Spalding, you've been doing
1209
00:56:52,080 --> 00:56:54,800
music for a long time.
So you obviously are drawing on
1210
00:56:54,800 --> 00:56:57,000
that where as a kid who's like,
well, I'm just going to go bang
1211
00:56:57,000 --> 00:56:58,840
on the piano.
They don't have that, but
1212
00:56:58,840 --> 00:57:01,000
they're still like willing to
try and be creative, right?
1213
00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:04,120
So in one one of our studies
that just came out last year in
1214
00:57:04,120 --> 00:57:07,280
Scientific Reports, we were
like, well, yeah, we really want
1215
00:57:07,280 --> 00:57:09,960
to know what happens when kids
are being musically creative,
1216
00:57:09,960 --> 00:57:11,800
right?
So we took these elementary age
1217
00:57:11,800 --> 00:57:15,800
kids, 7 to 9 year olds and we
had them do this paradigm where
1218
00:57:15,800 --> 00:57:18,240
they either played a scale for
the control.
1219
00:57:18,240 --> 00:57:21,440
So they they play the five black
note keys of the keyboard just
1220
00:57:21,440 --> 00:57:25,280
da da, da da da da da da, da, da
da.
1221
00:57:25,320 --> 00:57:28,960
Like very wrote over and over
again, or we had them improvised
1222
00:57:28,960 --> 00:57:31,680
melodies, like play them now in
whatever order you want and
1223
00:57:31,680 --> 00:57:33,920
you're improvising.
And we made it sound really cool
1224
00:57:33,920 --> 00:57:36,240
because we gave them a backtrack
that went with all it.
1225
00:57:36,240 --> 00:57:38,760
So as long as they're playing
the black note keys, they always
1226
00:57:38,760 --> 00:57:40,520
sound good.
It's like impossible to make a
1227
00:57:40,520 --> 00:57:42,520
mistake.
It then sounds really musical.
1228
00:57:42,520 --> 00:57:44,080
There's like a whole backtrack
to it.
1229
00:57:44,320 --> 00:57:46,680
So the only difference is, you
know, play same tempo, same
1230
00:57:46,680 --> 00:57:49,400
speed, everything, but either
you're playing a scale or you're
1231
00:57:49,400 --> 00:57:52,160
making up, moving your fingers
and making up melodies.
1232
00:57:52,200 --> 00:57:54,040
You know, you just put those in
whatever order.
1233
00:57:54,360 --> 00:57:58,280
And what we found is that kids
improvisation and is again, a
1234
00:57:58,280 --> 00:58:02,240
really cool distinct activity
for kids that you have, you
1235
00:58:02,240 --> 00:58:04,840
know, it doesn't look the same
as when the control condition.
1236
00:58:05,160 --> 00:58:07,520
And really when you're
improvising for them, it's a lot
1237
00:58:07,520 --> 00:58:09,280
about deactivating parts of
their brain.
1238
00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:12,840
So kids would deactivate these
structures known as like the
1239
00:58:12,840 --> 00:58:15,440
singular cortex, the angular
gyres, precanious.
1240
00:58:15,720 --> 00:58:19,280
And all of those structures are
sensory hubs that are actually
1241
00:58:19,280 --> 00:58:22,200
implicated in adult creativity.
So it's like when we look at
1242
00:58:22,200 --> 00:58:24,960
kids and they're being creative,
they're using some of the same
1243
00:58:24,960 --> 00:58:27,240
structures that you would later
as adults.
1244
00:58:27,320 --> 00:58:29,960
So it's almost like you have the
roots, the beginning roots of
1245
00:58:29,960 --> 00:58:32,160
this like neuro creativity
network, right?
1246
00:58:32,480 --> 00:58:36,640
But what was also really cool is
that improvising, we found that
1247
00:58:36,640 --> 00:58:39,680
there was more connections
between reward areas of the
1248
00:58:39,680 --> 00:58:43,080
brain when they were improvising
compared to not doing like the
1249
00:58:43,080 --> 00:58:45,360
scale.
Now, I will caveat that, say it
1250
00:58:45,360 --> 00:58:48,120
wasn't all positive.
So for example, we found that
1251
00:58:48,120 --> 00:58:50,240
the amygdala deactivates during
improv.
1252
00:58:50,280 --> 00:58:52,560
Well, that's good.
The amygdala often deactivates
1253
00:58:52,560 --> 00:58:54,560
for good things like, you know,
when the fight or flight is
1254
00:58:54,560 --> 00:58:57,440
over, we're good, right?
But then we also saw that like
1255
00:58:57,440 --> 00:59:00,200
the nucleus accumbens and some
other areas deactivated, which
1256
00:59:00,200 --> 00:59:02,920
is not necessarily a positive
valence thing.
1257
00:59:03,120 --> 00:59:06,920
So it's almost like reward
structures are used for improv,
1258
00:59:06,920 --> 00:59:09,240
but it has kind of a mixed
emotional content.
1259
00:59:09,440 --> 00:59:11,840
It's not just positive, it's
positive and negative.
1260
00:59:11,880 --> 00:59:13,360
And so I thought about that for
a while.
1261
00:59:13,360 --> 00:59:15,040
I'm like, why would there be
mixed?
1262
00:59:15,200 --> 00:59:18,440
Why isn't just purely rewarding?
Well, for one, I was sticking
1263
00:59:18,440 --> 00:59:20,680
kids in a scanner.
That's kind of an odd thing.
1264
00:59:20,680 --> 00:59:24,000
You know, putting kids in a
scanner was probably a little
1265
00:59:24,000 --> 00:59:25,720
scary to them.
They we have their parents
1266
00:59:25,720 --> 00:59:27,160
nearby, but it's a strange
thing.
1267
00:59:27,560 --> 00:59:29,760
But then I also thought about
him, like maybe it shouldn't be
1268
00:59:29,760 --> 00:59:32,520
purely positive.
I mean, music for many of us,
1269
00:59:32,520 --> 00:59:34,520
like we listen to music that's
sad, right?
1270
00:59:34,520 --> 00:59:38,200
I often music the music that's
sad or angry or negative, right?
1271
00:59:38,400 --> 00:59:41,480
And the idea is that music is a
safe place to process all those
1272
00:59:41,480 --> 00:59:43,760
emotions, right.
So maybe the whole point isn't
1273
00:59:43,760 --> 00:59:45,800
that it should just be all
positive reward.
1274
00:59:45,800 --> 00:59:47,640
It could be positive and
negative reward, right?
1275
00:59:47,840 --> 00:59:50,680
But either way, we really liked
this experience because it kind
1276
00:59:50,680 --> 00:59:52,920
of gets to as we were talking
about the beginner mind, like
1277
00:59:52,920 --> 00:59:55,400
what's happening when you're a
true beginner, right?
1278
00:59:55,400 --> 00:59:57,680
Because many of these kids had
never even seen a keyboard
1279
00:59:57,680 --> 00:59:59,560
before.
I sat down and be like, OK,
1280
00:59:59,560 --> 01:00:01,640
curve your fingers, put your
hands here.
1281
01:00:01,800 --> 01:00:03,720
Now we're going to have you do
this in the scanner, you know,
1282
01:00:04,320 --> 01:00:05,880
and it was amazing.
They weren't scared.
1283
01:00:05,960 --> 01:00:08,520
They did it right.
So whenever someone tells me,
1284
01:00:08,520 --> 01:00:11,080
you know, we, we were kind of
catchling like the neural
1285
01:00:11,080 --> 01:00:12,920
correlates of the, the beginner
mind.
1286
01:00:12,920 --> 01:00:14,560
And I, I don't know if you've
ever heard this term, but the
1287
01:00:14,560 --> 01:00:17,040
beginner's mind is something
that comes from meditation,
1288
01:00:17,040 --> 01:00:19,040
right?
So in meditation, they are
1289
01:00:19,040 --> 01:00:21,200
saying like, you know, the
expert has, is kind of
1290
01:00:21,200 --> 01:00:22,760
solidified in their way of
thinking.
1291
01:00:22,760 --> 01:00:26,320
But in the beginner's mind, it's
very open to experience.
1292
01:00:26,320 --> 01:00:27,240
It's very plastic.
It's.
1293
01:00:27,320 --> 01:00:30,120
Very like whatever happens
happens, you're not set in your
1294
01:00:30,120 --> 01:00:32,160
ways, right?
And so I kind of think of this
1295
01:00:32,160 --> 01:00:34,640
as like this was a beautiful
illustration of the beginner
1296
01:00:34,640 --> 01:00:36,360
minds.
You know, kids creativity does
1297
01:00:36,360 --> 01:00:39,920
have that raw, raw kind of
quality to it.
1298
01:00:39,920 --> 01:00:42,880
It's very different from adult
creativity, but they're still
1299
01:00:42,880 --> 01:00:45,960
able to be a creative.
And you know, if, if being
1300
01:00:45,960 --> 01:00:48,680
creative, like improvising is
rewarding, well, maybe that's
1301
01:00:48,680 --> 01:00:50,920
why kids are so drawn to be
creative, right?
1302
01:00:50,920 --> 01:00:52,520
They they don't have a lived
experience.
1303
01:00:52,520 --> 01:00:53,640
They aren't comparing it to
anything.
