Peter Vuust

Peter Vuust is a Professor at the Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University. With over 397 publications and 22 ongoing or completed research projects, his work bridges neuroscience, music cognition, and clinical applications. His research spans multiple decades with significant publication output from 2000-2025, showing increasing productivity in recent years with 27 publications in 2024 and 19 in 2025.

His research interests focus on music cognition and neuroscience, particularly examining how the brain processes musical elements like rhythm, harmony, and beauty. Vuust employs advanced neuroimaging techniques including fMRI, MEG, and EEG to investigate auditory processing, neural entrainment, and the relationship between music training and cognitive abilities. Key areas include mismatch negativity, auditory cortex function, brain networks, and functional connectivity during music perception. His work spans fundamental research on rhythm perception and musical beauty to clinical applications involving cochlear implants and music therapy.

Vuust's recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on the neural correlates of musical experience, with particular attention to rhythm perception, musical beauty, and the relationship between music training and sensory processing. His work often involves interdisciplinary collaborations and combines behavioral measures with neuroimaging to provide comprehensive insights into music cognition. Current research directions include studying rhythmic complexity, neural entrainment, music's therapeutic applications for sleep, and the development of music processing skills in cochlear implant users.

Professor Vuust actively engages with the public through numerous presentations and media appearances, including recent talks at Roskilde Oplysningsforbund, Lægeforeningen, Folkekirkens Uddannelses- og Videnscenter, Djursland Jazzfestival, and HerningErMusik in 2024. His research is supported by various funding sources including Helsefonden (Danish Health Foundation), with multiple ongoing projects exploring musical rhythm, neural entrainment, developmental aspects of music processing, and music's therapeutic applications.

At the Center for Music in the Brain, Vuust collaborates with researchers including Elvira Brattico, Simone Dalla Bella, Morten Kringelbach, and Bjorn Petersen. His interdisciplinary team spans neuroscience, musicology, and clinical medicine, working together to unravel the complex relationship between music and the brain through both basic and applied research.