Isabelle Peretz – författare

Music offers an opportunity to better understand the organization of the human brain. Like language, music exists in all human societies. Like language, music is a complex, rule-governed activity that seems specific to humans, and associated with a specific brain architecture. Yet unlike most other high-level functions of the human brain - and unlike language - music is a skill at which only a minority of people become proficient. The study of music as a major brain function has for some time been relatively neglected. Just recently, however, we have witnessed an explosion in research activities on music perception and performance and their correlates in the human brain. This volume brings together a collection of international authorities - from the fields of music, neuroscience, psychology and neurology - to describe the progress being made in understanding the complex relationship between music and the brain.

Music offers a unique opportunity to better understand the organization of the human brain. Like language, music exists in all human societies. Like language, music is a complex, rule-governed activity that seems specific to humans, and associated with a specific brain architecture. Yet unlike most other high-level functions of the human brain - and unlike language - music is a skill at which only a minority of people become proficient. The study of music as a major brain function has for some time been relatively neglected. Just recently, however, we have witnessed an explosion in research activities on music perception and performance and their correlates in the human brain. This volume brings together an outstanding collection of international authorities - from the fields of music, neuroscience, psychology, and neurology - to describe the amazing advances being made in understanding the complex relationship between music and the brain. Aimed at psychologists and neuroscientists, this is a book that will lay the foundations for a cognitive neuroscience of music.

This volume stems from the conference "The Neurosciences and Music IV: Learning and Memory" held in Edinburgh, Scotland 9–12  June  2011. The volume focuses on four themes: infants and children; adult musicians and non-musicians; disabilities and aging-related issues; and therapy and rehabilitation. Manuscripts cover a range of topics, including the cultural neuroscience of music; memory and learning in music performance; the impact of musical experience on cerebral language processing; and mechanisms of rhythm and meter learning over the life span.  The Neurosciences and Music IV will be of interest to not only to  neuroscientists, psychologists, and students, but also to clinical neurologists and psychologists, educators, and musicologists.NOTE: Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit http://ordering.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/subs.asp?ref=1749-6632&doi=10.1111/(ISSN)1749-6632.ACADEMY MEMBERS: Please contact the New York Academy of Sciences directly to place your order (www.nyas.org). Members of the New York Academy of Science receive full-text access to Annals online and discounts on print volumes. Please visit http://www.nyas.org/MemberCenter/Join.aspx for more information about becoming a member.

Comment l’apprentissage de la musique agit-il sur notre cerveau ? Quels effets a-t-il sur la curiosité, l’attention et la mémorisation ? Quel impact sur la lecture ou le raisonnement mathématique ? Faut-il, pour apprendre et faire des progrès, qu’un enfant ait l’oreille musicale ? Et s’il chante faux ? Que penser par ailleurs des adultes qui décident de s’y mettre sur le tard ? Y a-t-il un âge pour apprendre la musique ? Aujourd’hui, les enseignants et les responsables des systèmes scolaires s’interrogent, et interrogent les experts. Encore tout récemment, la Suisse misait sur une éducation musicale de qualité en l’inscrivant dans sa Constitution. Quels sont les fondements neuroscientifiques de cet intérêt pour l’éducation musicale ? Fruit de plus de trente ans de recherches neurobiologiques sur la musique en lien avec l’éducation, le livre qui nous dit tout sur la manière dont la musique transforme notre cerveau… pour notre plus grand bien ! Par l’une des plus grandes spécialistes, les neurosciences de la musique à la portée de tous, parents comme enseignants ! Isabelle Peretz est titulaire d’une chaire de recherche en neurocognition de la musique à l’Université de Montréal. Au cours des trois dernières décennies, elle a fait de Montréal la capitale mondiale de l’étude du cerveau musical. Membre de la Société royale du Canada, elle a obtenu de nombreux prix d’excellence pour ses travaux. Elle dirige depuis 2005 le Laboratoire international de recherche sur le cerveau, la musique et le son (BRAMS), qu’elle a également fondé.

How does the process of learning music impact our brain? To what extent does it foster curiosity, attention and enhance memory? How is it linked with reading, learning languages, or mathematical thinking? Does a child need a musical ear to develop musical ability and make progress in music? Is there an age limit for learning music? At a time when music education is being drastically cut, in connection with a “back to basics” rhetoric spreading over the field of education, there is also a growing interest in demonstrating and experiencing the way music can boost literacy, fine motor skills, memory, but also social behavior, altruism and… happiness! A world-renowned expert on music and the brain, Isabelle Peretz takes up the joint challenge of enlightening us on the main findings of more than thirty years of neurobiological research on music and education, and translating them, where possible, into actionable recommendations directly applicable to the music room. Written in both lively and straightforward language, her book details the various ways in which music can transform our brain, for the better. It makes the main findings of the neuroscience of music accessible to all those involved in music education —aspiring musicians, professors, learning adults, parents, or educational advisors. An indispensable guide to understanding and promoting best practice in musical education. Dr Isabelle Peretz is a professor of Psychology at University of Montréal, where she holds a Canada Research Chair and a Casavant Chair in neurocognition of music.