1304
01:00:53,640 --> 01:00:54,920
So they might as well do it,
right?
1305
01:00:54,920 --> 01:00:56,440
They might as well be creative,
right.
1306
01:00:56,720 --> 01:00:59,080
So that was a study that we did
last year.
1307
01:00:59,080 --> 01:01:01,520
Now, of course, there's a huge
difference between like
1308
01:01:01,600 --> 01:01:04,920
untrained kids who have never
played piano and jazz experts,
1309
01:01:04,920 --> 01:01:06,080
right?
So that kind of shows you
1310
01:01:06,080 --> 01:01:09,040
already in our field how there's
a lot of like points to fill in
1311
01:01:09,040 --> 01:01:11,360
in between.
But it was really cool because I
1312
01:01:11,360 --> 01:01:14,000
think that study was, at least
to my knowledge, the first like
1313
01:01:14,280 --> 01:01:17,640
neuroimaging experiment to look
at creativity, so.
1314
01:01:18,280 --> 01:01:20,880
It's really, I wanted to just
ask one question just on that
1315
01:01:20,880 --> 01:01:25,520
whole, the whole idea was when
you mentioned that it was not
1316
01:01:25,520 --> 01:01:30,840
all positive responses.
Yeah, I want to be clear.
1317
01:01:30,840 --> 01:01:34,200
Does that mean that they didn't
only feel good things or does
1318
01:01:34,200 --> 01:01:36,400
that mean that not only good
things are happening to the
1319
01:01:36,400 --> 01:01:37,240
brain?
I'm not.
1320
01:01:37,240 --> 01:01:39,520
I just wanted.
To Yeah, So what I mean more
1321
01:01:39,720 --> 01:01:41,680
it's a little bit more specific
than that, right.
1322
01:01:41,680 --> 01:01:44,680
So whenever we talk about
reward, we talk about valence,
1323
01:01:44,680 --> 01:01:46,920
valence being positive or
negative, right.
1324
01:01:47,200 --> 01:01:51,280
So what we saw specifically is
that the amygdala deactivates
1325
01:01:51,280 --> 01:01:53,560
and that when the amygdala
deactivates, if you look at all
1326
01:01:53,560 --> 01:01:56,320
the literature that's associated
with positive valence, that's a
1327
01:01:56,480 --> 01:01:58,160
that's a positive thing.
And when it's.
1328
01:01:58,160 --> 01:02:00,360
Activated, we're fearful.
We tend to be like fearful or
1329
01:02:00,360 --> 01:02:01,880
cautious.
Yeah, yeah, your amygdala is
1330
01:02:01,880 --> 01:02:04,200
really, really active if you're
running away from a lion, for
1331
01:02:04,400 --> 01:02:06,520
example.
And so we I think there was
1332
01:02:06,520 --> 01:02:10,560
remember the movie, I don't know
if you saw free solo that this
1333
01:02:10,640 --> 01:02:13,480
guy that he was on Netflix, Alex
something he climbed like the
1334
01:02:13,480 --> 01:02:15,600
high.
He's a he's a climber.
1335
01:02:15,840 --> 01:02:18,480
And and and they found and they
stuck him in one of those
1336
01:02:18,640 --> 01:02:20,160
scanners and they found that his
amygda.
1337
01:02:20,160 --> 01:02:23,000
I don't think it was not not
working, but it was not working
1338
01:02:23,000 --> 01:02:25,720
to the full capacity.
And so he's he had a, you know,
1339
01:02:25,720 --> 01:02:29,400
he had a very muted sense.
Yeah, very philosophical sense
1340
01:02:29,400 --> 01:02:33,120
of like if I die, I die be had a
very muted sense of this kind of
1341
01:02:33,120 --> 01:02:34,840
internal fight or flight
instinct.
1342
01:02:35,120 --> 01:02:38,760
That he said and you know, that
same kind of result has been
1343
01:02:38,760 --> 01:02:41,360
seen with expert in like expert
meditators.
1344
01:02:41,360 --> 01:02:44,040
So there was a study, I think of
Buddhist monks, I'll have to
1345
01:02:44,040 --> 01:02:45,960
look this up.
But there was a study of monks
1346
01:02:45,960 --> 01:02:49,400
who are expert meditators and
they noticed when they meditate
1347
01:02:49,400 --> 01:02:52,520
in the scanner, they can
literally calm down their dad.
1348
01:02:52,520 --> 01:02:55,280
Like they have the ability to
like just kind of, and the,
1349
01:02:55,560 --> 01:02:58,280
these are like deep structures
in the brain that are kind of
1350
01:02:58,280 --> 01:03:01,760
like, like I said, it's kind of
a primal thing when the amygdala
1351
01:03:01,760 --> 01:03:03,680
activated because he's like,
you're scared, you can't, you
1352
01:03:03,680 --> 01:03:07,080
know, but these people can with
their thoughts actually bring it
1353
01:03:07,080 --> 01:03:09,440
down.
And so when I say these reward
1354
01:03:09,440 --> 01:03:12,280
areas, So what we saw was
amygdala caudate and nucleus
1355
01:03:12,280 --> 01:03:16,160
accumbens, Those are all reward
areas of the brain, but only the
1356
01:03:16,160 --> 01:03:18,520
amygdala deactivating is
considered positive.
1357
01:03:18,520 --> 01:03:21,280
When the caudate and the nucleus
accumbens deactivate, that's
1358
01:03:21,280 --> 01:03:22,760
actually a little bit negative.
So so.
1359
01:03:22,760 --> 01:03:24,760
What happens then?
What's the consequence of that
1360
01:03:25,880 --> 01:03:27,760
emotion?
I guess it was an emotional
1361
01:03:27,760 --> 01:03:28,840
thing or what?
What's the context?
1362
01:03:28,840 --> 01:03:30,040
Yeah, it's usually an emotional
thing.
1363
01:03:30,040 --> 01:03:32,960
So for example, the caudate
deactivates when you miss a
1364
01:03:32,960 --> 01:03:34,400
reward.
So like, let's say you were
1365
01:03:34,400 --> 01:03:36,880
doing a prediction thing and you
were like trying to get a reward
1366
01:03:37,200 --> 01:03:40,000
or a treat or something, it
would deactivate and then the
1367
01:03:40,080 --> 01:03:40,880
nucleus.
Yeah.
1368
01:03:40,880 --> 01:03:43,400
And the nucleus accumbens, it
deactivates when you're trying
1369
01:03:43,400 --> 01:03:46,760
to avoid harm or when you just
don't feel a lot musically or
1370
01:03:46,760 --> 01:03:49,440
when you're depressed, Right.
So this is what I mean is like
1371
01:03:49,800 --> 01:03:52,600
the caudate and the nucleus
accumbens deactivating is not
1372
01:03:52,600 --> 01:03:55,880
necessarily a good thing.
Only the nygdala deactivate is a
1373
01:03:55,880 --> 01:03:58,680
positive valence.
So this makes me feel like, OK,
1374
01:03:58,680 --> 01:04:00,760
it's mixed.
There's some positives that come
1375
01:04:00,760 --> 01:04:02,400
negative.
And I was like, but that's
1376
01:04:02,400 --> 01:04:04,240
really interesting.
I mean, First off, it is a
1377
01:04:04,240 --> 01:04:07,000
really complex task, right?
You're trying to do this like
1378
01:04:07,240 --> 01:04:10,280
cognitive motoric thing and the
scanner is really loud and I'm
1379
01:04:10,280 --> 01:04:13,160
my mom's out there and I'm
trying to, maybe it's just too
1380
01:04:13,160 --> 01:04:14,440
hard.
It's not natural, right?
1381
01:04:14,440 --> 01:04:16,680
It's not like a little kid being
with mommy and daddy.
1382
01:04:16,680 --> 01:04:19,360
It's not purely positive, right?
But then like I said, I think
1383
01:04:19,360 --> 01:04:22,840
there's this also this idea that
music can also be a safe place
1384
01:04:22,840 --> 01:04:25,600
to experience the whole gamut of
emotion, right?
1385
01:04:25,600 --> 01:04:28,200
I don't just play music that's
positive.
1386
01:04:28,200 --> 01:04:32,080
Sometimes I watch a movie or
play music that's sad on
1387
01:04:32,080 --> 01:04:35,640
purpose, and I like that whole
spectrum of complexity and
1388
01:04:35,640 --> 01:04:37,600
emotions, right?
So it's not just that has to be
1389
01:04:37,600 --> 01:04:39,240
all positive.
So that's kind of the
1390
01:04:39,240 --> 01:04:42,280
clarification.
And also to clarify, just to
1391
01:04:42,280 --> 01:04:45,320
build on that idea.
And you said that when they're
1392
01:04:45,320 --> 01:04:47,880
improvising, it's against a
backdrop of music.
1393
01:04:47,920 --> 01:04:50,240
That makes that that makes
sense, right?
1394
01:04:50,320 --> 01:04:51,800
Yeah, that makes them sound
good, Yeah.
1395
01:04:52,040 --> 01:04:54,600
Yeah.
