Presentation Synopsis
Music is one of the defining features of what it means to be a human. Music can inspire us, teach us, and heal us, and it can bring us together in powerful ways. But how, and why, are we musical? In his presentation “Rhythmic Origins of Human Musicality,” John R. Iversen, PhD, explores the science and evolution behind human musicality by presenting engaging evidence from human-brain imaging and animal studies to answer these fundamental questions.
Focusing on the neural mechanisms that enable the wide array of human rhythmic abilities, Iversen’s work has demonstrated the critical role of the motor system in shaping not just rhythmic movement but rhythm perception itself. Using a variety of neuroscientific methods, Iversen shows how music can be a powerful tool to uncover fundamental brain mechanisms.
“Rhythmic Origins of Human Musicality” also examines human rhythmic abilities in the context of the larger animal world, including studies of the first non-human animal found to dance in time with music, helping us consider what’s unique about human rhythmic musicality.
About John R. Iversen
John R. Iversen is a cognitive neuroscientist who studies music and the brain as an associate professor at McMaster University in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behavior. He’s a member of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, home to LIVELab, the world’s first concert hall designed for research on music’s effects on performers and audiences.
Iversen’s internationally recognized work focuses on how people perceive and produce musical rhythm, including the role of culture in rhythm perception and questions about whether beat perception is uniquely human. His research maps brain mechanisms involved in beat perception and has proposed that the motor system is essential to how we listen.
Iversen also develops methods to study the brain in real-world settings using mobile brain/body imaging. He’s led teams investigating neural dynamics underlying navigation, group interaction, and complex motor learning, and he’s led NIH- and NEA-funded studies on how music training influences development in childhood and adolescence. Iversen regularly shares science discoveries with the public through TEDx talks, and he’s been a presenter for The Kennedy Center’s Sound Health: The Concert. Iversen studied physics at Harvard, earned an MPhil at Cambridge, and completed his PhD at MIT.
For more information, visit the McMaster LIVELab’s website at livelab.mcmaster.ca.