Music is ubiquitous across
human cultures—as a source of affective and pleasurable experience, moving us
both physically and emotionally—and learning to play music shapes both brain
structure and function. Music processing in the brain—namely, perception of
melody, harmony, and rhythm—has traditionally been studied as an auditory
phenomenon using passive listening paradigms. However, when listening to music,
we actively generate predictions about what is likely to happen next. This
enactive aspect has led to a more complete understanding of music processing
involving brain structures implicated in action, emotion, and learning.
The present talk is
highlights how music perception, action, emotion, and learning all rest on the
human brain’s fundamental capacity for prediction—as formulated by the
predictive coding of music model and elucidates how this formulation of music
perception and expertise in individuals can be extended to account for the
dynamics and underlying brain mechanisms of collective music making. This sheds
new light on what makes music meaningful from a neuroscientific perspective.
Professor Peter Vuust,
Ph.D. is a unique combination of a top-level jazz musician and scientist. He
leads the Danish National Research Foundation's center for "Music In the
Brain" and holds joint appointments as full professor both at the Danish
Royal Academy of Music and at the Dept of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University.
He has published more
than 150 scientific papers in high ranking international journals, among others
the review "Music in the brain" in Nature Reviews Neuroscience
(March, 2022) centered around the theory of predictive coding of music. He uses
state-of-the-art brain scanning techniques such as fMRI, PET, EEG, MEG and
behavioral measures and is a world leading expert in the field of music and the
brain – a research field he has single-handedly built up in Denmark as leader
of the center for Music In the Brain (MIB) currently employing more than 30
researchers. Among many other grants, he has received DKK 98 million (~ US $ 15
million) as PI, from the Danish National Research Foundation.
In addition, Prof
Vuust is a renowned jazz bassist and composer; leading the Peter Vuust Quartet
with Lars Jansson, Morten Lund and Claus Waidtløw of which seven records have
been released so far, most recently Homage in June 2025. He has also played on more
than 100 recordings and been sideman with international jazz stars such as Lars
Jansson, Tim Hagans, John Abercrombie, Dave Liebman and many more. He is the
recipient of the 2009 Jazz Society of Aarhus’ "Gaffel"-prize. His
album “September Song” was widely acclaimed by reviewers and received a
nomination for a Danish Music Award in 2014.
As professor at the
Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, Denmark, he has taught electric and acoustic
bass as well as music theory, ear training and ensemble playing. He has given
many keynote talks and masterclasses at international conferences and institutions
on a wide range of topics ranging from the neuroscience of music to
improvisation and composition. He has written three monograph's
"Polyrhythm and –meter in modern jazz; a study of Miles Davis’ Quintet
from the 1960s”, "Music on the Brain", and most recently a book on
musical leadership.