Why does music force your body to move and your brain to feel joy?
In short: Neuroscientist Morten Kringelbach and musician Milton Mermikides explore the biological roots of groove. This lecture examines how music engages our predictive brain systems, balancing familiarity with surprise to create pleasure, and explains the deep connection between rhythm, movement, and human culture.
Recorded on 29th June 2025 at London's Barnard's Inn Hall, this Gresham Festival of Musical Ideas lecture bridges neuroscience and musicology. Professor Morten Kringelbach, who directs the Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing at Oxford and co-founded Aarhus University's Center for Music in Brain, joins Gresham Professor of Music Milton Mermikides to analyze why rhythm compels us to dance.
The discussion utilizes brain imaging and real-world studies to show how our minds process musical patterns. By examining genres ranging from funk and bossa nova to the Beatles and classical fugues, the presenters demonstrate how the brain's predictive mechanisms derive satisfaction from the interplay of expectation and novelty.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Climbing Mount Groove: Music and Dance in the Brain - Milton Mermikides and Morten Kringelbach
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