I'm happy to share our latest paper, now published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (Nature Portfolio): Traffic jams: music and traffic noise interact to influence the vividness, sentiment, and spatiotemporal properties of directed mental imagery www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🎵🚦 💭

Following the publication of our paper "Micro-variations in timing and loudness affect music-evoked mental imagery", the University of Sydney has just shared a media release! How tiny tweaks in music shape what we imagine www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion...

How tiny tweaks in music shape what we imagine

New research from the Sydney Music, Mind and Body Lab at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music at the University of Sydney has found that even the smallest of human touches in music can shape and enhance...

sydney.edu.au

The first study from my PhD project is now available! 🎉 "Micro-variations in timing and loudness affect music-evoked mental imagery" Supervised by wonderful @steffenherff.bsky.social @andytonality.bsky.social and @muireannirish.bsky.social. Read here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Micro-variations in timing and loudness affect music-evoked mental imagery - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - Micro-variations in timing and loudness affect music-evoked mental imagery

nature.com

Glenn speaks of genres as communities -- that genres are "really based in people". That you can speak to characteristics but "they're a result of the people involved". The stats teacher in me loves that scatterplots underpin the plotted genre map: everynoise.com #MusicScience

“Whether we’re celebrating or grieving, music is something we can turn to." A new study led by @steffenherff.bsky.social from @sydney.edu.au's Sydney Conservatorium of Music has shown for the first time empirically that music can keep you company by facilitating imagined social interactions.

Music is good company: new study shows music induces social imagination

Music keeps you company: a new study led by Dr Steffen A. Herff, cognitive neuroscientist at Sydney, Music, Mind and Body Lab at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, has shown for the first time empirically that music can indeed keep you company by facilitating imagined social interactions.

go.sydney.edu.au

I enjoyed chatting about the @smmb-lab.bsky.social’s recent research on music being good company at @abcnewsbot.bsky.social’s Weekend Breakfast! 🎥

Steffen Herff@steffenherff.bsky.social · last yr.

@cerenayyildiz.bsky.social from the @smmb-lab.bsky.social just did a wonderful interview on live TV discussing our recent research looking at 'Can Music be good company'. #musicscience #mentalimagery @sydney.edu.au

Wonderful to see our research being featured on the ABC's Weekend Breakfast. In a wonderful chat between @cerenayyildiz.bsky.social from the Sydney, Music, Mind, and Body Lab, and Fauziah Ibrahim & Tom Oriti from the ABC, they discussed how music can be good company. @sydney.edu.au

My supervisor, Dr @steffenherff.bsky.social, and I wrote this piece for The Conversation on music and imagination: “Can music be good company?” …based on our lab’s recent work @smmb-lab.bsky.social theconversation.com/can-music-be...

Can music be good company? Research shows it makes our imagination more social

When people listen to music, they’re more likely to imagine social interactions.

theconversation.com

Can music be good company? We contributed a small piece to the @theconversation.com drawing from recent work in the field of music and mental imagery. #musicscience #mentalimagery theconversation.com/can-music-be...

Can music be good company? Research shows it makes our imagination more social

When people listen to music, they’re more likely to imagine social interactions.

theconversation.com

Delighted to share our new work 'Solitary silence and social sounds: music can influence mental imagery, inducing thoughts of social interactions'. We show that music is indeed good company! #musicscience #mentalimagery www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Solitary silence and social sounds: music can influence mental imagery, inducing thoughts of social interactions - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - Solitary silence and social sounds: music can influence mental imagery, inducing thoughts of social interactions

nature.com

Grateful for the chance to chat with Turkish News Agency Cyprus (TAK) about music psychology + my journey! 🎶🧠 The interview was re-published in several outlets (in Turkish). E.g., 🔗 www.yeniduzen.com/her-dinledig... Auto-translate gives a decent read if you’re curious!

“Her dinlediğimiz müzikte zihnimizde bir şeyler değişiyor. Ben, o değişim anının peşindeyim”

Müzik çoğu için hobi ya da kaçışken, Ceren Ayyıldız için beynin işleyişine açılan bir kapı. Kıbrıslı Türk akademisyen, Sydney Üniversitesi’nde müzik psikolojisi doktorasıyla müziğin zihne etkilerini a...

yeniduzen.com

We had a great time in São Paulo! A massive thanks to all attendees, both in person and online, as well as the organisers of the #icmpc18 who made this such a rich experience. #musicscience

In addition to her talk on the effect of rhythmic layering on mental imagery, @cerenayyildiz.bsky.social from the SMMBL also contributed a poster showing compelling interactions between musical micro variations and individual absorption tendencies on mental imagery #icmpc18 #musicscience

Ugur @ugurmkaya.bsky.social from our lab just gave a great talk at #ICMPC18 on how vocalists draw on their own intuitions to influence the vividness and emotional quality of listeners’ mental imagery. 🎤 @smmb-lab.bsky.social

Ade (@adefathiawati.bsky.social) from our lab highlighted updated trends in Music Performance Anxiety among tertiary music students across Australia, as well as the mitigation strategies students use 📊 #ICMPC18 @smmb-lab.bsky.social