So I'm so I wonder if the, if
1396
01:04:54,680 --> 01:04:57,360
that, if the those quote UN
quote negative experiences that
1397
01:04:57,360 --> 01:05:01,600
they had was because, and I, I
did a podcast episode with the
1398
01:05:01,600 --> 01:05:04,880
gentleman Kurt Ellenberger,
who's a professor of music and
1399
01:05:04,880 --> 01:05:07,080
jazz.
And one thing they said was that
1400
01:05:07,080 --> 01:05:10,120
our brains automatically can
detect what's right or wrong
1401
01:05:10,120 --> 01:05:12,120
about music.
And like, if you like, we
1402
01:05:12,120 --> 01:05:14,960
subconsciously can just fill in
a musical note.
1403
01:05:14,960 --> 01:05:18,200
Just intuitive.
I'm curious that if the kids are
1404
01:05:18,200 --> 01:05:21,400
given a backdrop of music that
makes sense and they're given
1405
01:05:21,400 --> 01:05:23,800
these 5 keys that could all be,
you know, played within that
1406
01:05:23,800 --> 01:05:27,040
with their brains are detecting
like while they're improvising
1407
01:05:27,040 --> 01:05:28,680
or while they're just messing
around or tinkering.
1408
01:05:29,120 --> 01:05:31,200
Hey, they didn't, they didn't
belong where it's supposed to
1409
01:05:31,200 --> 01:05:32,880
go.
And so it's picking up on that.
1410
01:05:33,160 --> 01:05:34,800
Yeah.
Well, so the whole thing is it
1411
01:05:34,800 --> 01:05:37,040
shouldn't pick up that right.
Like the the whole point of us
1412
01:05:37,040 --> 01:05:40,440
giving the music and the
backdrop we gave them is so that
1413
01:05:40,440 --> 01:05:43,000
it will never sound bad.
As long as you play the notes we
1414
01:05:43,000 --> 01:05:44,800
gave you, it'll sound good.
So actually.
1415
01:05:45,040 --> 01:05:46,520
There's no wrong note you.
Mean, yeah.
1416
01:05:46,520 --> 01:05:48,280
So there is no wrong note.
It's not pause.
1417
01:05:48,280 --> 01:05:51,400
Like I can even send you the
files later to listen to, but
1418
01:05:51,400 --> 01:05:52,720
it's like, there's no wrong
note.
1419
01:05:52,720 --> 01:05:56,840
Like if you play the flag black
notes and we've put all 5 black
1420
01:05:56,840 --> 01:05:59,160
note harmonies, there's
literally no mistake you can
1421
01:05:59,160 --> 01:06:00,840
make.
If you just played the same note
1422
01:06:00,840 --> 01:06:02,680
over and over again, it would
sound good.
1423
01:06:03,880 --> 01:06:06,520
Expectations meant then maybe
like what you would be expecting
1424
01:06:06,520 --> 01:06:08,960
the next.
I know that when I'm oodling on
1425
01:06:08,960 --> 01:06:15,000
my guitar where I, I, I start to
play like a little riff and I
1426
01:06:15,000 --> 01:06:18,160
don't, and if I and I don't know
my guitar fret board well enough
1427
01:06:18,160 --> 01:06:21,600
to know where that next sound
that I want to make will come
1428
01:06:21,600 --> 01:06:24,120
from, right.
I have a general idea, you know,
1429
01:06:24,400 --> 01:06:26,600
you know, lower down is a little
higher and higher up is a little
1430
01:06:26,600 --> 01:06:29,440
deeper, but I don't really know.
And so like I'm, I'm noodling,
1431
01:06:29,440 --> 01:06:32,040
I'm playing and then I hear like
a date there and I, oh, shoot,
1432
01:06:32,360 --> 01:06:35,080
that was totally wrong.
I was expecting something else
1433
01:06:35,280 --> 01:06:37,360
and, and I didn't know where to
find it.
1434
01:06:37,600 --> 01:06:40,840
And so like you, you're saying
that there's that it's
1435
01:06:40,840 --> 01:06:43,240
objectively can't be wrong, but
I'm curious if they're trying to
1436
01:06:43,240 --> 01:06:45,680
follow their own kind of pattern
maybe and.
1437
01:06:45,680 --> 01:06:47,200
Maybe.
Not letting themselves down in
1438
01:06:47,200 --> 01:06:49,480
that kind of sense.
Yeah, so while they literally
1439
01:06:49,480 --> 01:06:51,560
can't make a mistake, that
doesn't mean they don't have
1440
01:06:51,560 --> 01:06:54,080
their own anxiety about trying
to figure out what notes should
1441
01:06:54,080 --> 01:06:55,760
go right.
Like, so I've done this myself
1442
01:06:55,760 --> 01:06:59,240
too, and I'm a pianist and I'm
used to be using my 5 notes and
1443
01:06:59,480 --> 01:07:00,960
I'm like, I don't know which one
I'm going to move.
1444
01:07:00,960 --> 01:07:02,680
So there is a little bit of
things like which finger should
1445
01:07:02,680 --> 01:07:06,120
I move next and what happens?
And then what do I do if I don't
1446
01:07:06,120 --> 01:07:08,800
know what to do after that note?
So there is that little bit of a
1447
01:07:08,800 --> 01:07:10,440
thought process, at least even
for me.
1448
01:07:10,640 --> 01:07:12,800
So it's entirely possible that,
well, they couldn't make a
1449
01:07:12,800 --> 01:07:14,040
mistake.
That doesn't mean they didn't
1450
01:07:14,040 --> 01:07:16,560
have some anxiety about trying
to figure out what they should
1451
01:07:16,560 --> 01:07:19,200
do next, you know, and that
might have been why there was a
1452
01:07:19,200 --> 01:07:21,760
little bit of negative.
Or even expectations of what
1453
01:07:21,760 --> 01:07:23,720
they want the next sound to
sound like, and maybe they
1454
01:07:23,760 --> 01:07:25,920
weren't meeting that.
Yeah, it's like, I know what I
1455
01:07:25,920 --> 01:07:28,040
want it to sound like, but I'm
such a beginner.
1456
01:07:28,040 --> 01:07:30,240
Oh, I hit something that wasn't
what I wanted, you know,
1457
01:07:30,440 --> 01:07:32,320
entirely possible.
And, you know, I didn't really
1458
01:07:32,320 --> 01:07:34,800
do interviews or anything to
figure out what they were
1459
01:07:34,800 --> 01:07:36,360
feeling when they were doing
this.
1460
01:07:36,720 --> 01:07:39,480
But that would also be something
that, yeah, we could get more.
1461
01:07:39,480 --> 01:07:41,360
And, like, were you?
Because they didn't say they
1462
01:07:41,360 --> 01:07:42,960
were scared.
Everyone thought it was really
1463
01:07:42,960 --> 01:07:45,960
cool to be in this experiment.
They felt like they were helping
1464
01:07:45,960 --> 01:07:48,120
science.
You know, no one was scared per
1465
01:07:48,120 --> 01:07:50,320
SE, but I didn't ask them, Well,
what was it like when you're
1466
01:07:50,320 --> 01:07:52,680
improvising versus, you know, I
didn't get into that little
1467
01:07:52,680 --> 01:07:54,560
detail.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1468
01:07:54,560 --> 01:07:59,400
Because and you know something
and a key theme for a lot and I
1469
01:07:59,400 --> 01:08:02,520
had to learn this really because
I thought I was going crazy, you
1470
01:08:02,520 --> 01:08:06,400
know, was that with a lot of
great improv bands is that not
1471
01:08:06,400 --> 01:08:08,160
every time that they play is
going to sound good.
1472
01:08:10,160 --> 01:08:12,800
Days, you know, it's like.
I don't know why I don't work
1473
01:08:13,080 --> 01:08:14,200
song.
And I was like, dude, that song
1474
01:08:14,200 --> 01:08:15,440
sucks.
Of course you don't like it.
1475
01:08:15,480 --> 01:08:16,640
They didn't play love that
night.
1476
01:08:16,640 --> 01:08:18,840
I'm like, oh, I thought I was
nuts the whole time.
1477
01:08:18,840 --> 01:08:21,279
You know, I didn't realize.
You have to look at everyone's
1478
01:08:21,279 --> 01:08:23,200
output.
We always used to joke in
1479
01:08:23,200 --> 01:08:25,040
Conservatory.
Even Beethoven had to learn how
1480
01:08:25,040 --> 01:08:27,439
to be Beethoven.
His early Beethoven doesn't
1481
01:08:27,439 --> 01:08:30,760
sound like his, you know, Ode to
Joy, like Ninth Symphony, right?
1482
01:08:31,000 --> 01:08:35,600
Like we have everyone who's a
musician goes through their own
1483
01:08:35,720 --> 01:08:38,560
period of development.
So if you're a performer, some
1484
01:08:38,560 --> 01:08:40,240
days are good, some days are
bad.
1485
01:08:40,240 --> 01:08:43,479
In fact, another thing that I'm
doing with the NEA Research lab
1486
01:08:43,479 --> 01:08:46,319
is I'm interviewing these NEA
jazz masters.
1487
01:08:46,319 --> 01:08:49,479
So these are, it's the largest
of the highest award our country
1488
01:08:49,479 --> 01:08:52,000
gives towards jazz musicians.
So we're talking about really
1489
01:08:52,000 --> 01:08:53,760
amazing.
