Music surrounds us.

What happens in our mind when we hear music, and how does it affect our emotions? Even with passive listening to music, specific parts of the brain can show activation, or increased neural activity. What is it about music that can so dramatically affect brain activity? Are there things that we can learn from music and its effect on the brain that can help treat people with neurological and cognitive disorders?

Join Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST) and KV 265 during Brain Awareness Week on Wednesday, March 13 for Music / Brain. The program features Drs. Hans C. Breiter and Neelum Aggarwal. Videos of brain imaging in response to music will be incorporated into the presentation.

Breiter, professor of psychiatry and behavioral science, is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital. He trained in mathematical logic before medical training, and completed five post-doctoral fellowships in neuroanatomy, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), experimental psychology, pharmacokinetics/dynamics, and addiction neuroscience. Breiter has been Principal Investigator of the MGH Phenotype Genotype Project on Addiction and Mood Disorder since 2003, and his publications have been cited over 10,000 times.

Aggarwal is the co-leader of the federally-funded Clinical Core at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and an associate professor of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center. Her research has centered on population health, with a focus on how common health conditions of aging affect cognitive and physical activity and mental health in ethnically diverse populations.  She is a board member of the American Medical Women’s Association and vice chair of the Public Health Committee of the Chicago Medical Society, among other distinctions.

When: Wednesday, March 13th 2013. Reception and registration 5 pm, presentation 6 pm

Where: Hughes Auditorium at Northwestern University Chicago Campus, 303 E. Superior

Fees: Complimentary for C2ST members and KV 265 members / $20 for non-members / $5 for students Visit c2st.org for more information or to register.

C2ST is a membership-based nonprofit organization that aims to be the preeminent regional consortium for science- and technology-related education and policy, and a prominent voice nationally.

Founded in 2010 by Adler Planetarium astronomer and visual artist José Francisco Salgado, KV 265 is a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire an appreciation and understanding of science through art to the general public, students, and educational institutions in the US and around the world.