Rights sold in Simplified Chinese
Finalist Prix Hubert-Reeves 2019
Finalist Prix Opus 2019

A sound, a note, a melody and voila… the brain in turmoil. But why do certain tunes manage to make us cry, give us goosebumps, get us excited or make us dance? Why are we touched by the symphonies of Beethoven, by the vocal performances of Céline Dion, by the frenzied reels of Ti-Jean Carignan or by the Arcade Fire concerts?

Of course, it all starts with the ear. The sound waves produced by a piano, a flute or a violin rush into it and are transformed into nerve impulses to reach various regions of the brain.

Seasoned science journalist Michel Rochon takes us on a fascinating exploration of the musical brain. It reveals the most recent discoveries in artificial intelligence, neuropsychology, linguistics and even mathematics that make us understand sound harmonies in a different way. We are not at the end of our surprises, as researchers increasingly understand the clinical and therapeutic benefits of music.

By closing this book, you will no longer be able to hear rock, jazz, classical, opera, traditional, rap or techno the same way. And there’s no doubt: it’s the music that made us more human.

Michel Rochon is a scientific and medical journalist. For 30 years, he worked on several news teams at Radio-Canada, notably for the programs Découverte, Enquête, La Semaine verte and Le Téléjournal. He is now a lecturer in journalism at the University of Quebec in Montreal, speaker, host and… pianist.