And I asked them about their
1490
01:08:53,760 --> 01:08:57,319
creative process and I asked
them, hey, do you still have bad
1491
01:08:57,319 --> 01:08:59,160
days?
Do you ever have performance
1492
01:08:59,160 --> 01:09:01,240
anxiety still?
And many of them are like, you
1493
01:09:01,240 --> 01:09:03,840
know what, I'm too old.
I don't I don't have that kind
1494
01:09:03,840 --> 01:09:06,760
of performance anxiety anymore,
but they of course, they say
1495
01:09:06,760 --> 01:09:09,120
some days are bad.
Some days you're just not going
1496
01:09:09,120 --> 01:09:12,560
to play as well as other days.
And when everything aligns
1497
01:09:12,560 --> 01:09:14,960
nicely, that's an amazing
performance.
1498
01:09:14,960 --> 01:09:17,800
But you can't always control
that, you know, just like I'm
1499
01:09:17,800 --> 01:09:20,359
sure you have Daisy.
It's like going to the gym or or
1500
01:09:20,359 --> 01:09:22,359
teaching, right?
Some days feel like it's going
1501
01:09:22,359 --> 01:09:24,200
really nicely.
It flows easily.
1502
01:09:24,200 --> 01:09:27,560
You feel like on top of your
work and other days not so much.
1503
01:09:29,319 --> 01:09:32,040
I think that happens even to
great musicians too, you know,
1504
01:09:32,040 --> 01:09:35,240
it's just that we don't always
see their worst days.
1505
01:09:35,240 --> 01:09:37,680
And here's the thing, too.
Let's say you are a Coltrane.
1506
01:09:37,680 --> 01:09:40,399
Even your bad day probably
sounds pretty good, you know,
1507
01:09:40,439 --> 01:09:43,640
compared to what it could be.
So I think that that's something
1508
01:09:43,640 --> 01:09:47,800
I've learned too, is that expert
artists also know how to, you
1509
01:09:47,800 --> 01:09:50,960
know, how how to do things in a
way that make it work towards
1510
01:09:50,960 --> 01:09:53,120
their favor, right?
Like I said, if they did have a
1511
01:09:53,120 --> 01:09:56,120
bad day and they're making a ton
of steaks, maybe they just keep
1512
01:09:56,120 --> 01:09:58,200
using those mistakes.
And so you don't even notice it
1513
01:09:58,200 --> 01:10:00,240
was a mistake.
You notice something's a little
1514
01:10:00,240 --> 01:10:03,320
off, but they used it cook, you
know, in an impressive enough
1515
01:10:03,320 --> 01:10:04,960
way that other people wouldn't
notice.
1516
01:10:04,960 --> 01:10:07,720
Or I used to do ballet when I
was in high school and I would
1517
01:10:07,720 --> 01:10:10,320
notice the really senior
dancers, they could fall, make
1518
01:10:10,320 --> 01:10:12,040
falling look really graceful,
right?
1519
01:10:12,040 --> 01:10:15,920
So I think it's not so much that
they don't have bad days, that
1520
01:10:15,920 --> 01:10:18,960
people don't fall as though they
know how to cover, recover and
1521
01:10:18,960 --> 01:10:22,160
get back up and use it somehow
and recover quickly.
1522
01:10:22,400 --> 01:10:25,080
I mean, when I played piano, I
would make mistakes all the
1523
01:10:25,080 --> 01:10:27,000
time.
My, my, my.
1524
01:10:27,400 --> 01:10:30,200
I guess the thing that would
always make ruin my performance
1525
01:10:30,200 --> 01:10:32,120
is I would have memory slips.
Like, all of a sudden I'm
1526
01:10:32,120 --> 01:10:33,640
playing and I forget what I'm
supposed to do.
1527
01:10:33,960 --> 01:10:35,960
But the older I got and
realizing it was going to
1528
01:10:35,960 --> 01:10:38,080
happen, I just learned to
recover really quickly.
1529
01:10:38,080 --> 01:10:40,640
So if you don't know the music
as well as I do, you wouldn't
1530
01:10:40,640 --> 01:10:42,400
know that I had a memory slip,
you know?
1531
01:10:42,400 --> 01:10:44,560
But I know that wasn't a good
performance, right?
1532
01:10:44,560 --> 01:10:46,120
Oh, yeah.
I think that's the difference
1533
01:10:46,120 --> 01:10:48,880
between domain expertise.
Like, OK, that wasn't great, but
1534
01:10:48,880 --> 01:10:51,600
I covered well enough, you know,
whereas the kids like, I don't
1535
01:10:51,600 --> 01:10:54,000
even know if what I'm hitting
next is going to be what I think
1536
01:10:54,000 --> 01:10:55,600
it is.
So this, that's a very different
1537
01:10:55,600 --> 01:10:57,520
kind of artistic experience.
Really cool.
1538
01:10:57,520 --> 01:11:00,360
And it's super different, I'm
sure, as far as psychology and
1539
01:11:00,360 --> 01:11:02,680
their and their brain and their
brain development goes.
1540
01:11:02,680 --> 01:11:04,000
Too.
Yeah, absolutely.
1541
01:11:04,000 --> 01:11:05,840
I think there's, you know,
artists will.
1542
01:11:06,040 --> 01:11:08,280
If you think about artists now
as adults, they're they're
1543
01:11:08,280 --> 01:11:10,480
expressing their own artistic
voice, right.
1544
01:11:10,480 --> 01:11:13,720
You can't help but have a lived
experience and inject your own
1545
01:11:13,720 --> 01:11:16,560
experience and your culture and
your artistic voice into your
1546
01:11:16,560 --> 01:11:18,840
expression.
But kids don't have that level
1547
01:11:18,840 --> 01:11:20,840
of domain.
They don't have years and years
1548
01:11:20,840 --> 01:11:22,960
of experience.
They're just doing it in a very
1549
01:11:22,960 --> 01:11:25,320
raw, unfiltered way that's
different from what adults do.
1550
01:11:26,000 --> 01:11:28,360
Yeah, it's really cool.
It's really, really awesome.
1551
01:11:28,560 --> 01:11:31,120
I, I love, I love that you're
doing this research and I love
1552
01:11:31,120 --> 01:11:35,920
that I, I love that it's that
because this is something that
1553
01:11:35,920 --> 01:11:38,200
could really go, this could be
something that could really
1554
01:11:38,200 --> 01:11:41,960
change education and development
and the way that we even
1555
01:11:41,960 --> 01:11:46,080
perceive what learning is and
what self-expression is.
1556
01:11:46,120 --> 01:11:50,240
And I think it's really, really
crucial to be able to do this
1557
01:11:50,240 --> 01:11:53,160
kind of research and really be,
you know, scientific and fun and
1558
01:11:53,160 --> 01:11:55,840
serious about fun and serious
about in the same, in the same
1559
01:11:55,840 --> 01:11:56,280
breath.
Yeah.
1560
01:11:56,920 --> 01:11:59,200
Well.
Yeah, I think something we have
1561
01:11:59,200 --> 01:12:01,400
felt as scientists is obviously
I'm preaching to the choir.
1562
01:12:01,400 --> 01:12:04,560
I believe the arts are amazing
but in abundant themselves,
1563
01:12:04,560 --> 01:12:06,000
right.
But we, you know, as a teacher
1564
01:12:06,000 --> 01:12:09,040
in public school systems, the
arts are being defunded in many
1565
01:12:09,040 --> 01:12:11,120
education systems across the
country.
1566
01:12:11,400 --> 01:12:15,320
And I think what we hope is that
by having all this rigorous
1567
01:12:15,320 --> 01:12:19,880
scientific research, we show why
the arts are important and how
1568
01:12:19,880 --> 01:12:21,480
they can be leveraged to help
us.
1569
01:12:21,480 --> 01:12:23,440
Right.
Like, you know, I think if all
1570
01:12:23,440 --> 01:12:25,640
of us could figure out a way to
be more creative, wouldn't that
1571
01:12:25,640 --> 01:12:26,880
be great?
You know, that's good for
1572
01:12:26,880 --> 01:12:28,000
humanity.
I mean, if you think about
1573
01:12:28,000 --> 01:12:31,760
creativity being the bedrock of
innovation and, you know,
1574
01:12:31,760 --> 01:12:34,120
development and things like
that, then everyone wants to be
1575
01:12:34,120 --> 01:12:36,120
more creative.
Whether you're a Fortune 500
1576
01:12:36,120 --> 01:12:39,480
company or teachers or, you
know, musicians, everyone wants
1577
01:12:39,480 --> 01:12:41,440
to be more creative.
So we think at this science is
1578
01:12:41,440 --> 01:12:44,160
trying to support that.
But moreover, showing like, OK,
1579
01:12:44,160 --> 01:12:47,160
but when you are being creative,
it's a very unique brain
1580
01:12:47,160 --> 01:12:49,040
pattern.
It's good for you to do these
1581
01:12:49,040 --> 01:12:52,440
things, be doing creative
artistic tasks is good for the
1582
01:12:52,440 --> 01:12:55,320
longevity of your brain, you
know, and that you will continue
1583
01:12:55,320 --> 01:12:58,360
to develop if you keep doing
these things versus, you know,
1584
01:12:58,360 --> 01:13:02,320
slipping into cognitive and
neurodegenerative decline,
1585
01:13:02,320 --> 01:13:03,880
right?
