Louisa’s research looks into cognitive features which have evolved in humans to result in the ‘naturalness’ of religious belief, in tandem with universal features of music which are ubiquitous in known cultures, thereby facilitating an examination of the extent to which the human propensity for religion can be said to be manifested in music. She also explores the pan-cultural function and significance of music in contexts of ritual and religious worship, and the extent to which these observations may be used as a basis for the argument that music is an optimal means by which the propensity for belief might be expressed. A further goal is to investigate the extent to which the ‘naturalness’ of our religious belief, and the phenomena of entrainment and synchrony (which are optimised through participation in [and, to a certain extent, observation of] music-making), are intrinsic to our nature as social beings.