1
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Jiang Y, Zheng M. The inductive effect of musical mode types on emotions and physiological responses: Chinese pentatonic scales versus Western major/minor modes. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1414014. [PMID: 38962236 PMCID: PMC11220113 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1414014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2024] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Background The value of music lies in its ability to evoke emotions. People can gain emotional experiences in music and can also regulate their own emotions through music. Music has its own structural rules, and exploring the relationship between musical structure and emotions is an important approach to understanding the mechanism of music-induced emotions. Musical mode refers to the arrangement of intervals around the tonic, presenting different musical modes based on the central tone and the arrangement of intervals, including Chinese pentatonic modes and Western major and minor modes. Musical morphology indicates significant differences in the construction intensity of traditional Chinese pentatonic modes and major and minor modes, affecting their mode forms and thus determining their adaptability to external influences. Aims Exploring the modalities of music and the effects of individual music training experiences on emotion induction; validating whether musical modes exhibit cross-cultural universality in the process of emotion induction. Method This study recruited 65 university students as participants (34 with music training experience, 31 without music training experience). Through a passive listening paradigm using the GEMS and combined with a biofeedback equipment, it explored the differences in behavioral and physiological indicators (skin conductance, temperature, heart rate) of emotional experiences (basic and aesthetic emotions) influenced by the modal forms of Chinese traditional pentatonic modes and Western major and minor modes. Results Firstly, the arousal level of music emotion is a primary factor influencing individuals' aesthetic emotional experiences in music, which is related to the intensity of modal construction in music; Secondly, the emotional pleasure and skin temperature change induced by pentatonic music are greater than those induced by major and minor modes; Thirdly, the arousal level, electrodermal change, and heart rate variability of major and minor modes are greater than those of pentatonic music; Finally, music training experience enhances college students' familiarity and preference for pentatonic music, thereby strengthening the electrodermal physiological indicators of emotional experiences. Conclusion The different modal forms of music express different levels of emotional arousal, leading to differences in individuals' emotional dimensions and physiological indicators in music. Additionally, individuals' music training experiences and cultural backgrounds also influence their experience of music emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yihe Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Maoping Zheng
- School of Music, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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2
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Serrao F, Chirico A, Gabbiadini A, Gallace A, Gaggioli A. Enjoying art: an evolutionary perspective on the esthetic experience from emotion elicitors. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1341122. [PMID: 38469222 PMCID: PMC10925773 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1341122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024] Open
Abstract
The ubiquity of human art prompted evolutionary psychologists to explore its origins as a potential adaptation to the environment. Here we focus on emotionally charged art and posit that affective affordances embedded into some artworks play a pivotal role in explaining why these artworks are enjoyed from an evolutionary perspective. Such features, recurring in various art forms, are interpreted as cues to the emotional state of others, enabling art consumers to engage in empathetic experiences and vicarious emotions. We explore the adaptive value of deriving pleasure from vicarious emotions, while also addressing the seemingly counterintuitive enjoyment of artworks that evoke negative emotions. We discuss the appreciation of vicarious emotions irrespective of their valence and maintain this appreciation to hold adaptive significance for three key reasons. Firstly, it aids art consumers in refining their interpretational schemes of internal states, potentially enhancing emotional regulation skills. Secondly, it contributes to a deeper understanding of the emotions of others, thereby fostering emotional intelligence and empathy. Lastly, the enjoyment of affectively charged artworks reinforces social cohesion by harmonizing the emotions of group members. This perspective provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the evolutionary underpinnings of the human capacity for art appreciation and emotional engagement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabrizio Serrao
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Alice Chirico
- Research Center in Communication Psychology, Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Alberto Gallace
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Gaggioli
- Research Center in Communication Psychology, Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
- IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy
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3