Like it's one maybe that we can
1586
01:13:03,880 --> 01:13:06,080
maybe combat some of the normal
things that would happen.
1587
01:13:06,080 --> 01:13:09,400
So I think many of us hope that
this science helps with
1588
01:13:09,400 --> 01:13:13,400
advocacy, that it helps show how
important the arts are by
1589
01:13:13,400 --> 01:13:15,880
themselves, but also because of
what we can do for us.
1590
01:13:16,120 --> 01:13:17,680
Yeah, maybe we got to keep on
having these type of
1591
01:13:17,680 --> 01:13:21,200
conversations.
I know, I know.
1592
01:13:21,520 --> 01:13:25,400
And I want to kind of end our.
This has been so much fun.
1593
01:13:25,400 --> 01:13:30,520
I want to end our conversation
talking about a topic you just
1594
01:13:30,520 --> 01:13:35,160
brought up, aging, longevity.
And specifically I am curious
1595
01:13:35,160 --> 01:13:36,440
too, and I don't know if you do
any of this.
1596
01:13:36,440 --> 01:13:37,920
I want to talk about dementia
for sure.
1597
01:13:38,120 --> 01:13:39,440
Yeah.
You've done any kind of research
1598
01:13:39,440 --> 01:13:41,840
as far as stroke victims go
because?
1599
01:13:42,360 --> 01:13:45,520
I myself have not, but I I can
tell you about some of the
1600
01:13:45,520 --> 01:13:47,640
literature, but go ahead first.
Yeah, because I was going to.
1601
01:13:47,640 --> 01:13:50,480
So I I know that, I know that.
I know, for example, Jerry
1602
01:13:50,480 --> 01:13:54,040
Garcia famously had a stroke and
I had to relearn pretty much
1603
01:13:54,040 --> 01:13:57,640
guitar from scratch and what you
know, and what happens and how
1604
01:13:57,640 --> 01:13:59,920
that works.
I know that my my grandfather,
1605
01:13:59,920 --> 01:14:02,240
my mom's father, before he
passed away had a stroke.
1606
01:14:02,560 --> 01:14:05,800
And obviously that affects, that
affects our ability to speak.
1607
01:14:05,800 --> 01:14:09,560
And you know, the, we know that
it does something to a good
1608
01:14:09,560 --> 01:14:14,240
chunk of our brain.
What do we know about music?
1609
01:14:15,480 --> 01:14:18,680
Is there a difference in
consuming versus playing as far
1610
01:14:18,680 --> 01:14:20,720
as aging goes?
And and what and what?
1611
01:14:20,720 --> 01:14:22,440
What does some of that look
like, if you don't mind?
1612
01:14:22,680 --> 01:14:25,600
Yeah, so let's start with the
the stroke and traumatic brain
1613
01:14:25,600 --> 01:14:27,320
injury.
I think so the systematic
1614
01:14:27,320 --> 01:14:29,760
reviews do show that using music
therapy.
1615
01:14:29,760 --> 01:14:33,960
So music therapy is when you
have do music in the context of
1616
01:14:33,960 --> 01:14:36,640
a therapeutic relationship with
like a board certified music
1617
01:14:36,640 --> 01:14:38,840
therapist.
So you have like goals much like
1618
01:14:38,840 --> 01:14:41,040
you would as if you went to talk
therapist, right?
1619
01:14:41,480 --> 01:14:44,360
So what they find is that music
therapy really does help with
1620
01:14:44,360 --> 01:14:46,520
traumatic brain injury.
So like with if you're
1621
01:14:46,520 --> 01:14:49,320
recovering from stroke, you may
gain your limb use better or you
1622
01:14:49,320 --> 01:14:50,960
know things like that.
So there's a lot.
1623
01:14:50,960 --> 01:14:54,080
So music therapy is very
powerful for brain injury.
1624
01:14:54,400 --> 01:14:56,280
Now what we see too is actually
music therapy.
1625
01:14:56,280 --> 01:15:00,040
The most robust and rigorous
research that we've seen is in
1626
01:15:00,520 --> 01:15:03,520
older in, in older adults.
So we've signed that music can
1627
01:15:03,520 --> 01:15:06,040
really help with things like
Parkinson's disease because
1628
01:15:06,040 --> 01:15:07,680
music has a beat.
So let's say you have
1629
01:15:07,680 --> 01:15:11,640
Parkinson's disease and you're
struggling just to get walkie to
1630
01:15:11,640 --> 01:15:13,320
find this inner beat to start
walking.
1631
01:15:13,320 --> 01:15:16,360
When you play music and work
with a music therapist, it helps
1632
01:15:16,360 --> 01:15:18,800
you get back into that so that
you can maybe start walking by
1633
01:15:18,800 --> 01:15:21,280
yourself.
And what we see with dementia is
1634
01:15:21,280 --> 01:15:24,320
there's an amazing movie.
If people haven't seen it, it's
1635
01:15:24,320 --> 01:15:26,400
called Alive inside.
It used to be on Netflix.
1636
01:15:26,400 --> 01:15:29,720
It's probably on Prime now.
But basically it's it's it was a
1637
01:15:29,720 --> 01:15:32,920
nonprofit organization that was
doing what was called the iPod
1638
01:15:32,920 --> 01:15:35,200
Project.
And they brought little iPods to
1639
01:15:35,200 --> 01:15:37,880
nursing homes and older adults
and gate let them listen to
1640
01:15:37,880 --> 01:15:40,440
whatever music they wanted.
And, you know, these were
1641
01:15:40,440 --> 01:15:43,240
dementia patients who were very
inert, you know, maybe not
1642
01:15:43,240 --> 01:15:45,520
moving, maybe not always
remembering their old family
1643
01:15:45,520 --> 01:15:47,680
couldn't speak that well.
And all of a sudden when you
1644
01:15:47,680 --> 01:15:50,480
play them the music they like,
they become alive again right
1645
01:15:50,480 --> 01:15:52,400
there.
They are articulate and they
1646
01:15:52,400 --> 01:15:55,600
have opinions and they, you
know, they're alert and, you
1647
01:15:55,600 --> 01:15:57,800
know, engaging.
And so we see that music is
1648
01:15:57,800 --> 01:16:01,440
really amazing for dementia.
In fact, for a lot of people
1649
01:16:01,440 --> 01:16:04,480
with dementia, specifically
among Alzheimer's disease,
1650
01:16:04,760 --> 01:16:07,600
memory for music is actually
pretty well preserved.
1651
01:16:07,880 --> 01:16:11,240
And So what you can use, you can
take advantage of that, right?
1652
01:16:11,240 --> 01:16:14,240
And, and bring use music to
bring people into themselves and
1653
01:16:14,240 --> 01:16:17,440
help them remember things.
Now, we still don't know why it
1654
01:16:17,440 --> 01:16:20,440
works, you know, like, what is
the mechanism that music helps
1655
01:16:20,440 --> 01:16:22,760
people with Alzheimer's disease?
But there's a theory.
1656
01:16:23,280 --> 01:16:25,720
The theory is that in dementia,
if you think about it, parts of
1657
01:16:25,720 --> 01:16:28,000
the brain are kind of going
offline and they're starting to
1658
01:16:28,000 --> 01:16:30,640
become isolated, like little
islands, your brains not talking
1659
01:16:30,640 --> 01:16:33,240
to each other.
But music brings it all back
1660
01:16:33,240 --> 01:16:36,680
together into right.
So that's a working hypothesis,
1661
01:16:36,680 --> 01:16:39,120
a working theory.
More research is being done.
1662
01:16:39,360 --> 01:16:41,640
But yeah, there's actually some
research, you know, people are
1663
01:16:41,640 --> 01:16:45,200
trying to figure out like, OK,
can music, you know, along with
1664
01:16:45,200 --> 01:16:47,960
dementia, there are a lot of
what we call behavior on
1665
01:16:47,960 --> 01:16:50,640
psychological symptoms of
dementia.
1666
01:16:50,640 --> 01:16:54,120
So let's say depression,
anxiety, agitation, lethargy,
1667
01:16:54,120 --> 01:16:55,640
right?
We're starting to try to very
1668
01:16:55,640 --> 01:16:58,360
systematically be like, OK, when
can we use music?
1669
01:16:58,360 --> 01:17:01,800
And how does it help with
agitation or lethargy or
1670
01:17:01,800 --> 01:17:04,040
depression or anxiety, right?
We're kind of at that stage Be
1671
01:17:04,040 --> 01:17:07,400
like, imagine if eventually we
could prescribe music the way we
1672
01:17:07,400 --> 01:17:09,080
would prescribe an
antidepressant.
1673
01:17:09,160 --> 01:17:12,040
Might be like OK I want you to
go and I want you to your choir
1674
01:17:12,040 --> 01:17:14,920
three times a week 30 and we're
going to see you know and see
1675
01:17:14,920 --> 01:17:17,920
how that affects your behavior
and your these what we call
1676
01:17:17,920 --> 01:17:20,080
behavior on psychological
symptoms of dementia.
