Adriana Barton is a journalist and author of Wired for Music: A Search for Health and Joy Through the Science of Sound (Greystone Books, 2022). A former staff health reporter at Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, she has written about medical research, neuroscience, visual arts, music and pop culture for publications including the Boston Globe, Reader’s Digest, Utne, Azure, Western Living and San Francisco Bay Guardian. She studied the cello for 17 years with teachers including international solo artist Antonio Lysy and former Cleveland Orchestra principal cellist Stephen Geber. Research projects have taken her to Syria, Jordan, India, Cuba, Zimbabwe and Brazil. 

She joined me on the podcast today to discuss the neurological effects of music on the human brain, innate musicality, the effects of playing an instrument on brain development, the role of music in healthy aging, music therapy, the potential for music to harm as well as heal, my gripe about Hollywood not producing enough musicals, and developing a theory about the psychology of punk drummers.