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Xiao X, Tan J, Liu X, Zheng M. The dual effect of background music on creativity: perspectives of music preference and cognitive interference. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1247133. [PMID: 37868605 PMCID: PMC10588669 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1247133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Music, an influential environmental factor, significantly shapes cognitive processing and everyday experiences, thus rendering its effects on creativity a dynamic topic within the field of cognitive science. However, debates continue about whether music bolsters, obstructs, or exerts a dual influence on individual creativity. Among the points of contention is the impact of contrasting musical emotions-both positive and negative-on creative tasks. In this study, we focused on traditional Chinese music, drawn from a culture known for its 'preference for sadness,' as our selected emotional stimulus and background music. This choice, underrepresented in previous research, was based on its uniqueness. We examined the effects of differing music genres (including vocal and instrumental), each characterized by a distinct emotional valence (positive or negative), on performance in the Alternative Uses Task (AUT). To conduct this study, we utilized an affective arousal paradigm, with a quiet background serving as a neutral control setting. A total of 114 participants were randomly assigned to three distinct groups after completing a music preference questionnaire: instrumental, vocal, and silent. Our findings showed that when compared to a quiet environment, both instrumental and vocal music as background stimuli significantly affected AUT performance. Notably, music with a negative emotional charge bolstered individual originality in creative performance. These results lend support to the dual role of background music in creativity, with instrumental music appearing to enhance creativity through factors such as emotional arousal, cognitive interference, music preference, and psychological restoration. This study challenges conventional understanding that only positive background music boosts creativity and provides empirical validation for the two-path model (positive and negative) of emotional influence on creativity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyao Xiao
- China Institute of Music Mental Health, Chongqing, China
- School of Music, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Junying Tan
- Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Guiyang, China
| | - Xiaolin Liu
- China Institute of Music Mental Health, Chongqing, China
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Maoping Zheng
- China Institute of Music Mental Health, Chongqing, China
- School of Music, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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4
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Blasco-Magraner JS, Bernabé-Valero G, Marín-Liébana P, Botella-Nicolás AM. Changing positive and negative affects through music experiences: a study with university students. BMC Psychol 2023; 11:76. [PMID: 36944996 PMCID: PMC10031901 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-023-01110-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Currently, there are few empirical studies that demonstrate the effects of music on specific emotions, especially in the educational context. For this reason, this study was carried out to examine the impact of music to identify affective changes after exposure to three musical stimuli. METHODS The participants were 71 university students engaged in a music education course and none of them were musicians. Changes in the affective state of non-musical student teachers were studied after listening to three pieces of music. An inter-subject repeated measures ANOVA test was carried out using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to measure their affective state. RESULTS The results revealed that: (i) the three musical experiences were beneficial in increasing positive affects and reducing negative affects, with significant differences between the interaction of Music Experiences × Moment (pre-post); (ii) listening to Mahler's sad fifth symphony reduced more negative affects than the other experimental conditions; (iii) performing the blues had the highest positive effects. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide applied keys aspects for music education and research, as they show empirical evidence on how music can modify specific affects of personal experience.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gloria Bernabé-Valero
- Department of Occupational Sciences, Speech Therapy, Evolutionary and Educational Psychology, Catholic University of Valencia San Vicente Mártir, Av. De La Ilustración, 2, 46100, Burjassot, Valencia, Spain
| | - Pablo Marín-Liébana
- Department of Music Education, University of Valencia, Av. Dels Tarongers, 4, 46022, Valencia, Spain
| | - Ana María Botella-Nicolás
- Department of Music Education, University of Valencia, Av. Dels Tarongers, 4, 46022, Valencia, Spain
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5
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Adiasto K, van Hooff MLM, Beckers DGJ, Geurts SAE. The sound of stress recovery: an exploratory study of self-selected music listening after stress. BMC Psychol 2023; 11:40. [PMID: 36765393 PMCID: PMC9912599 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-023-01066-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Empirical support for the notion that music listening is beneficial for stress recovery is inconclusive, potentially due to the methodological diversity with which the effects of music on stress recovery have been investigated. Little is presently known about which recovery activities are chosen by individuals for the purpose of stress recovery, and whether audio feature commonalities exist between different songs that are selected by individuals for the purpose of stress recovery. The current pre-registered study investigated whether audio feature commonalities can be extracted from self-selected songs for the purpose of stress recovery. Furthermore, the present study exploratorily examined the relationship between audio features and participants' desired recovery-related emotions while listening and after listening to self-selected music. METHODS Participants (N = 470) completed an online survey in which they described what music they would listen to unwind from a hypothetical stressful event. Data analysis was conducted using a split-sample procedure. A k-medoid cluster analysis was conducted to identify audio feature commonalities between self-selected songs. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between audio features and desired recovery emotions. RESULTS Participants valued music listening as a recovery activity to a similar extent as watching TV, sleeping, or talking to a significant other. Cluster analyses revealed that self-selected songs for the purpose of stress recovery can be grouped into two distinct categories. The two categories of songs shared similarities in key, loudness, speechiness, acousticness, instrumentalness, liveness, musical valence, tempo, duration, and time signature, and were distinguished by danceability, energy, and mode. No audio features were significantly associated with participants' desired recovery emotions. CONCLUSIONS Although a comprehensive portrait of the relationship between audio features and stress recovery still warrants further research, the present study provides a starting point for future enquiries into the nuanced effects of musical audio features on stress recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krisna Adiasto
