Apparently, generating music from the brain is a hot topic to be studying in science these days. The video bellow demonstrates what music generated from from fMRI scans (fMRI stands for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) sounds like.
To turn such scans into music, philosopher Dan Lloyd at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, identified regions that become active together and assigned each of these groups a different pitch. He then created software that analyzes a series of scans and generates the notes at these pitches as the corresponding brain areas light up. Each note is played at a volume that corresponds to the intensity of activity. Lloyd measured his brain activity while exercising different activities, like playing a race-car video game and then resting. It goes to show that the musical alterations from one activity to the next are very noticeable. Lloyd, looking for practical uses for his application, turned to people suffering
from schizophrenia and dementia. Along with some other uber-geek scientists, he noticed that it was possible to identify specific parts of the brain where anomalies occurred much better through the scans where the music pointed out unusual variations, then with the eye alone. Amazing indeed.
In the music brain domain there exists other outstanding studies, like using brain waves to generate music that will then be re-fed to the listener for relaxation and concentration purposes. In other words, listening to your own “soundtrack” can have some very beneficial affects on your stress and focus levels. The Dept of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) has begun a study into a form of neurotraining called “Brain Music” that uses music created in advance from listeners’ own brain waves to help them deal with common ailments like insomnia, fatigue, and headaches stemming from stressful environments. Also pretty darn awesome.
Woof.
