Cadence Podcast: What Music Tells us About the Mind

In a special series within season 4, Indre speaks with Connie Tomaino, executive director and co-founder of the Institute for Music and Neurological Function (IMNF). This episode, Connie talks about how music therapy can benefit patients who have experienced trauma both as an adult and in early childhood. Cadence is the podcast where we talk about what music can tell us about the mind. Hosted by n...

Ethan Castro is back to talk about his experience with Tourette Syndrome and how it has shaped his path as a musician. We also hear from world-renowned jazz pianist Michael Wolff about navigating Tourette Syndrome throughout his long and storied career. Cadence is the podcast where we talk about what music can tell us about the mind. Hosted by neuroscientist and musician, Dr. Indre Viskontas, the...

In a special series within season 4, Indre speaks with Connie Tomaino, executive director and co-founder of the Institute for Music and Neurological Function (IMNF). This episode, Connie talks about how music therapy can benefit patients who have had a stroke and/or suffer from aphasia. Cadence is the podcast where we talk about what music can tell us about the mind. Hosted by neuroscientist and m...

Dr. Ethan Castro and Dame Evelyn Glennie, both hearing impaired percussionists, talk through building successful careers as performers and composers not just despite their hearing challenges but in service of them, and reshaping the music landscape for others in the process. Cadence is the podcast where we talk about what music can tell us about the mind. Hosted by neuroscientist and musician, Dr....

In a special series within season 4, Indre speaks with Connie Tomaino, executive director and co-founder of the Institute for Music and Neurological Function (IMNF). This episode, Connie talks about how music therapy can benefit patients with dementia. Cadence is the podcast where we talk about what music can tell us about the mind. Hosted by neuroscientist and musician, Dr. Indre Viskontas, the f...

There are many neurodiverse musicians working professionally in the classical music world, but are orchestras and universities doing enough to make auditioning and playing in an orchestra accessible? Two musicians with autism, Emelyne Bingham and Ryan Fox, as well as conductor Edwin Outwater, share their thoughts. Cadence is the podcast where we talk about what music can tell us about the mind. Ho...

In a special series within season 4, Indre speaks with Connie Tomaino, executive director and co-founder of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function (IMNF). This episode, Connie shares about the beginnings of her research in the clinical applications of music and neurologic rehabilitation, and the benefits of music and dance therapy for patients with Parkinson's Disease. Cadence is the podc...

This episode, composer and musician Jerome Ellis tells the story of how his stutter has informed his journey as an artist, and how he explores blackness, disability, divinity, nature, sound and time in his work. Cadence is the podcast where we talk about what music can tell us about the mind. Hosted by neuroscientist and musician, Dr. Indre Viskontas, the fourth season will bring you the stories o...

S03 Episode 07: Music and Prisons, Part 2 by Indre Viskontas

S03 Episode 06: Music and Prisons, Part 1 by Indre Viskontas

S03 Episode 05: How Music Affects Animals by Indre Viskontas

S03 Episode 04: Music During the Holidays by Indre Viskontas

S03 Episode 03: Why Queer Music Matters by Indre Viskontas

S03 Episode 02: Lullabies and Feelings by Indre Viskontas

S03 Episode 01: The Music of Politics by Indre Viskontas

In this final episode of season 2, we look at the dramatic effects music can have on patients with dementia—in some cases, it can bring back people who seem to be almost completely lost.

Watching someone suffer through a serious illness is heartbreaking—especially if it’s a child, and even more if it affects their ability to communicate. Can music empower such people by giving them a way to express themselves during moments when they may not be otherwise capable? MyMusicRx, a unique program that puts control into the hands of the kids, is attempting to do just that.

In this episode, we meet Tony Deblois, an individual with autism who is also blind. Tony can play 23 instruments, has toured all over the world, and has accompanied musical theater productions—all without out ever opening a score. How does he do it? Where does this prodigious talent come from? And what can we learn about ourselves from Tony’s story?

This episode was partly taped live during Indre’s faculty artist recital at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. It explores how music can be used to comfort, heal, and reduce conflict under the most extreme circumstances. But it’s also not always welcome.

In this episode we meet Terry. After a devastating car accident he was left with profound damage to his brain’s left hemisphere, significantly impairing his ability to speak. We learn about how—with music—Terry is rewiring his brain and regaining speech.

In this episode, we meet Sandra C., a guest at a sanctuary called Rosie's Place for poor and homeless women in Boston. At Rosie's Place, guests are treated with dignity and respect, and given access to resources designed to improve their lives. One of these resources is an English language class done in partnership with the music therapy program at the Berklee College of Music in which music is pa...

In this episode, we tell the story of a dance class designed for people who are losing the ability to move voluntarily. Mike Gabel, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease four years ago, explains why he never misses a class.

This season, we’re going to focus on music as medicine—telling the stories of people whose lives have been immeasurably improved with music. In this episode, we talk about William’s Syndrome, a genetic condition that causes heart problems, intellectual disabilities and a profound love of music. We hear from 31-year-old Benjamin Monkaba, who has the condition, his mother Terry, and Jennifer Latson,...

As we finish up season one, we look back to one of the most famous and strange musical illusions: speech turning into song through repetition. We explore some new research on the relationship between singing and speaking and what happens in the brain when the illusion works. And we look forward to season two, in which we'll focus in on what music can tell us about medicine.

It takes years to train your ears - but not necessarily a music degree. Auditory neuroscientist Nina Kraus tells us how musicians listen and therefore hear differently with training. Orchestral conductor Eric Dudley explains that the secret to getting an orchestra to sync up is teaching them to listen and ukulele player and comedic musician Molly Lewis demonstrates how she taught herself to become...