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Madelon L. M. van Hooff
- grid.5590.90000000122931605Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands ,grid.36120.360000 0004 0501 5439Faculty of Psychology, Open Universiteit, Heerlen, The Netherlands
| | - Debby G. J. Beckers
- grid.5590.90000000122931605Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Sabine A. E. Geurts
- grid.5590.90000000122931605Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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6
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Herdson O, Eerola T, Javadi AH. Analysis and Classification of Music-Induced States of Sadness. EMOTION REVIEW 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/17540739221140472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The enjoyment and pleasure derived from sad music has sparked fascination among researchers due to its seemingly paradoxical nature in producing positive affect. Research is yet to develop a comprehensive understanding of this “paradox.” Contradictory findings have resulted in a great variability within the literature, meaning results and interpretations can be difficult to derive. Consequently, this review collated the current literature, seeking to utilize the variability in the findings to propose a model of differential sad states, providing a means for past and future findings to be interpreted. The proposed model is based on theoretical understanding, as such it requires full empirical support. Comparisons to alternative models, theoretical, clinical, and cognitive implications, as well as future directions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Herdson
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | | | - Amir-Homayoun Javadi
- School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
- School of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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7
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Fasano MC, Cabral J, Stevner A, Vuust P, Cantou P, Brattico E, Kringelbach ML. The early adolescent brain on music: Analysis of functional dynamics reveals engagement of orbitofrontal cortex reward system. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 44:429-446. [PMID: 36069619 PMCID: PMC9842905 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Music listening plays a pivotal role for children and adolescents, yet it remains unclear how music modulates brain activity at the level of functional networks in this young population. Analysing the dynamics of brain networks occurring and dissolving over time in response to music can provide a better understanding of the neural underpinning of music listening. We collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 17 preadolescents aged 10-11 years while listening to two similar music pieces separated by periods without music. We subsequently tracked the occurrence of functional brain networks over the recording time using a recent method that detects recurrent patterns of phase-locking in the fMRI signals: the leading eigenvector dynamics analysis (LEiDA). The probabilities of occurrence and switching profiles of different functional networks were compared between periods of music and no music. Our results showed significantly increased occurrence of a specific functional network during the two music pieces compared to no music, involving the medial orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortices-a brain subsystem associated to reward processing. Moreover, the higher the musical reward sensitivity of the preadolescents, the more this network was preceded by a pattern involving the insula. Our findings highlight the involvement of a brain subsystem associated with hedonic and emotional processing during music listening in the early adolescent brain. These results offer novel insight into the neural underpinnings of musical reward in early adolescence, improving our understanding of the important role and the potential benefits of music at this delicate age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Celeste Fasano
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural SciencesAarhus UniversityAarhusDenmark,Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical MedicineAarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/AalborgAarhusDenmark,Centre for Eudaimonia and Human FlourishingLinacre College, University of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Joana Cabral
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical MedicineAarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/AalborgAarhusDenmark,Centre for Eudaimonia and Human FlourishingLinacre College, University of OxfordOxfordUK,Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of MedicineUniversity of MinhoBragaPortugal
| | - Angus Stevner
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical MedicineAarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/AalborgAarhusDenmark
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical MedicineAarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/AalborgAarhusDenmark
| | - Pauline Cantou
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical MedicineAarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/AalborgAarhusDenmark
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical MedicineAarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/AalborgAarhusDenmark,Department of PsychologyEducational Sciences, Communication, University of BariBariItaly
