Peter Vuust appointed professor at AU

Brain researcher and jazz musician Peter Vuust has been appointed professor at Aarhus University. With his appointment as professor at AU, he becomes the first person in Denmark to hold a professorship at a royal academy of music and a university.

[Translate to English:] Peter Vuust tiltræder som professor på AU og AUH. Han forsker i, hvordan musik påvirker hjernen.
[Translate to English:] Peter Vuust tiltræder som professor på AU og AUH. Han forsker i, hvordan musik påvirker hjernen.

What happens to people who listen to music? Where does music live in the brain? And how can musicians touch listeners' feelings? These are some of the questions that Peter Vuust's research focuses on, and for the past 14 years he has used music as way of studying the human brain.

He is leader of the Danish National Research Foundation's Centre for Music in the Brain, which is a collaboration between AU and the Royal Academy of Music. The collaboration makes it possible to use the newest brain scanning methods to shed light on questions arising out of a deep understanding of, and practical experience with, the basic workings of music.

"The brain is designed to predict the future and encode patterns. If you know how, where and when the patterns are formed, then this knowledge can map new brain functions. This can in turn lead to potential clinical applications in the treatment of diseases. Furthermore, it may be important for our understanding of how we learn to play music," explains Peter Vuust.

In addition to the research he carries out at Aarhus University, he is also a professor at the Royal Academy of Music. As a jazz bassist and composer he has contributed to more than 85 albums and has also released five albums with his own group, the Peter Vuust Quartet.

Peter Vuust holds his inaugural lecture on Thursday 22 October 2015 at the Palle Juul Jensen Auditorium at Aarhus University Hospital. The lecture will be held in English.

Further information

Professor, PhD Peter Vuust
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
The Royal Academy of Music
Direct tel.: (+ 45) 7846 1617
pv@pet.auh.dk