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CHAPTER 24 · The Drive to Creativity

Music Processing in Neurological Disorders: From Cradle to Grave

J. Patrick Whelan, MD, PhD · Mark J. Tramo, MD, PhD

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Abstract

This chapter synthesizes clinical evidence, historical accounts, and cutting-edge research to discuss the impact of music on health and neurological function, integrating biological, clinical, and therapeutic perspectives. Beginning with the earliest exposure to sound during fetal development, the authors illustrate how music shapes sensory processing, improves neonatal outcomes, and fosters beat synchronization unique to humans. In autism, music leverages preserved abilities in pitch and melody perception to improve social interaction and emotional engagement. In Parkinson’s disease and Tourette syndrome, rhythmic auditory stimulation facilitates motor coordination and reduces symptoms. As populations age, music therapy emerges as a powerful intervention for dementia, alleviating agitation, enhancing memory recall, and reducing reliance on medication. The connection between music and memory is also addressed. By engaging complex brain circuits tied to survival and aesthetic proclivities, music is both a therapeutic tool and a key to understanding human culture, cognition, and resilience.

Keywords

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Cite this chapter

Chapter references below omit unverified page ranges and chapter-specific DOIs.

APA

Whelan, J. P., & Tramo, M. J. (2026). Music Processing in Neurological Disorders: From Cradle to Grave. In P. L. Pearl & S. Arfaie (Eds.), Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge University Press.

AMA

Whelan JP, Tramo MJ. Music Processing in Neurological Disorders: From Cradle to Grave. In: Pearl PL, Arfaie S, eds. Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge University Press; 2026.

Vancouver

Whelan JP, Tramo MJ. Music Processing in Neurological Disorders: From Cradle to Grave. In: Pearl PL, Arfaie S, editors. Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2026.

Chicago

Whelan, J. Patrick, and Mark J. Tramo. “Music Processing in Neurological Disorders: From Cradle to Grave.” In Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity, edited by Phillip L. Pearl and Saman Arfaie. Cambridge University Press, 2026.

BibTeX

@incollection{chapter24_2026,
  author = {Whelan, J Patrick and Tramo, Mark J},
  title = {Music Processing in Neurological Disorders: From Cradle to Grave},
  booktitle = {Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity},
  editor = {Pearl, Phillip L. and Arfaie, Saman},
  publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
  year = {2026}
}

Harvard

Whelan, J. P. and Tramo, M. J. (2026) “Music Processing in Neurological Disorders: From Cradle to Grave”, in Pearl, P.L. and Arfaie, S. (eds.) Music, Medicine, and the Neurobiology of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

J. Patrick Whelan

J. Patrick Whelan

MD, PhD

Professor of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles; Lecturer on Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

University of California, Los Angeles · Harvard Medical School

Profile

J. Patrick Whelan is a rheumatologist, Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Lecturer on Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. He directs an interdisciplinary center for children with neuroimmune disorders and teaches Music and the Mind at Harvard, examining the evolutionary origins of musicality and auditory processing in developmental disorders and degenerative disease. He has also lectured for many years in the graduate virology curriculum at the University of Southern California. A Catholic bioethicist affiliated with the University of Southern California Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, he is also a past president of the Los Angeles Pediatric Society, helping organize its longstanding summer program for students aspiring to careers in pediatrics.

Scholarship & professional background

He studied biochemistry at Harvard University, earned his medical and doctoral degrees at Baylor College of Medicine, and completed rheumatology fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He practiced pediatric rheumatology at Massachusetts General Hospital for two decades. His clinical interests include rare vasculopathies and multidisciplinary care for neuropsychiatric syndromes in children, complementing his longstanding educational interests in music, the mind, and bioethics.

Selected work & perspectives

How Music Resonates in the BrainLeonard Bernstein and the Psychology of MusicTraining and clinical interests · UCLA Health
Mark J. Tramo

Mark J. Tramo

MD, PhD

Associate Adjunct Professor, Neuroscience, Integrative Biology and Physiology, Music, and Neurology

University of California, Los Angeles

Profile

Mark J. Tramo is a physician and neuroscientist affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, across neuroscience, integrative biology and physiology, music, and neurology. With J. Patrick Whelan, he examines music processing in neurological disorders across the lifespan, bringing clinical neuroscience into dialogue with the study of musical perception.

Scholarship & professional background

His training includes undergraduate study at Yale and neurological and cognitive neuroscience work at Cornell. His research on the neural representation of acoustic information considers music together with the human voice, connecting auditory physiology with perception. Through the Institute for Music and Brain Science, he has pursued an interdisciplinary approach to how the nervous system supports musical experience, drawing on clinical neurology, basic neuroscience, and musical practice.

Selected work & perspectives

Music, brain, and behaviorInstitute for Music and Brain Science · Biography