[bioundgrd] Neurobiology of Hip-Hop at Coolidge's Science on Screen series

[Joyce Roberge]

Dear Michelle,

I’m writing to let you know that on Monday, April 16, the Coolidge Corner Theatre’s Science on Screen series will present a special showing of the 2002 hip-hop drama 8 Mile paired with a talk on hip-hop and the brain by Charles Limb, MD.  Dr. Limb is a physician at Johns Hopkins who studies the neural basis of musical improvisation and creativity (in jazz and freestyle rap).

With Science on Screen, the Coolidge presents feature films and documentariescombined with lively presentations by notable experts from the world of science and technology.

More information about our April 16th program with Dr. Limb appears below.  I thought biology students mightenjoy this event, and am hoping you will spread the word.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or would like a flyer PDF for posting.

Many thanks!

All best,

Cheryl White
Program Manager, Science on Screen
Coolidge Corner Theatre
cheryl at coolidge.org<mailto:cheryl at coolidge.org>
617/699-7285
____________________

On Monday, April 16, the Coolidge Corner Theatre’s popular Science on Screen series will present Curtis Hanson’s 2002 hip-hop drama 8 Mile paired with a talk by guest speaker Charles Limb, MD on hip-hop and the brain.

Rap phenom Eminem stars as Jimmy Smith, aka B Rabbit, a young white rapper trying to make a name for himself in Detroit’spredominantly black hip-hop world.  A factory worker living in a trailer with his alcoholic mother, his little sister, and his mother’s loser boyfriend, Rabbit sees rap as his only chance to break out of his dead-end life.  He lets out his frustrations with twisting, clever rhymes admired by his friends, who keep pushing him to enter a weekly rap face-off at a local club.  When he chokes on stage and gets booed by the crowd, he’sconvinced he’s missed his shot.  In the film’s electrifying climactic scenes, Rabbit has chance to redeem himself when he retakes the club’s stage, going head to head with his doubters in a ferociously creative freestyle rap battle. Co-starring Mekhi Phifer, Anthony Mackie, and Brittany Murphy.  The Eminem written, produced and performed track"Lose Yourself", featured in the film, was the first rap song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

How are freestyle rappers able to create lyrics off the cuff?  What makes their brains tick?  Charles Limb, MD, a hearing specialist and surgeon at Johns Hopkins and a lifelong musician, has spent more than a decade studying the brain activity of musicians as they improvise.   Known for his brain-imaging studies of jazz musicians, Dr. Limb has expanded his research into another musical genre that emphasizes rhythm and improv: hip hop.  He and his team at Johns Hopkins have putfreestyle rappers into functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machines to see what happens in their brains when they rhyme off the tops of their heads.  Before the film, Dr. Limb discusses his studies of Baltimore rappers, and what his research reveals about spontaneous musical creativity. Tickets: $9.75 general admission; $7.75 students; free for Coolidge members.  For more information and to purchase tickets online, visit www.coolidge.org/science<http://www.coolidge.org/science>.








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