The Listening Brain

Live from the Radio 3 pop-up studio at Wellcome Collection, Andrew McGregor is joined by musicians and experts including the pianist Anna Tillbrook and Professor Lawrence Parsons, one of the world's leading experts on how musical skills are linked to and enhance other brain functions, to find out the benefits of listening to and performing music. Plus, from the results of his own brain scan conducted by Professor Sophie Scott and Dr Saloni Krishnan at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Andrew explores how and why the brain responds to music, and how musical experience shapes the brain. Does mastering the complex skill of expert instrumental performance effect the way the brain responds to sound, and which regions of the brain will show these expertise responses? Sophie joins us live to discuss the results.

Andrew McGregor discovers the neurological benefits of listening to and performing music.