Top-down and bottom-up processing of music in the healthy and pathological brain

2021.09.16 | Graduate School of Health

On Monday 27 September at 15:00, Victor Manuel Pando Naude defends his PhD dissertation entitled "Top-down and bottom-up processing of music in the healthy and pathological brain".

New PhD project from Aarhus University investigates predictive mechanisms of the human brain by studying the effect of music on Parkinson's disease and chronic pain, independently.

The results included in this dissertation contribute to the predictive coding framework of music by exploring the mechanisms involved in the integration of top-down and bottom-up brain processing in the healthy and pathological brain. Our studies investigate how music neuroscience in a clinical setting can advance our understanding of the mechanisms that the human brain engages to combine incoming musical information with internal representations, predictions, and/or expectations. In this context, music is an ideal example of constant integration of multi-modal top-down and bottom-up mechanisms, as music engages audio-motor coupling and other cognitive and emotional processes such as pleasure. Thus, how the brain processes music may represent a privileged tool to gain insights into these complex systems. By understanding the underlying mechanisms in health and disease, we contribute to current models trying to explain such mechanisms. In turn, better understanding of these mechanisms may guide future approaches for treatment.   

The summary is written by the PhD student.   

The defence is public and takes place in the Twin Auditorium, Building 1324, Room 011, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 10, 8000 Aarhus C. Please read the attached press release for more information. 

Contact:

PhD student Victor Manuel Pando Naude

Mail: pandonaude@clin.au.dk

Phone: (+45) 52805306

Read full press release