1677
01:17:20,080 --> 01:17:23,160
So there's a lot of work that's
being done on it In fact that's
1678
01:17:23,160 --> 01:17:26,720
why two of my grants are
actually I recently got an NIA
1679
01:17:26,720 --> 01:17:30,480
from the NIHI got AK 01 Thank
you It's a career development
1680
01:17:30,480 --> 01:17:35,280
grant to study the use of improv
based music therapy help people
1681
01:17:35,280 --> 01:17:37,120
with dementia and their care
partners.
1682
01:17:37,120 --> 01:17:39,040
I want to look at like, does it
help that, you know, because
1683
01:17:39,040 --> 01:17:43,200
care as a unit, yeah, as a unit,
caregivers have a lot of burden
1684
01:17:43,200 --> 01:17:45,120
when and you're taking care of
someone who's sick, right?
1685
01:17:45,320 --> 01:17:49,160
So can we use improv based music
therapy to reduce stress, reduce
1686
01:17:49,160 --> 01:17:52,320
depression, introduce.
To my grandparents, I would love
1687
01:17:52,560 --> 01:17:53,960
to.
Yeah.
1688
01:17:53,960 --> 01:17:55,400
I mean and.
I think, yeah.
1689
01:17:55,400 --> 01:17:57,960
And I think one of the benefits
of doing something like this is
1690
01:17:57,960 --> 01:18:01,120
it's non pharmacological, right?
Like I could you know, people
1691
01:18:01,240 --> 01:18:03,480
obviously there is medication to
help things, but if you think
1692
01:18:03,480 --> 01:18:06,280
about medication can often have
side effects, right?
1693
01:18:06,480 --> 01:18:09,360
Whereas if you pick the right
music, you're working with board
1694
01:18:09,360 --> 01:18:12,200
certified music therapist,
there's not likely to be adverse
1695
01:18:12,200 --> 01:18:14,080
events.
And so it's it's like a good
1696
01:18:14,080 --> 01:18:15,760
frontline first.
Low risk.
1697
01:18:16,320 --> 01:18:19,520
Low risk, a good way to try
starting to help someone who's
1698
01:18:19,520 --> 01:18:21,840
dealing with dementia.
And granted, again, this is for
1699
01:18:21,840 --> 01:18:23,760
early dementia.
We're not talking about late
1700
01:18:23,760 --> 01:18:26,760
stage dementia yet or but you
know, this is where, you know,
1701
01:18:26,760 --> 01:18:29,520
that's one of the research areas
that I'm looking into that I'm
1702
01:18:29,520 --> 01:18:31,040
starting.
I'm at the beginning of it.
1703
01:18:31,400 --> 01:18:35,360
It's so amazing, it's so cool.
I and I mentioned to you that
1704
01:18:36,080 --> 01:18:38,240
that I think I mentioned to you
that I used to visit the
1705
01:18:38,240 --> 01:18:40,320
assisted living homes back when
I was in college.
1706
01:18:40,320 --> 01:18:42,680
And one of the things they used
to do was I used to just sing
1707
01:18:42,680 --> 01:18:45,640
and, and people that and, and
people and, and, and the
1708
01:18:45,640 --> 01:18:49,920
residents in the in these homes,
you know, it doesn't even make a
1709
01:18:49,920 --> 01:18:51,800
difference.
It was, it was So it almost
1710
01:18:51,800 --> 01:18:54,680
felt, and obviously I'm sure it
wasn't, but it almost felt
1711
01:18:54,680 --> 01:18:58,040
unanimous.
As far as anecdotally, everyone
1712
01:18:58,040 --> 01:18:59,840
remembers the pink Sinatra songs
that we would sing.
1713
01:18:59,920 --> 01:19:02,600
Everyone remember the classic
show tunes that we would sing.
1714
01:19:02,920 --> 01:19:05,600
And it would and and what I'm
and I and what I would imagine
1715
01:19:05,600 --> 01:19:10,000
is is also brings back a whole
bunch of series of associations
1716
01:19:10,000 --> 01:19:11,960
and memories.
Exactly like a.
1717
01:19:12,480 --> 01:19:14,560
Yeah, drawback.
You know, I know, for example,
1718
01:19:14,560 --> 01:19:16,880
that I have a very strong
association with James Taylor
1719
01:19:17,200 --> 01:19:20,400
that you know, like I, you know,
my wife and I had gone to his
1720
01:19:20,400 --> 01:19:23,800
concert in Tinglewood and you
know, and and and and, you know,
1721
01:19:23,800 --> 01:19:25,600
the drive there and and and and
the music.
1722
01:19:25,600 --> 01:19:28,520
But even being introduced to his
music in college, college, I
1723
01:19:28,520 --> 01:19:31,880
have very, very strong and and
so I I play music and parts of
1724
01:19:31,880 --> 01:19:35,520
myself that I haven't even
thought about in years.
1725
01:19:35,520 --> 01:19:38,200
Just come rushing to the
Chicago.
1726
01:19:38,480 --> 01:19:40,960
You know, you're the inspiration
was like breakup song in high
1727
01:19:40,960 --> 01:19:43,880
school and I didn't listen to it
in like a decade and it came on
1728
01:19:43,880 --> 01:19:46,920
on the radio and I just was
transported back and I thought
1729
01:19:46,920 --> 01:19:49,360
about the girl that a girl that
I hadn't thought about.
1730
01:19:49,720 --> 01:19:53,040
For years. 20 years and like all
these memories and associates,
1731
01:19:53,120 --> 01:19:54,920
so, so I'm sure that that has a
lot to do with it.
1732
01:19:54,920 --> 01:19:57,360
It's really, really.
I mean, they, they call this a
1733
01:19:57,360 --> 01:19:59,440
music cognition.
We joke the phenomena is like
1734
01:19:59,440 --> 01:20:01,520
they're playing our song.
So think about it.
1735
01:20:01,520 --> 01:20:05,320
Let's say you're 8090 years old,
but you remember the song you
1736
01:20:05,320 --> 01:20:08,040
dance to at your wedding, right?
It brings you back right there.
1737
01:20:08,040 --> 01:20:11,920
And that's the thing, Music.
Has an amazing way to pull on
1738
01:20:11,920 --> 01:20:14,680
all these associations and you
know something else we're trying
1739
01:20:14,680 --> 01:20:16,320
to start doing again.
We're still trying to find
1740
01:20:16,320 --> 01:20:18,040
funding.
So we haven't done it much yet,
1741
01:20:18,040 --> 01:20:21,000
but we're trying to bring
personalized playlists to older
1742
01:20:21,000 --> 01:20:23,200
adults who are treated in the
emergency room.
1743
01:20:23,240 --> 01:20:24,360
Right.
So the emergency room is a
1744
01:20:24,360 --> 01:20:27,560
really stressful place enough so
that many older adults will feel
1745
01:20:27,560 --> 01:20:29,160
delayed.
They won't they'll get confused.
1746
01:20:29,160 --> 01:20:31,880
They don't know where they are
or those get angry and start
1747
01:20:31,880 --> 01:20:34,520
getting agitated And right like
normally maybe you would have to
1748
01:20:34,520 --> 01:20:36,000
use medication to calm them
down.
1749
01:20:36,000 --> 01:20:39,480
But if we give them a pot, you
know, modify with their
1750
01:20:39,640 --> 01:20:41,880
headphones, you know, we often
do like, what do you want to
1751
01:20:41,880 --> 01:20:43,680
listen to?
You know, and anecdotally we
1752
01:20:43,680 --> 01:20:47,280
joke OK, well, take when they
were born and add 18 to 25
1753
01:20:47,280 --> 01:20:49,000
years.
We all remember the music of our
1754
01:20:49,000 --> 01:20:51,360
youth, right.
And so if you do that like, like
1755
01:20:51,360 --> 01:20:53,320
it's a Frank Sinatra is that,
you know, it's like if you add
1756
01:20:53,320 --> 01:20:56,640
the the songs of their youth, it
often does calm them down or at
1757
01:20:56,640 --> 01:20:59,280
least it takes a very stressful
medical situation like the
1758
01:20:59,280 --> 01:21:02,080
emergency room and makes it so
they can function again and
1759
01:21:02,080 --> 01:21:04,920
remember who they are right.
So this is all work that's being
1760
01:21:04,920 --> 01:21:07,240
done right now.
It's all ongoing.
1761
01:21:07,240 --> 01:21:09,560
Still.
Still being studied, but I, I do
1762
01:21:09,640 --> 01:21:13,320
think so I think that's why that
music has, you know, music isn't
1763
01:21:13,320 --> 01:21:15,360
the only domain.
You know, scent is also one of
1764
01:21:15,360 --> 01:21:17,040
those that has a very strong
association.
1765
01:21:17,040 --> 01:21:20,920
But music has a very strong
association with memory.
1766
01:21:20,920 --> 01:21:23,360
And like I said, specifically in
Alzheimer's disease, it's
1767
01:21:23,360 --> 01:21:25,640
amazing that they might forget
their name.
1768
01:21:25,640 --> 01:21:27,760
They might forget their, their
family members.
