Huge congratulations to Parsa Fouladi (Upper Sixth), whose literature review, ‘The Neural, Molecular, and Genetic Correlates of Musical Response’ will be published in the International Journal of High School Research.
“This work was largely inspired by my own music taste, Sade and Alicia Keys in particular! Music, though universal, elicits responses that vary both on a personal and neurobiological level. I set out to explore how our biology shapes this variability in how we respond to music, seeking to establish that the musical response is rooted in a complex yet standardised network of neural processes. This literature review involved meta-analytical techniques and mandated an insane amount of reading (over the course of writing it I must have read over 250 papers!).
“A summary of my findings:
- First to identify G-protein-cross-communication in the musically creative phenotype (or in musically talented populations)
- Proposed a novel biomarker for music-induced valence arousal based on an immunohistochemical analysis of dopamine distribution in the neo-striata of hypertensive mice post-exposure to Mozart
- Formalised three mirror neuron system networks for musical interpretation.
“I submitted my paper close to a year ago to the International Journal of High School Research. It underwent a round of edits and peer review, and the paper was finally accepted by the journal!
Parsa Fouladi, Upper Sixth