Dr. Steffen Herff from @smmb-lab.bsky.social shares very rich findings at #icmpc18 about expertise-related muscle activation in drummers. This work has important implications for biofeedback interventions to help musicians develop their skills and avoid playing-related injury. #musicscience

My wonderful PhD supervisor, @steffenherff.bsky.social, gave a fantastic talk at #ICMPC18 on “Expertise predicts more efficient muscle spike shapes in drummers” today! 🥁 Incredible to see how nuanced motor control evolves with skill 💪 #ICMPC18 @smmb-lab.bsky.social

My lab colleague Fernando Castellar presented his poster on ‘The prevalence of music, mental imagery, and their combined use as a mental training technique by athletes and coaches’ at #ICMPC18 today! 🏋️🏌️‍♂️⛹️‍♀️🎶🎧💭 it’s inspiring to see how far his research has come! @smmb-lab.bsky.social

It is amazing to be in São Paulo at #ICMPC18 this year to be presenting my research on layering rhythms and mental imagery! @smmb-lab.bsky.social 🎶

Sydney Music, Mind, and Body Lab@smmb-lab.bsky.social · last yr.

@cerenayyildiz.bsky.social from the SMMBL shares at #ICMPC18 the results of her latest study, showing how layering rhythms and instruments affects imagination! #MusicScience #MentalImagery

We are very much looking forward to the #ICMPC18. The program looks excellent. Members of the SMMBL are also involved in 9 contributions this year, if any pique your interest, drop by! #MusicScience

@miriamolsen.bsky.social from our @smmb-lab.bsky.social presented a talk on ‘The efficacy of using biofeedback to reduce playing-related musculoskeletal pain and improve performance in musicians: A systematic review and meta-analysis’ at #ICMPC18! 🎶👩‍🎤💪

Sydney Music, Mind and Body Lab @smmb-lab.bsky.social is at #icmpc18 in São Paulo! 🇧🇷 The conference started with a great keynote by Vinoo Alluri!

We are offering an exciting #Cross-Cultural #MusicScience PhD scholarship in Sydney for our ARC Discovery project "Revealing Universal and Cultural Origins of Music-Induced Emotion": international field trips, music cognition experiments, Bayesian analyses! www.westernsydney.edu.au/schools/grs/...

Grateful to be on this journey! Big thanks to @steffenherff.bsky.social for the support and guidance along the way. Read more about our research and reflections here:

University of Sydney (USYD)@sydney.edu.au · last yr.

“A PhD is marathon not a sprint” PhD candidate @cerenayyildiz.bsky.social is studying the profound ways in which music influences our minds, with the support of her supervisor @steffenherff.bsky.social. Read about their research experience and advice ⤵️ #AcademicSky #PhD

🎉 New paper out! Our study explores how older adults use music to cope with loneliness, highlighting how music can act as a social surrogate by evoking emotional support and social connection. 🔎 Read the full paper here: doi.org/10.1177/1029... #MusicPsychology #SocialSurrogacy #Loneliness

Music as social surrogate? A qualitative analysis of older adults’ choices of music to alleviate loneliness - Ceren Ayyildiz, Olivia Geibel, Steffen A. Herff, Sarah Hashim, Tuomas Eerola, Mats B. Küss...

People are living longer than ever. Loneliness is prevalent across various age groups, posing a serious threat to both wellbeing and health. The social surrogac...

doi.org

"Music is remarkably resistant to forgetting". @steffenherff.bsky.social 📰🎵 www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...

Unlike words and faces, musical memories don't fade with time

Music lovers show how special musical memories are, with recollections going back decades. Here's how music from childhood can form lifelong memories

abc.net.au

🎉 New Publication Alert! 🎉 Incredibly excited to share our new paper, "Music as Social Surrogate? A Qualitative Analysis of Older Adults’ Choices of Music to Alleviate Loneliness", now published in Musicae Scientiae! 📰 Read here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Music as social surrogate? A qualitative analysis of older adults’ choices of music to alleviate loneliness - Ceren Ayyildiz, Olivia Geibel, Steffen A. Herff, Sarah Hashim, Tuomas Eerola, Mats B. Küss...

People are living longer than ever. Loneliness is prevalent across various age groups, posing a serious threat to both wellbeing and health. The social surrogac...

journals.sagepub.com

Hi! I'm conducting a study on music performance experiences and need more participants! If you're studying music degree (instrument/vocals) in Australia, please join this anonymous survey: redcap.sydney.edu.au/surveys/?s=A... Feel free to share the study with your musician network. Many thanks! ☺️

I'm proud to announce a new textbook for #musicscience titled "Music and Science: A Guide to Empirical Research". It covers methods in music psychology, empirical research, #openresearch & music computation in 298 pages. For details, see doi.org/10.4324/9781.... Codes at tuomaseerola.github.io/emr/

It was a pleasure talking with Prof. Minna Huotilainen, a wonderful researcher in the field, on their podcast, Brain, Music and Learning! 🧠🎶🎼✏️ Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/54H0...

Music-Guided Imagery Can Give You Mountain Views

Brain, Music and Learning · Episode

open.spotify.com