Bob Bilder

What are the origins of hearing? What is the evolutionary benefit of music? And why do we get chills when we listen to certain songs? Today, we will talk to UCLA neuropsychology expert Dr. Bob Bilder about the neuroscience behind music and its benefit for our health and wellness.

More about Dr. Bob Bilder 

Bob is the Chief of Medical Psychology – Neuropsychology at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and Director of the Tennenbaum Center for the Biology of Creativity. His research has focused on the links between brain and behavior, using tools spanning genetics, neuroimaging, cognitive and other assessments of human behavior. Bob has been studying the brain bases of creativity across species, and identifying brain and behavioral traits associated with exceptional or “Big C” creativity in humans, which we will discuss today. He is particularly interested in studying dimensions of brain function to help eliminate artificial boundaries between mental illnesses, between health and disease, and between the brain mechanisms involved in exceptional and everyday creativity. He also directs the Mind Well pod within UCLA’s Healthy Campus Initiative to concentrate on how we can support resilience, well-being and creative achievement at UCLA and beyond.

Join us in today’s conversation- Dr. Bilder will discuss the relationship between music and the brain. What is happening in our brain when we listen to music? Can music help with addiction? What are the differences in our brains between highly creative individuals/proteges and the regular person? And what does Herbie Hancock have to do with all of this?