Prof Bill Thompson

Research interests

I am interested in how the mind works, using methods from cognitive psychology. I am especially interested in the cognitive, emotional, social and cultural implications of music. Music is profoundly important to people all around the world, and we are now starting to understand why. Together with other members of the Music Sound and Performance Lab, we are studying issues such as musical creativity, music and emotion, music and the imagination, musical disorders, and uses of music as treatment for neurological disorders such as dementia.

The Music Sound and Performance lab is highly productive, and we have published more than 120 articles and chapters on these topics. I also wrote a general book on the subject called "Music, Thought and Feeling: Understanding the Psychology of Music" (Oxford University Press, 2014) which summarises the most influential research in this area.