This week we talk to cognitive neuroscientist and multi-platinum record producer Susan Rogers about her new book This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You. In this episode:The science behind how we perceive and process music and how it can affect our emotions and sense of selfHow our brains develop the ability to process sound and how formal music training can help us become "auditory athletes," or people who can analyze sound on a deeper levelThe concept of the "default mode network," a group of brain structures that are active when we are “in our own heads,” and how our favorite records can light up this network and create a private, emotional connection with us. Rogers talks about her time as Prince’s full-time recording engineer during which she worked on albums like Purple Rain. (!)