A result of a series of conversations with Edward Lakatta has led to these short heartbeat music pieces based on ECG recordings of Mouse #1730 at age 6 months (in its prime) and 30 months (at old age). This video is embedded in the (US) National Institutes of Health I Am Intramural Blog interview with Ed Lakatta: Helping Aging Hearts Get Their Groove Back – IRP Researchers Discover ‘Coupled-Clock’ That Controls Heart Rhythms
The precise heart rhythm of Mouse #1730 is embedded in the music itself and its variability reinforced by the pitch patterns. The pitch and harmonic patterns are drawn from and inspired by Aaron Minsky’s Broadway and October Waltz. The mouse heartbeat data was provided by Syevda Tagirova, and Victor Maltsev had made an earlier prototype music sonification of the data.
Many thanks to FoLSM Dean Ajay Shah for the introduction to Ed Lakatta. Enjoy!