Sample of Topics
Our talks & lectures hosted primarily by Andrew Chi, M.D. elucidate the following fascinating relationships:
How do the brain and the mind work? How do the arts affect them? What parts of the brain are artistic?
This is an introductory lecture-recital about a significant trifecta relationship which explains (1) how the arts affect us experientially and (2) how our head directs our body to create different types of art.
How do children improve their math and reading skills dramatically from learning how to play an instrument?
After the Mozart Effect was proposed, a series of studies followed which sought to prove or disprove the causation or correlation between musical training and other academic skills.
This lecture-recital shares the research and explains what parents and children need to know about the significant impact of musical training upon their brains.
How does creativity work in the brain?
After scientists at Dartmouth Geisel Medical School disproved the oversimplified dichotomy of the left-sided brain versus the right-sided brain, other scientists discovered how the brain turns on creativity between the two sides of the brain.
Learn from this lecture-recital how you can slip into the optimal mental mode to turn on your creativity and creative problem-solving.
How can dance or dance music help neurological disorders?
Parkinson's is the fastest growing neurological problem in the world in part because of the increasing head injuries in sports. Meanwhile, dance has been shown to help a range of neurological movement disorders become almost entirely symptom free.
Learn how various types of dance or dance music might help restore normal functioning in this truly dynamic lecture-recital. Learn more about the growing field of Dance Movement Therapy as well.
How does music help heal brain damage from strokes?
Music Therapy significantly helps more than just dysarthria (difficulty articulating words) after strokes.
Discover in this lecture-recital what Music Therapy and Speech Language Pathology are and how they help neuroplasticity (the rewiring of parts of the brain which has permanently lost neurons). Find out how it helps arms and legs to regain strength even though music doesn't seem related to our limbs.
Can animal brains appreciate the arts?
Birds sing, some parrots can mimic human singing, an elephant seems to paint, and pet owners attest to dogs and cats which seem to appreciate music.
What is the truth to these observation and anecdotes?
In this lecture-recital, we'll examine the similarities and differences between the human brain versus animal brains. We'll learn what animals are or aren't capable of, and we'll discover how the human brains makes people far more distinct than our animal companions.
How does music eliminate either stuttering or epileptic seizures?
You might heard Colin Firth's stuttering stop as he listened to music in The King's Speech. This historical movie depicted the anxiety-provoking oratory struggles of the father of Queen Elizabeth II at a time when Hitler devoured Europe. The future king finally decided to get help from an Australian vocal coach when he realized that he spoke normally while listening to Classical Music.
Find out how these phenomena appear to happen in the brain through this lecture-recital.
How does visual art help Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
The Pentagon developed a significant research effort to combat trauma experiences, and the results indicated the importance of creative visual arts to help patients who suffer from PTSD. Some people have gone further to use individual or group-made mural arts to transform neighborhoods traumatized by violent crime.
This lecture-recital introduces the significant field of Art Therapy as another important modality to consider along with psychotherapy for the treatment of real PTSD.
What is the difference between imagination and vision?
What we see (vision) is different than what we imagine. Humans respond to their perceptions since birth, yet human philosophers only began to study perception in the 1800s as one of the first research topics in the new field of psychology. After solving the puzzle of visual colorblindness, neuroscientists began to piece together the way that humans imagine. Some imaginations are good, but psychotic hallucinations are problematic.
In this lecture-recital, we'll discover the ways that vision and imagination function and why they matter if we want to improve our lives.
How can some types of music help depression and anxiety? How do other types of music provoke or worsen depression and anxiety?
Music and other arts are not merely a matter of taste. Have you experienced some music as disturbing while other forms of music are relaxing and stabilizing? Some forms of music actually induce many people to panic and freeze in fright. Movie music (horror vs romance) and some Heavy Metal are the most obvious examples.
There is an actual neurological basis to these phenomena! Find out more in this lecture-recital.