| | - Morten L. Kringelbach
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical MedicineAarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/AalborgAarhusDenmark,Centre for Eudaimonia and Human FlourishingLinacre College, University of OxfordOxfordUK,Department of PsychiatryUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
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8
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Scharinger M, Knoop CA, Wagner V, Menninghaus W. Neural processing of poems and songs is based on melodic properties. Neuroimage 2022; 257:119310. [PMID: 35569784 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Revised: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The neural processing of speech and music is still a matter of debate. A long tradition that assumes shared processing capacities for the two domains contrasts with views that assume domain-specific processing. We here contribute to this topic by investigating, in a functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) study, ecologically valid stimuli that are identical in wording and differ only in that one group is typically spoken (or silently read), whereas the other is sung: poems and their respective musical settings. We focus on the melodic properties of spoken poems and their sung musical counterparts by looking at proportions of significant autocorrelations (PSA) based on pitch values extracted from their recordings. Following earlier studies, we assumed a bias of poem-processing towards the left and a bias for song-processing on the right hemisphere. Furthermore, PSA values of poems and songs were expected to explain variance in left- vs. right-temporal brain areas, while continuous liking ratings obtained in the scanner should modulate activity in the reward network. Overall, poem processing compared to song processing relied on left temporal regions, including the superior temporal gyrus, whereas song processing compared to poem processing recruited more right temporal areas, including Heschl's gyrus and the superior temporal gyrus. PSA values co-varied with activation in bilateral temporal regions for poems, and in right-dominant fronto-temporal regions for songs. Continuous liking ratings were correlated with activity in the default mode network for both poems and songs. The pattern of results suggests that the neural processing of poems and their musical settings is based on their melodic properties, supported by bilateral temporal auditory areas and an additional right fronto-temporal network known to be implicated in the processing of melodies in songs. These findings take a middle ground in providing evidence for specific processing circuits for speech and music in the left and right hemisphere, but simultaneously for shared processing of melodic aspects of both poems and their musical settings in the right temporal cortex. Thus, we demonstrate the neurobiological plausibility of assuming the importance of melodic properties in spoken and sung aesthetic language alike, along with the involvement of the default mode network in the aesthetic appreciation of these properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Scharinger
- Department of Language and Literature, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany; Research Group Phonetics, Institute of German Linguistics, Philipps-University Marburg, Pilgrimstein 16, Marburg 35032, Germany; Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior, Universities of Marburg and Gießen, Germany.
| | - Christine A Knoop
- Department of Language and Literature, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany; Department of Music, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Valentin Wagner
- Department of Language and Literature, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany; Experimental Psychology Unit, Helmut Schmidt University / University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Germany
| | - Winfried Menninghaus
- Department of Language and Literature, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
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9
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Criscuolo A, Pando-Naude V, Bonetti L, Vuust P, Brattico E. An ALE meta-analytic review of musical expertise. Sci Rep 2022; 12:11726. [PMID: 35821035 PMCID: PMC9276732 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14959-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Through long-term training, music experts acquire complex and specialized sensorimotor skills, which are paralleled by continuous neuro-anatomical and -functional adaptations. The underlying neuroplasticity mechanisms have been extensively explored in decades of research in music, cognitive, and translational neuroscience. However, the absence of a comprehensive review and quantitative meta-analysis prevents the plethora of variegated findings to ultimately converge into a unified picture of the neuroanatomy of musical expertise. Here, we performed a comprehensive neuroimaging meta-analysis of publications investigating neuro-anatomical and -functional differences between musicians (M) and non-musicians (NM). Eighty-four studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. From these, 58 publications were included in coordinate-based meta-analyses using the anatomic/activation likelihood estimation (ALE) method. This comprehensive approach delivers a coherent cortico-subcortical network encompassing sensorimotor and limbic regions bilaterally. Particularly, M exhibited higher volume/activity in auditory, sensorimotor, interoceptive, and limbic brain areas and lower volume/activity in parietal areas as opposed to NM. Notably, we reveal topographical (dis-)similarities between the identified functional and anatomical networks and characterize their link to various cognitive functions by means of meta-analytic connectivity modelling. Overall, we effectively synthesized decades of research in the field and provide a consistent and controversies-free picture of the neuroanatomy of musical expertise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Criscuolo
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Victor Pando-Naude
- Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus C, Denmark.
