Health Humanities Grand Rounds with Dr. Dorita S. Berger “Music and Brain Plasticity: A Look at Music Therapy”

Dorita S. Berger, PhD, MT-BC, LCAT is a sensorimotor music therapist and autism specialist as well as a Research Affiliate and Supervisor for various music-based investigations in Dr. Flavio Frohlich’s Neuroscience Lab. She is the 2017 recipient of an American Music Therapy Association Award of Merit for her contributions to the field of Music-Based Treatment. Dr. Berger is a former faculty member of Montclair State University and Kean University (NJ); she has received a Fulbright Visiting Specialist Grant to teach in Ukraine and a Global Education Grant to teach and lecture in Argentina. Dr. Berger’s most recent book is entitled Eurhythmics for Autism and Other Neurophysiologic Diagnoses: A Sensorimotor Music-Based Treatment Approach (2016).
Dr. Berger’s presentation discusses how the basic elements of music become effective treatment resources for a variety of diagnoses, from childhood issues to Alzheimer’s, stroke, and more. She will discuss various areas of the brain correlated with music stimuli, and share some researched examples of music-based treatment applied in post-operative cancer pain management, rhythm and mood/emotion regulation, and more. Dr. Berger will encourage some audience participation and interaction demonstrated aspects of music elements.