Intermezzo: Brainmusic in fMRI time

Functional brain scan data converted to a visualization with accompanying sonification -- musical sounds whose pitch corresponds to magnitude of activation in regions of the brain, as detected by functional MRI. In this video, the tempo has been slowed to that of the scanner, one image/chord per second. The visualization is a "brain cube" with three views of the same brain projected on three sides of a box. In each dimension the 3-d action of the brain has been shrunk to two dimensions. By comparing views you can get a rough idea of the location of areas of activity. At the same time, each area of the brain is assigned to a different musical instrument. Pitches are restricted to a "blues" scale, a pentatonic scale with a blue note added. Pitch for each area rises in proportion to the signal intensity.
These data come from the same source as in the video "Resonant Vision." The subject watched a flickering checkerboard pattern that occupied one side of the visual field, right and left checkerboards alternating. There are three repetitions of the Right/Left alternation in the video, which can be heard in the melodic sweep of the synthesized string sections. As in all the videos on this channel, one message is that many areas of the brain are active at all times and at various time scales. In this one, the scientific moral is at best impressionistic; the main goal is to make something beautiful.
NOTE: Since this video was first posted, the brainmusic project has attracted the interest of the independent documentary film maker Elisa da Prato. To check the status of the feature-length film (and to support the project), see http://musicofthehemispheres.com/
The "mind as music" hypothesis finds empirical support in this open source paper:
http://www.frontiersin.org/theoretical_and_philosophical_psychology/10.3389/f...

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• brainmusic
• experimental
• music
• brain
• functional
• magnetic
• resonance
• MRI
• electronica
• synthesizer
• vision
• consciousness
• aesthetics

[animeisart1]

Head asplode

[WhatTheHell5000]

This is so neat. I want to have this done to my brain multiple times under various circumstances. It would be so awesome.

[m0t8l]

Agree 100% - For me the question is: where is the interface between "out" and "in" i.e. in part the brain reflects the external stimuli and in part itself. We already know that a rough and dispersed "picture" of objects seen with eyes can be captured and reproduced from parts of the visual cortex. Is there something that can be learned by transferring the electrical and magnetic information obtained directly from the brain into audiovisual processes? Interviewing the deux ex machina :)

[hcvang]

holy shit!

i wish i could live to be a thousand, i desperately want to see what happens with this and cognitive imaging... damn, how cool is science?! =D

[BigElevatorDude707]

Incredible I must say :)