When music meets the mind

Carolina Performing Arts teamed up with the UNC Carolina Center for Neurostimulation, the UNC School of Medicine Planning Office, and DooR to DooR, a music program within UNC Health’s Volunteer Services and Patient Experience, to explore the brain’s response to live music in Natural Rhythms: The Brain, the Beat and the Beauty of Neurological Electricity.

As violinist and CPA curator-in-residence Johnny Gandelsman played, Dr. Flavio Frohlich, director of Carolina Center for Neurostimulation explained what the audience was seeing in real time: EEG readings of electrical activity in the brain demonstrating how the brain synchronizes with sound—revealing the deep connection between art and science.

CPA believes research and discovery don’t just belong in the lab—they thrive in the arts. Through interdisciplinary collaborations, they’re exploring how creativity can spark new ideas, foster innovation and deepen our understanding of the world around us.

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