The new honorary professor currently works at Sapienza University of Rome as full professor of psychology, where he researches the evolutionary and neuropsychological foundation for music and speech. One of his focus areas is how and when the human brain developed the ability to perceive, enjoy and create music.

"We don't have a time machine, so we can’t travel back in time and find answers to these questions. Instead, I use different interdisciplinary research methods to look for the building blocks of our musicality," explains Andrea Ravignani.

The newly appointed honorary professor studies the behaviour and sounds of humans and other species – ranging from the rhythmic wag of a dog’s tail and the choir of lemurs in the rainforests of Madagascar to the voices of baby seals in the North Sea and the chest beating of chimpanzees. The goal of his research is to explain why music is such a big part of our lives.

"My research cannot cure a disease or lead to the development of a new vaccine, but it does address fundamental questions about human nature. Are we really as different from other species as we think? And why do we spend so much time listening to music, even though it has no straightforward biological function – or does it?” he ponders.

Contact

Honorary Professor Andrea Ravignani
Aarhus University, Center for Music in the Brain and
Department of Clinical Medicine and
Sapienza University of Rome
Mobile: +0039 3663016945
Email: andrea.ravignani@uniroma1.it