LEAD

Shantala HEGDE

PhD, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences,
Bangalore, India

« Music Cognition : What has Indian Classical Music got to contribute ? »

Music is a universal phenomenon. Despite its ubiquity, it is only in the past three and half decades that research on the brain basis of music has emerged as a specialized area in the fields of psychology and neuroscience. Today music is considered an important tool to understand the functions of the brain. Scientific explorations of the role of music in our lives and advances in technologies such as EEG/ERP, PET, and fMRI have contributed to the exponential growth of this field- music cognition. However, majority of these studies have been carried out using Western music on the western population. Although there are certain features of music which are universal, there are of course variations due to the cultural and geographical backgrounds. The present seminar will focus on delineating the various components and unique features of Indian classical music, and compare it with western classical music highlighting the possible leads for carrying out cross-cultural studies to broaden the knowledge base in the field of music cognition.