You gotta love the breakthroughs that happen at 4:30 in the morning.
I've been trying to define and refine a research focus, centered around my sense that harmonic suspensions increase a listener's attention and anticipation -- two things that have an impact on learning. I've been taking a graduate seminar in brain imaging this semester, and we will be writing proposals for a brain imaging study in the next two weeks. I think the deadline (see my earlier post) prompted my brain to synthesize things I've been considering for a year. So here's to the anterior cingulate cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal gyrus, and the ventrolateral thalamus -- key players in auditory anticipation and vigilance. Let's find out if certain harmonic changes can create changes in those areas and how that might help our clients learn, decrease pain perception, or relax.
