Music can engender emotion, and also lead to recall of emotions and memories. In everyday life, music is played to calm, to motivate and to encourage certain behaviours for example to hurry, linger or dance. The sharing of music-making in a choir or band can enhance social cohesion and friendship.

What is the role of music in UK society? What happens to our brains when we listen to music? Can music help to heal the brain in physical and mental disorders? What does the musician's brain teach us about neuroplasticity? What can we learn from a composer such as Chopin and from modern composers and musicians? Such questions will be posed and addressed at an upcoming one day conference at the Royal Society of Medicine and provides an exciting conclusion to the second year of the RSM's Psychiatry Section's well-established series on 'Psychiatry in Dialogue with Neuroscience, Medicine and Society'.

The conference will appeal to those who want to learn more about the power of music on the brain, especially the effects of music on individuals, as well as its role in society. The conference will be suitable for psychiatrists, neurologists, psychologists, musicians and doctors; and for those who wish to learn more about creativity, music and the brain.

Organised by Drs Irene Cormac, James Rakshi, Christos Sideras and Professors John Cox and George Ikkos
This conference aims to: Raise awareness of the key role that music plays in society; Increase understanding about how music can affect mental and physical well-being; Inform about recent advances in neuroscience that show the effects of music on the brain; Explore and understand more about musical creativity and Illustrate the effects of music on the emotions by musical performances.