Music has long been thought to be good for the soul. But what effect does it have on the brain? This is what Petr Janata, a professor at the Center for Mind and Brain, has set out to find.

Janata came to the center in July and has been using brain activity recordings to discover how music impacts basic neural processes. His subjects attend to melodies while Janata uses a functional MRI or EEG recording to get inside the listeners' heads. He is currently studying how music interacts with emotions and why people like different types of music.

Janata has always been interested in music in one way or another. He grew up in a musical household in which both parents played the piano. While taking piano lessons himself in high school, Janata also attended a music theory class, which, he says, was a turning point.

"I learned from that class that music has formal structure," he says. When he went on to take psychology classes at Reed College, Janata discovered that the brain internalizes formal structures. He realized at that point that the music could be studied from a neurological perspective.

After getting his doctorate from the University of Oregon in biology, Janata spent three years studying bird songs at the University of Chicago. He then moved to Dartmouth, where he returned to studies based on human-produced melodies. He spent four years there studying, among other things, how major and minor keys are represented in the brain.

Janata is one of six new faculty members at the Center for Mind and Brain this year. The Davis resident spends most of his spare time with his two children, ages 6 and 3. A native of Salt Lake City, he is also an avid skier.

And, of course, Janata listens to music.

"My research has changed how I listen to music," he says. "I'm fascinated by any type."

Including the Grateful Dead, he says, noting, "I have to admit, I was a Dead Head for quite a long time."

What's the biggest issue in your field right now?

The big challenge in the field of functional neuro-imaging is understanding the brain as a network model and understanding how networks function on a basic level, and also how network properties enable complex behaviors. I think the center is pretty well positioned to address that challenge.

What do you like most -- and least -- about your job?

I've yet to discover the worst, but the best aspect is the very supportive environment. I have a very daunting task because I have to balance research and teaching while maintaining a sane life for my family. It's very nice to be around people who are supportive of that.

What was your first impression of UC Davis?

From when I was first interviewed, I noticed how laid back the faculty are. The people are really smart, experts in their fields, but they're still very friendly. I also really liked the fact that everyone rides bikes.

Read any good books lately?

Temperament: How Music Became a Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization, by Stuart Isacoff. I enjoy reading about the history of science or knowledge, and this book gets into the intrigue of how people tuned their instruments throughout history. It turns out European philosophers have argued for centuries over what's the right way to tune. It gets its name from equal temperament tuning which came around in the Baroque period.

What's something surprising about you?

I like to sand ski, which is just snow skiing on sand. I'm always on the lookout for big sand dunes. If you know I'm a passionate skier, I guess it's not very surprising, but it's kind of eccentric.

Who inspires you?

Corny as it may sound, I have to say my parents. They're both scientists -- my dad is a physical chemist, and my mom is a biochemist -- and they're also immigrants to this country from Czechoslovakia. They serve as models in both the personal and scientific aspects of my life.

Do you have a guilty pleasure?

Currently, it's playing Civilization, a computer game in which you are a ruler building a civilization. Now that I have a real job though, I've cut back significantly.

If you had three wishes, what would they be?

First, for humanity's sake, I would wish for public policy to be guided by rigorous science, as opposed to ideology. As a society we invest a vast amount of resources into scientific research, and then disregard it. That's just wrong. Second, for my kids to grow up to be healthy and responsible citizens. And finally, for my own personal hedonistic pleasure, I'd wish for unlimited helicopter skiing. I'd like to be flown by helicopter to the top of 2,000 vertical feet of untouched powder again and again and again. •