Podcast no.3 – This month Stuart and Guy are joined by music psychologist Victoria Williamson to discuss the power of music and the amazing ways it can physically reshape our brains. In our chat we discuss the positive impacts of music on our mental and physical health, the musical genius of Brian Wilson and David Bowie, and the perennial puzzle of what causes ‘earworms’. Victoria also talks us through the songs that inspired her own personal playlist – exclusively compiled for this show and which you can enjoy in the link below.

Dr Victoria Williamson is an independent authority, scholar and consultant on the psychology of music; how music is processed by the brain and the ways in which music impacts on our minds and behaviours.Victoria was most recently based in the music school within the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Switzerland, though her research and teaching interests cross the interdisciplinary boundary between music and psychology. She is trained in both academic disciplines having completed her Masters in the Psychology of Music at Sheffield and her PhD in the Psychology of Musical Memory at the University of York (2008). Victoria has published research looking at multiple aspects of music understanding and impact, including memory skills, brain activations, sleep and wellbeing. Her work has been covered widely in international media including by the BBC, TED, the Conversation and the Wall Street Journal, and she has given presentations to worldwide universities, festivals, medical professionals, public groups, radio and TV, and schools. She is the author of ‘You Are The Music’ (Icon Books) and the webmaster of this popular educational blog.