“Lullabyte”, a new project at the MTG on the effects of music on sleep through musicology, neuroscience, psychology, and computer science
“Lullabyte”, a new project at the MTG on the effects of music on sleep through musicology, neuroscience, psychology, and computer science
The project is a Doctoral Network funded by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and is coordinated by the University of Dresden
Music exerts strong effects on the human brain, as evidenced by both subjective emotional reactions and overt changes in neurophysiology: lullabies are known in all cultures and times as an effective sleep aid for children and adults. However, musicology focuses mostly on musical structures, cultural practice or historical contexts, without interaction with empirical neuroscience. The Lullabyte project will, for the first time, bring leading researchers from musicology, sleep research, neuroscience, and computer science together to fill this gap.
Lullabyte is a Doctoral Network formed by 13 academic and 6 non-academic institutions that will train a group of 10 interdisciplinary doctoral candidates in the fields of musicology, neuroscience/psychology, and computer science.
At the MTG, we will study the effects of sonification and interactive music generation based on EEG images in sleep induction and its quality. Specifically, the researchers will examine the potential effects of sound stimulation on brain waves during sleep and explore how music helps the brain relax, induce asleep and improve sleep quality. The Principal Investigator at the MTG is Sergi Jordà, who will supervise a doctoral candidate's work within the project.
This is the first scientific and fully interdisciplinary study of the potential of music for enhancing sleep, combining the experience of psychologists, neuroscientists specialized in sleep, musicologists, experts in music technology and artificial intelligence. The MTG will contribute its expertise in sound synthesis, perception, and machine learning, to synthesize music with somnogenic and relaxing effects in real time and based on EEG signals. The resulting systematic knowledge will allow, for example, to develop interactive applications to treat insomnia without needing drugs. One of the project's objectives is to offer the market new, personalized music products for this purpose based on data and with a solid scientific basis.
Project information:
Lullabyte. Unraveling the Effects of Music on Sleep through Musicology, Neuroscience, Psychology and Computer Science
Doctoral Network funded by Horizon Europe (HORIZON) Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Dates: November 2022 – October 2026
Project website: https://lullabyte.de
News article on UPF website:
Media coverage:
https://www.consalud.es/
https://www.rtve.es/play/
https://www.telecinco.es/
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