1769
01:21:27,760 --> 01:21:30,400
They don't know why they're
here, but they hear that song
1770
01:21:30,400 --> 01:21:33,440
and they're like, oh, I went to
prom on that was the song at
1771
01:21:33,440 --> 01:21:36,400
prom or I danced to that at my
wedding and I went to see that
1772
01:21:36,400 --> 01:21:37,560
show.
The tickets were really
1773
01:21:37,560 --> 01:21:39,800
expensive.
And right, it brings back all
1774
01:21:39,800 --> 01:21:41,920
this what we call
autobiographical memory.
1775
01:21:41,920 --> 01:21:44,840
Like if you think about it, as
you know, everyone in our life,
1776
01:21:44,840 --> 01:21:47,920
we all have these soundtracks
that accompany our lives, right?
1777
01:21:47,920 --> 01:21:49,960
The soundtrack of our own
personal life, right?
1778
01:21:50,240 --> 01:21:53,440
And so when you play that back
when you're 80 or 90, it brings
1779
01:21:53,440 --> 01:21:56,000
you back into these
autobiographical memories.
1780
01:21:56,680 --> 01:22:00,760
Is there research on the impacts
of someone with dementia or some
1781
01:22:00,760 --> 01:22:03,720
kind of neurodegenerative
disease playing as opposed to
1782
01:22:03,720 --> 01:22:06,360
consuming music?
We're still looking at that
1783
01:22:06,360 --> 01:22:08,200
right now.
So I they, you know, in music
1784
01:22:08,200 --> 01:22:10,600
therapy, they considered
listening to music is something
1785
01:22:10,600 --> 01:22:13,560
known as receptive music therapy
compared to playing an
1786
01:22:13,560 --> 01:22:15,360
instrument that's active music
therapy.
1787
01:22:15,560 --> 01:22:18,760
So, you know, we're trying both.
I think there's benefits to
1788
01:22:18,760 --> 01:22:22,360
both, likely higher benefits to
actually playing because it's
1789
01:22:22,360 --> 01:22:25,320
again, a more complex process,
but that is that's something for
1790
01:22:25,320 --> 01:22:27,680
example, my KO1 will do because
they're going to be playing
1791
01:22:27,680 --> 01:22:30,000
marimbas.
And then I also am a Co
1792
01:22:30,000 --> 01:22:33,440
investigator on an R61 with
Doctor Julene Johnson here at
1793
01:22:33,440 --> 01:22:37,160
UCSF, where we're teaching older
adults with mild cognitive
1794
01:22:37,160 --> 01:22:38,880
impairment.
That's like the preclinical
1795
01:22:38,880 --> 01:22:41,680
stage to Alzheimer.
It's like what directly precedes
1796
01:22:41,680 --> 01:22:44,560
Alzheimer's disease.
And we're offering them improv
1797
01:22:44,560 --> 01:22:47,360
lessons, piano improv lessons.
They were trying to see how does
1798
01:22:47,360 --> 01:22:49,320
this affect it.
Again, all in progress right
1799
01:22:49,320 --> 01:22:51,200
now.
So I can't speak too much to the
1800
01:22:51,200 --> 01:22:53,680
findings since we're still
gathering the data, but that is
1801
01:22:53,680 --> 01:22:55,280
the type of research we are
doing right now.
1802
01:22:55,760 --> 01:22:57,080
It's so exciting.
That means they have to be in
1803
01:22:57,080 --> 01:23:01,080
touch about, about, about like
when you, when you, while you
1804
01:23:01,080 --> 01:23:03,480
keep on doing all this research
because this is all awesome
1805
01:23:03,480 --> 01:23:04,480
stuff.
I love all this.
1806
01:23:04,520 --> 01:23:07,760
Stuff, you know, thank, you
know, it's like science is not
1807
01:23:07,760 --> 01:23:11,760
an easy path by any way and by
any means, particularly now in
1808
01:23:11,760 --> 01:23:14,080
this funding climate.
But it's really nice to get to
1809
01:23:14,080 --> 01:23:16,720
talk to people and realize that,
you know, most people care about
1810
01:23:16,720 --> 01:23:18,280
this.
Because I mean, something I
1811
01:23:18,320 --> 01:23:21,080
think about too is that we know
from music cognition is that
1812
01:23:21,080 --> 01:23:24,280
literally every culture on this
planet has had music.
1813
01:23:24,560 --> 01:23:27,920
The oldest instruments are from
40,000 years ago, and they
1814
01:23:27,920 --> 01:23:30,440
predate visual art.
They come before the caves of
1815
01:23:30,440 --> 01:23:33,000
Lesco and things like that.
So it's amazing.
1816
01:23:33,000 --> 01:23:35,360
I'm like, well, that really
speaks to the importance of
1817
01:23:35,360 --> 01:23:39,680
music for human society, right?
And so I think whenever I talk
1818
01:23:39,680 --> 01:23:42,280
about this research, well, it
can be hard when I'm in the
1819
01:23:42,280 --> 01:23:45,320
throes of writing a grant or a
manuscript, music is something
1820
01:23:45,320 --> 01:23:48,240
that's very accessible to pretty
much all of us, many of us,
1821
01:23:48,240 --> 01:23:49,080
right?
So.
1822
01:23:49,320 --> 01:23:50,920
Yeah.
I'm really, yeah.
1823
01:23:50,920 --> 01:23:53,440
And I'd be curious, you know,
one thing that I've, I've
1824
01:23:53,440 --> 01:23:57,320
noticed recently as I've kind of
been blowing more music is
1825
01:23:58,360 --> 01:24:02,800
Speaking of ancient or older
types of music, is that there's
1826
01:24:02,800 --> 01:24:06,080
some genres like bluegrass or,
you know, some types of, I guess
1827
01:24:06,080 --> 01:24:09,400
maybe Irish or traditional music
that don't have to such heavy
1828
01:24:09,440 --> 01:24:13,880
emphasis on the, on the rhythm
section or any kind of, you
1829
01:24:13,880 --> 01:24:16,280
know, percussion in particular.
And it's much more of a string
1830
01:24:16,280 --> 01:24:17,960
sound.
And they kind of depend on a
1831
01:24:17,960 --> 01:24:21,840
bass or some kind of other heavy
instrument to create that, that
1832
01:24:21,840 --> 01:24:24,080
sense of rhythm.
But I think that, that, that,
1833
01:24:24,080 --> 01:24:27,320
but I always felt, at least
again, anecdotally, that the,
1834
01:24:27,400 --> 01:24:29,800
that, that the percussion was
almost like the heartbeat, like,
1835
01:24:29,800 --> 01:24:35,080
like the really, really a core
primal aspect of the music that
1836
01:24:35,080 --> 01:24:39,360
just kind of sweeps people up
almost as much as as anything
1837
01:24:39,360 --> 01:24:40,720
else.
It's almost like the, the whole
1838
01:24:40,720 --> 01:24:42,640
like backdrop.
And then everything else is kind
1839
01:24:42,640 --> 01:24:45,240
of just flares and colours
coming from that.
1840
01:24:45,720 --> 01:24:48,320
And, and, and, and it was
curious to see, you know, the
1841
01:24:48,320 --> 01:24:50,720
difference between, you know, I
again, I love Springsteen's
1842
01:24:50,720 --> 01:24:54,760
drummer, Max Max Weinberg and,
and the way that he drums in
1843
01:24:54,760 --> 01:24:57,640
particular really feels because
Springsteen was known for
1844
01:24:57,640 --> 01:25:03,440
changing the tempo a lot, even
mid song, you know, So what do I
1845
01:25:04,000 --> 01:25:06,680
do?
Especially when you're jogging
1846
01:25:06,680 --> 01:25:09,160
and you feel like, you know,
like, and it gets you that in
1847
01:25:09,160 --> 01:25:11,280
that place that runner's high.
But then you listen to Billy
1848
01:25:11,280 --> 01:25:13,680
Strings, man, and you're like,
there is no percussion.
1849
01:25:13,680 --> 01:25:17,040
And there's somehow still find a
way to keep that, to keep that
1850
01:25:17,040 --> 01:25:18,200
going.
And how does that work?
1851
01:25:18,200 --> 01:25:19,560
I all that stuff to me is
awesome.
1852
01:25:19,960 --> 01:25:22,680
In that there in in the Billy
stream, for example, it's
1853
01:25:22,680 --> 01:25:24,480
implied beats.
So even though there's not a
1854
01:25:24,480 --> 01:25:27,720
percussion there, they're
setting the meat from a music
1855
01:25:27,720 --> 01:25:29,840
theory standpoint, they're
setting the meter strongly
1856
01:25:29,840 --> 01:25:31,760
enough that you feel it.
So it's implied.
1857
01:25:32,360 --> 01:25:35,000
But yes, is the percussion and
often a grounding thing?
1858
01:25:35,000 --> 01:25:37,720
Yeah, absolutely.
So, for example, an improv music
1859
01:25:37,720 --> 01:25:41,520
therapy, the base, the music
therapist often will pay play a
1860
01:25:41,520 --> 01:25:44,560
lower xylophone to set the beat.
And that's grounding.
1861
01:25:44,560 --> 01:25:47,320
It's to help set a foundation
and everyone else layers on top
1862
01:25:47,320 --> 01:25:49,200
of it.
And you know, it's, it's very
1863
01:25:49,200 --> 01:25:51,960
much tied to Physiology.
