Jim Roddy

Music and the Brain 

Music is known to affect a person’s mood, get them excited, or make them calm and relaxed. Music also allows us to feel nearly some or possibly all emotions that we experience in our lives. It is an important part of our lives that fills a need or an urge to create or listen to music.

To bring this important topic to the residents of Leisure World, the Center for Lifelong Learning has scheduled a series of classes by Jim Roddy. The first class is scheduled to be held in the Auditorium of Clubhouse 2 commencing Tuesday, January 11th at 9:30 AM until 11:00 AM and will conclude Tuesday, February 15th.

Each class will consist of two DVDs; each topic is a half hour long and will be supplemented with PowerPoint slides, videos, and discussion. For more details about the presentation contact the Center’s website at   https://www.cllmd.com. Register for the class with E&R in Clubhouse 2. The fee for the class is $15.00.. there will a limit of 100 registrants for the class.

This course is based on a Great Courses DVD by Professor Aniruddh Patel of Tufts University. We will explore music and rhythms in cultures around the world. Jim will delve into questions such as “Where did music come from and did it predate language?”, “Did music have an evolutionary advantage?”, “Why is music almost universal?”.

The class will also look into how music and chants were a way to pass along vital information orally. They will discuss music therapy in treating Aphasia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s , and developmental disorders in children. It turns out that instrumental and vocal music stimulates many parts of the brain, not just the auditory cortex. As a result, people who have had a stroke on the left lobe of their brain (speech area) and can no longer speak, can sing what they want to say, even if in a monotone.  It’s really incredible.