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Health

Eavesdropping on the music of the brain

By Nora Schultz

1 July 2009

Video: Brain music

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

A new way of analysing brain activity as sound may reveal previously unknown differences and similarities between healthy and dysfunctional brains

(Image: Jean Louis Batt/Getty)

A new way of analysing brain activity as sound may reveal previously unknown differences and similarities between healthy and dysfunctional brains

WHAT does the human brain sound like? Now you can find out thanks to a technique for turning its flickering activity into music. Listening to scans may also give new insights into the differences and similarities between normal and dysfunctional brains.

Brain scans created using functional MRI consist of a series of images in which different areas light up with varying intensity at different times. These can be used to determine which parts of the brain…

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