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The brain function on music has been a recently developing field of neuroscience that holds a position of great interest to neuroscientists, psychologists, health professionals, and musicians alike. The primary goal of investigating music and the brain has been to determine particular neural correlates that are involved in or altered by the engagement of humans with music. It can be said that the study of the neuroscience behind music is a discussion regarding human behavior, environmental stimuli, and how that can be represented in our physiology, as well as how our brain structure allows us to interact with such stimuli in a unique and functional way. The article publication charge for this work was funded by Oslo Metropolitan University.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a dissociative disorder that gained a significant rise in the past few decades. There has been less than 50 DID cases recorded between 1922 and 1972, while 20,000 cases are recorded by 1990. Therefore, it becomes of great significant to assess the various concepts related to DID to further understand the disorder. The current review has a goal of understanding whether an individual suffering from DID is legally responsible for the committed crime, and whether or not he or she can be considered competent to stand trial. These two questions are to be raised in understanding DID, by first shedding a light on the nature of the disorder and second by examining the past legal case examples. Despite the very nature of the disorder is characterized by dissociative amnesia and the fact that the host personality may have limited or no contact with the alters, there is no consensus within the legal system whether the DID patients should be responsible for their actions. Further to that, courts generally deny the insanity claims for DID suffering patients. In conclusion, more studies in the field are suggested to incorporate primary data into research, as the extensive reliance on secondary data forces us to believe the conclusions that were previously made, and no opportunity to verify those conclusions is present.

Neuroplasticity has been increasingly discussed in phylo-ontogenetic terms the last few years, with a rising number of studies and scientific publications demonstrating its importance in the whole life span learning, development, and well-being domains. This chapter, focusing specifically on the neuroplastic changes happening in the infant brain when provoked from music, attempts to discuss the basic features and principals permeating this connection, bringing to the fore their combined value in terms of enriched development and extended social inclusion. The chapter content offers a steppingstone to both academics and practitioners alike, upon which they can update, ‘rephrase’, and specialize their knowledge in the particular interdisciplinary topic, while further reflecting towards the more sensitive and special in education and development practice contexts.

The COVID-19 disease and the systemic responses to it has impacted lives, routines and procedures at an unprecedented level. While medical care and emergency response present immediate needs, the implications of this pandemic will likely be far-reaching. Most practices that the clinical research within neuroscience and music field rely on, take place in hospitals or closely connected clinical settings which have been hit hard by the contamination. So too have its preventive and treatment measures. This means that clinical research protocols may have been altered, postponed or put in complete jeopardy. In this context, we would like to present and discuss the problems arising under the current crisis. We do so by critically approaching an online discussion facilitated by an expert panel in the field of music and neuroscience. This effort is hoped to provide an efficient basis to orient ourselves as we begin to map the needs and elements in this field of research as we further propose ideas and solutions on how to overcome, or at least ease the problems and questions we encounter or will encounter, with foresight. Among others, we hope to answer questions on technical or social problems that can be expected, possible solutions and preparatory steps to take in order to improve or ease research implementation, ethical implications and funding considerations. Finally, we further hope to facilitate the process of creating new protocols in order to minimize the impact of this crisis on essential research which may have the potential to relieve health systems. TS was funded by the Academy of Finland (grant number 299044) and European Research Council (ERC, grant number 803466). DDEUIT