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Neuro-engineer Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal and composer Anthony Brandt present a public demonstration of their research into the neural signatures of musical improvisation. Pianist Chelsea de Souza, a classical and jazz musician, will wear a portable EEG cap while improvising variations on musical themes provided by the research team. The activity relayed by the EEG cap will be visualized and projected onto a screen, in real time, by Badie Khaleghian, a multimedia artist and composer. As a result, the audience will be able to see and hear creativity and scientific research in action.
Designed so that de Souza’s variations get progressively farther away from the original musical theme, the goal of this experiment is to observe whether the neural signatures of this creative behavior in a real-world setting.
Before the musical experiment, Drs. Brandt and Contreras-Vidal will provide guests with background on the research. The event will include a question-and-answer session at the end.