Something music cognition people
1864
01:25:51,960 --> 01:25:55,160
have found is that the tempos we
tend to like, so the tempos that
1865
01:25:55,160 --> 01:25:59,760
music fall in tend to be the
same physiological tempos as our
1866
01:25:59,760 --> 01:26:01,480
heart rate and our breath rate,
right?
1867
01:26:01,480 --> 01:26:04,960
Like, you know, like I and if
you think music is human created
1868
01:26:04,960 --> 01:26:08,680
right, we have created tempos
that mimic our own physiological
1869
01:26:08,680 --> 01:26:10,800
rates.
So yes, absolutely, you're
1870
01:26:10,800 --> 01:26:13,320
probably running right to a
certain beat, permit it, and
1871
01:26:13,320 --> 01:26:16,280
then it changes and it does mess
with your Physiology, right.
1872
01:26:16,600 --> 01:26:19,240
So yes, that music is this is
again, this idea that music is
1873
01:26:19,240 --> 01:26:22,320
very time to to culture and
biology and things like that.
1874
01:26:22,320 --> 01:26:24,560
And those are the type of things
that music cognition in trying
1875
01:26:24,560 --> 01:26:26,240
to understand.
Awesome.
1876
01:26:26,360 --> 01:26:30,360
And my last question for you,
which I like to end now on every
1877
01:26:30,360 --> 01:26:34,480
podcast on now is what are you
excited and hopeful for as far
1878
01:26:34,480 --> 01:26:36,160
as your research in the future
and everything?
1879
01:26:36,240 --> 01:26:40,160
Else, you know, I really hope
that I can continue to keep
1880
01:26:40,160 --> 01:26:43,640
doing research on music, you
know, music work or arty arts
1881
01:26:43,640 --> 01:26:46,360
space work has always been
really kind of underfunded and
1882
01:26:46,360 --> 01:26:48,520
undervalued, right?
Certainly it's not Cancer
1883
01:26:48,520 --> 01:26:51,480
Research, absolutely that you
know, but you know, I do think
1884
01:26:51,480 --> 01:26:54,400
it's really important and I
think we're starting their scene
1885
01:26:54,400 --> 01:26:56,760
that the public is starting to
know more and more about using
1886
01:26:56,760 --> 01:26:58,960
the arts and music.
So what I'm really hopeful for
1887
01:26:58,960 --> 01:27:03,320
is that I really hope more
people start to see why the arts
1888
01:27:03,320 --> 01:27:07,680
are valuable, but then also help
advocate for funding sources
1889
01:27:07,680 --> 01:27:10,680
and, you know, philanthropy that
does support work like this on
1890
01:27:10,680 --> 01:27:12,520
the arts.
You know, because up until now,
1891
01:27:12,520 --> 01:27:15,400
I think I've always considered
what I do very niche.
1892
01:27:15,640 --> 01:27:17,920
And I am still considered niche,
particularly even at like a
1893
01:27:17,920 --> 01:27:21,640
medical school like UCSF.
So I hope, I'm very hopeful
1894
01:27:21,640 --> 01:27:23,640
though, that in the future,
people will continue to see how
1895
01:27:23,640 --> 01:27:25,880
important the arts are and fund
work like this.
1896
01:27:26,240 --> 01:27:28,920
And then I hope that kind of
work will eventually help
1897
01:27:28,920 --> 01:27:30,640
artists, right?
We have all these artists
1898
01:27:30,640 --> 01:27:33,040
graduating from school and
showing that they can have
1899
01:27:33,040 --> 01:27:35,640
careers that are not just being
in the arts.
1900
01:27:35,640 --> 01:27:39,080
Maybe you become an arts
therapist or a music
1901
01:27:39,080 --> 01:27:41,720
practitioner or things like
that, using your talent and your
1902
01:27:41,720 --> 01:27:45,480
skills for health or for, you
know, aging or working community
1903
01:27:45,480 --> 01:27:47,320
homes.
So, so that's what I'm hopeful
1904
01:27:47,320 --> 01:27:48,960
for.
That's like my pipe dream is
1905
01:27:48,960 --> 01:27:51,200
eventually we get to that point.
I love that.
1906
01:27:51,200 --> 01:27:56,400
I just, I think I was talking
again to talked to Kurt Ellen
1907
01:27:56,400 --> 01:27:59,640
Morgan about this, but he said
that there's a real disconnect
1908
01:27:59,640 --> 01:28:04,240
between the research world of
music and the university type of
1909
01:28:04,240 --> 01:28:07,920
world and academia and the
actual performance world.
1910
01:28:08,120 --> 01:28:10,400
And he said there's a real,
there's a real gap between them
1911
01:28:10,400 --> 01:28:12,240
that means that, that, that he
thinks should be bridged.
1912
01:28:12,240 --> 01:28:15,120
And I would love to find, I
would love to encourage that.
1913
01:28:15,120 --> 01:28:18,200
I would love to, you know, for,
for great musicians to want to
1914
01:28:18,200 --> 01:28:21,440
go to universities and want to
go to you guys and want to go
1915
01:28:21,720 --> 01:28:24,440
and say, hey, you know, how can,
how can we work together and
1916
01:28:24,440 --> 01:28:26,560
understand this?
And, and you know, and, and
1917
01:28:26,600 --> 01:28:29,640
provide mutual, you know,
beneficial research for
1918
01:28:29,680 --> 01:28:32,080
everyone.
And I think that I would love
1919
01:28:32,080 --> 01:28:33,120
that.
That's something I'm really I'm
1920
01:28:33,120 --> 01:28:34,840
really hopeful for and I would
love for that to happen.
1921
01:28:35,160 --> 01:28:36,840
Yeah.
And I've been really lucky with
1922
01:28:36,840 --> 01:28:38,840
my National Endowment for the
Arts funds.
1923
01:28:38,840 --> 01:28:41,400
I've been very lucky that
musicians have been buying in,
1924
01:28:41,400 --> 01:28:44,360
that we've been able to get as
far as Small and Colin Mockery
1925
01:28:44,360 --> 01:28:47,840
and Zakir Hussein and these
amazing greats to come in
1926
01:28:47,840 --> 01:28:49,520
because they do think it's
important.
1927
01:28:49,760 --> 01:28:52,280
But yeah, this work doesn't
happen unless musicians and
1928
01:28:52,280 --> 01:28:54,560
artists buy in and help us
support it.
1929
01:28:54,560 --> 01:28:56,800
And I think some something that
I have personally found as a
1930
01:28:56,800 --> 01:28:59,560
scientist, it really helps that
I do have this music background
1931
01:28:59,560 --> 01:29:02,240
because I can go into
conservatories and say, no, I'm
1932
01:29:02,240 --> 01:29:04,440
not just some weird
neuroscientist that was study
1933
01:29:04,440 --> 01:29:06,000
your brain.
I'm one of you.
1934
01:29:06,040 --> 01:29:08,040
This is what's going to happen.
Like I can speak.
1935
01:29:08,360 --> 01:29:10,560
They they take me seriously
because I have music training,
1936
01:29:10,560 --> 01:29:11,600
right?
Or art screening.
1937
01:29:12,000 --> 01:29:14,960
So I, I do think I am hopeful
that there's going to be more
1938
01:29:14,960 --> 01:29:17,480
and more of this
interdisciplinary work and
1939
01:29:17,480 --> 01:29:19,720
that's going to be more and more
public so that people realize
1940
01:29:19,720 --> 01:29:22,560
how important it is.
But yeah, I mean, I think we all
1941
01:29:22,560 --> 01:29:24,440
know it.
Like we all have aging parents
1942
01:29:24,440 --> 01:29:26,680
or grandparents and want to use
what we can.
1943
01:29:26,680 --> 01:29:29,680
And so I think these are the
more we bring this into our real
1944
01:29:29,680 --> 01:29:33,080
lives, I think the better.
So I I'm hopeful for that too.
1945
01:29:34,080 --> 01:29:36,440
Doctor Karen Barrett, thank you
so much for coming on.
1946
01:29:37,800 --> 01:29:40,000
This is such a blast.
I really appreciate your time
1947
01:29:40,000 --> 01:29:42,240
and this is and I hope, I hope,
I can't wait.
1948
01:29:42,240 --> 01:29:44,200
I hope to do this again.
This is a really ton of fun.
1949
01:29:44,200 --> 01:29:46,400
Yeah, this was so much fun.
I at first, as I didn't know
1950
01:29:46,400 --> 01:29:47,600
which studies we'd be talking
about.
1951
01:29:47,600 --> 01:29:49,800
I love that.
It was like a conversation that
1952
01:29:49,800 --> 01:29:52,960
we got to have and it's great.
And I, it did seem very like we
1953
01:29:53,000 --> 01:29:55,360
were able to flow from top and
top and very cohesively.
1954
01:29:55,360 --> 01:29:57,080
So, so good job.
Thank you, Efra.
1955
01:29:57,120 --> 01:29:58,720
I.
Appreciate it, this is a ton of
1956
01:29:58,720 --> 01:29:59,600
fun.
Have a great day.
1957
01:29:59,600 --> 01:30:01,360
Thank.
You let me know if you need
1958
01:30:01,360 --> 01:30:02,040
anything else.