--Apologies for cross-posting--

Dear all,

You are invited to attend this week's Cognitive Area Seminar talk on *Friday Jan 29, 3:30 - 5 PM (STBIO, Room S3/4*).

The talk will be given by* Adiel Mallik (PhD Candidate, Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill)*, and is titled "The Neurochemical and Social Aspects of Music Listening". For a full abstract, see below dashed line.

If you are unable to attend this week's talk, there will be more opportunities. Please see our full talk schedule @: http://www.mcgill.ca/psychology/events-colloquia-0/brownbag-series.

Also, monthly post-seminar journal blitzes at Thomson House (3650 Rue McTavish) will resume on Friday, Feb 5 2016; Students, post-docs, and faculty are welcome to join to describe an article you have read recently.

If you would like to join the Cognitive Area group mailing list for further notification of our seminars, please go to this link and follow the instructions: http://mx0.psych.mcgill.ca/mailman/listinfo/coggroup.

Hope that you are able to attend!

Best, Anna

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*The Neurochemical and Social Aspects of Music Listening*

Adiel Mallik, PhD Candidate, Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University

Music listening entails a number of health benefits, which include moderation of pain thresholds, improved immune system functionality and regulation of attention and mood. Music also provides social benefits such as improved empathy. Both of these health and social benefits may be tied to emotional benefits of music listening which include stimulation and activation of the primary emotional reward areas of the brain situated in the mesolimbic system consisting of the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area. In this presentation I will talk about two separate studies that explore the health and social benefits of music listening. The first study investigates the role of endogenous opioids in mediating musical pleasure. The second study examines whether music plays a role in regulating the mental components of empathy known as theory of mind.