Music as a scientific metaphor for mind and brain.

Metaphors have long shaped how scientists conceptualize the mind and brain, from early analogies like hydraulic systems to the modern computer metaphor. This paper proposes music as a new scientific metaphor for understanding brain dynamics and cognitive functions. Unlike static metaphors, music emphasizes continuous adaptation, context-dependence, cultural embedding, and simultaneous engagement with multiple layers of meaning. The authors argue that music's hierarchical structure, temporal complexity, and capacity to integrate multiple processes parallel key features of brain architecture and cognition. Drawing on research in neural oscillations, plasticity, predictive coding, and emotional processing, they illustrate how a musical paradigm can capture the rich interplay of mind and brain across large-scale dynamics, development, consciousness, and affect.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Metaphors have long played multiple roles in conceptualizing the mind and brain, guiding the development and refinement of theoretical models and empirical questions. Early analogies (comparing the brain to hydraulic systems, telephone exchanges, factories, or libraries) offered shortcuts to understanding aspects of cognition, memory, and brain dynamics. From theoretical frameworks, metaphors like the mind as a computer evolved into central scientific metaphors, shaping core theoretical frameworks, inspiring predictions, and informing research methodologies. As such, metaphors play a key role in guiding scientific inquiries. Building on that premise, we propose music as a scientific metaphor for understanding multiple brain dynamics and cognitive functions. Unlike metaphors focusing on static components or linear flows, music emphasizes continuous adaptation, context-dependence, and cultural embedding, and presents a model for simultaneous engagement with multiple layers of meaning. Integrating analytical techniques from music theory and experiential insights from performance and listening, we can deepen our understanding of mind and brain dynamics and provide fresh epistemological pathways for interdisciplinary research. Music has a hierarchical structure, temporal complexity, and capacity to integrate multiple processes that parallel key features of the brain's architecture and cognitive functions. Drawing from research on neural oscillations, plasticity, predictive coding, and emotional processing, we illustrate how the musical paradigm can capture the rich entanglement of mind and brain, from large-scale brain dynamics and developmental trajectories to the emergence of consciousness and the interplay of affective states.