NOTE: Please note this week's MRM is online only due to COVID.
Join us at the next MRM with invited speakers Anita Connell as she discusses Music instrument learning throughout ageing and cognitive impairment, and Dr Laurence Bruggeman to discuss Use of visual cues during speech processing by children with hearing loss.
Topic: Music instrument learning throughout ageing and cognitive impairment. Speaker: Anita Connell
Improvisational music-making involves generating and playing musical ideas guided by imagination, instinct or in response to others. It is evidenced that, for adult musicians, improvisational methods of musical play connect with creative cognitive processes and, in particular divergent thinking, a creative process where executive control areas of the brain are activated.
This presentation will present evidence of how the creative input of older adults while learning a musical instrument enhances general cognition and wellbeing. Thirty-nine participants aged 60+ years completed a 10-week program of group improvisational music-making to learn the piano keyboard. Adults with and without a subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) were included, a self-reported diagnosis of declining cognitive function.
Topic: Use of visual cues during speech processing by children with hearing loss. Speaker: Dr Laurence Bruggeman
Although many children with hearing loss can perceive speech relatively well thanks to the use of hearing aids or cochlear implants, these children may still have difficulties with other levels of speech processing, resulting in slower or more effortful listening. In this talk, I will discuss the findings of a study investigating whether presenting visual speech cues (i.e., the speaker’s face) along with the auditory signal may help primary school-aged children with hearing loss improve speech processing speed and/or effort.
We thank you for your continued attendance at the MRM's and look forward to seeing you again.
MARCS staff and students are reminded that all meetings and workshops have an important role in building and maintaining the sense of community which is central to the success of MARCS as a cooperative and energetic research institute. Your attendance is both welcomed and expected.
Disclaimer: MRM meetings may be recorded on Zoom for future access to MARCS members and subject to speaker's approval
