Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis

Director, music cognition lab, University of Arkansas

Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis is director of the music cognition lab at the University of Arkansas, a trained concert pianist, and the author of On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind (2013).

Written by Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis

Blurred photo of a person with closed eyes and face upturned, illuminated in blue light against a background of vibrant red light and darkness.

essay

Music

Music is not for ears

We never just hear music. Our experience of it is saturated in cultural expectations, personal memory and the need to move

Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis

Seven people in winter clothing walking through a snow-covered field near the sea with distant buildings and overcast skies.

essay

Dance and theatre

The music in you

You might not be a virtuoso, but you have remarkable music abilities. You just don’t know about them yet

Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis

Black and white photo of women in gospel choir robes singing and clapping enthusiastically with hands raised in a worship setting.

essay

Cognition and intelligence

One more time

Why do we listen to our favourite music over and over again? Because repeated sounds work magic in our brains

Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis