Information and neural dynamics in the perception of musical structure

Music is one of the things that makes us human. No known human society exists without music; and no other species seems to exhibit musical behaviour, in the same sense as humans. It is an open question where music came from (in terms of evolution), but it is self-evident that it arises from the human brain: for there to be music, a brain was involved somewhere, even if only in listening. What is not evident at all is how brains (or the minds to which they give rise) make, or even perceive, music. This project aims to understand how human musical behaviour can be modelled using computers, by building programs which embody theories of how the musical mind works, and then comparing them with humans engaged in musical activity and also by comparing their predictions with those of an expert music analyst. This means that the project will contribute to various areas of study: computer music, statistical methods for cognitive modelling (and therefore to cognitive linguistics, because the same kinds of models can be used there), musicology, and neuroscience (both in a better understanding of brain function and with new methods for neural signal analysis). Long term outcomes are likely to be computer systems that help music education, that play music musically, and that interact with human musicians musically; understanding that helps musicians do what they do more effectively; and understanding that helps brain scientists and psychologists understand more about how the brain and the mind work. Above all, since musicality is so fundamental to humanity, the project aims to help understand some of what it means to be human.