#100 How music ignites imagination and empathy - Dr. Liila Taruffi

SanftMut - Sound Therapy Podcast

Dr. Liila Taruffi is an interdisciplinary music researcher and lecturer at Durham University, working at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience and aesthetics.

We talk about the psychological benefits of music again.

Seeing with the mind's eye: In this episode she shares how music can influence vividness and content of imagined journeys. These days, directed, intentional imagination has become a powerful clinical tool in therapies to navigate self-regulation. Liila has been working on a study that highlights music's potential to support therapies in an innovative way such as Exposure Therapy and Imagery Rescripting for a variety of mental health conditions.

Focus on empathy: She has also been involved in a study which shows that trait empathy shapes neural responses toward sad music. Are you an empathic listener? Then you might experience sad music in a more pleasurable way. Find out more about a "music-empathy" network and how music can act as a social representative that we can develop a sense of empathy for.

Learn more at:

durham.ac.uk/staff/liila-taruffi/

Herff, S. A., Cecchetti, G., Taruffi, L. & Déguernel, K. (2021). Music influences vividness and content of imagined journeys in a directed visual imagery task. Scientific Reports 11(1): 15990.

Taruffi, L., Skouras, S., Pehrs, C. & Koelsch, S. (2021). Trait Empathy Shapes Neural Responses Toward Sad Music. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 21(1): 231-241.

liilataruffi.com

Liila's song inspiration of the day: Claude Debussy - Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune

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Katja's Website: katjaschendel.com