The Symphony of the Senses – MusicBrain

The Symphony of the Senses

Under the control of our auditory system, music is experienced differently by each of us. It involves the nerve pathways of the reward circuit leading to pleasure seeking. Several neurotransmitters that are common to other forms of pleasure, such as eating, play a major role. Music or food often have a calming (relaxing) effect on our brain activity, and rhythm is an essential component in synchronizing our daily activities. Finally, music also represents a therapeutic approach to neuro-cognitive and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, etc.).

The aim of this multidisciplinary project, which brings together the skills of neuroscientists, professional artists and audiovisual experts, is to create a live musical show for the public. The show is designed to be fun, humorous and educational, and to provide a better understanding of how nerve cells work and the role of different brain regions in learning or in response to auditory and gustatory stimuli such as music or food, in both children and adults. The idea is to think together, based on each person's research, about how to share scientific innovations with the public by transferring them in an artistic context. This show also responds to a need: to link science and culture for the benefit of as many people as possible, and to answer some of the questions that interest different audiences: what means "thinking », what is « the intelligence », how does our brain perceive and respond to the environment in which we live, and how can we examine our emotions?
The expected benefits are manifold: on the one hand, to bring basic notions of how the brain works accessible to all, as an educational component to the project, and also to initiate a training action using new audiovisual technologies for students at the Gobelins Paris school. The project also aims to have an educational and societal impact: prevention, such as noise damage to our hearing; what our food - good and bad - does to our brain, and the consequences in obesity. In this context, discussions with the scientists and artists will be scheduled at the end of each musical presentation, depending on the audience concerned, to illustrate and document the subject and enrich the content of the story through the spectator's experience.

Partners: Carole Rovère (Université Côte d'Azur), Séverine Samson (Université de Lille), Arnaud Lacaze-Masmonteil (Gobelins Paris), Myriam Solves/Jean-Pierre Solves/Emmanuel Suarez (Association Pietrosell'Arte)
Key words: Brain, Music, Nutrition, Artistic creation
149964,77 Euros requested
Period from 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2025