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

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