| | - Leonardo Bonetti
- Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus C, Denmark
- Center for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus C, Denmark
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10
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Mencke I, Omigie D, Quiroga-Martinez DR, Brattico E. Atonal Music as a Model for Investigating Exploratory Behavior. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:793163. [PMID: 35812236 PMCID: PMC9256982 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.793163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Atonal music is often characterized by low predictability stemming from the absence of tonal or metrical hierarchies. In contrast, Western tonal music exhibits intrinsic predictability due to its hierarchical structure and therefore, offers a directly accessible predictive model to the listener. In consequence, a specific challenge of atonal music is that listeners must generate a variety of new predictive models. Listeners must not only refrain from applying available tonal models to the heard music, but they must also search for statistical regularities and build new rules that may be related to musical properties other than pitch, such as timbre or dynamics. In this article, we propose that the generation of such new predictive models and the aesthetic experience of atonal music are characterized by internal states related to exploration. This is a behavior well characterized in behavioral neuroscience as fulfilling an innate drive to reduce uncertainty but which has received little attention in empirical music research. We support our proposal with emerging evidence that the hedonic value is associated with the recognition of patterns in low-predictability sound sequences and that atonal music elicits distinct behavioral responses in listeners. We end by outlining new research avenues that might both deepen our understanding of the aesthetic experience of atonal music in particular, and reveal core qualities of the aesthetic experience in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Mencke
- Department of Music, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
- *Correspondence: Iris Mencke,
| | - Diana Omigie
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - David Ricardo Quiroga-Martinez
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University and Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University and Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Education, Psychology and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
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11
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Exploring the Effects of Brain Stimulation on Musical Taste: tDCS on the Left Dorso-Lateral Prefrontal Cortex—A Null Result. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12040467. [PMID: 35447998 PMCID: PMC9030245 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12040467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/26/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans are the only species capable of experiencing pleasure from esthetic stimuli, such as art and music. Neuroimaging evidence suggests that the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays a critical role in esthetic judgments, both in music and in visual art. In the last decade, non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) has been increasingly employed to shed light on the causal role of different brain regions contributing to esthetic appreciation. In Experiment #1, musician (N = 20) and non-musician (N = 20) participants were required to judge musical stimuli in terms of “liking” and “emotions”. No significant differences between groups were found, although musicians were slower than non-musicians in both tasks, likely indicating a more analytic judgment, due to musical expertise. Experiment #2 investigated the putative causal role of the left dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex (DLPFC) in the esthetic appreciation of music, by means of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Unlike previous findings in visual art, no significant effects of tDCS were found, suggesting that stimulating the left DLPFC is not enough to affect the esthetic appreciation of music, although this conclusion is based on negative evidence,.
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12
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Vuust P, Heggli OA, Friston KJ, Kringelbach ML. Music in the brain. Nat Rev Neurosci 2022; 23:287-305. [PMID: 35352057 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-022-00578-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Music is ubiquitous across human cultures - as a source of affective and pleasurable experience, moving us both physically and emotionally - and learning to play music shapes both brain structure and brain function. Music processing in the brain - namely, the perception of melody, harmony and rhythm - has traditionally been studied as an auditory phenomenon using passive listening paradigms. However, when listening to music, we actively generate predictions about what is likely to happen next. This enactive aspect has led to a more comprehensive understanding of music processing involving brain structures implicated in action, emotion and learning. Here we review the cognitive neuroscience literature of music perception. We show that music perception, action, emotion and learning all rest on the human brain's fundamental capacity for prediction - as formulated by the predictive coding of music model. This Review elucidates how this formulation of music perception and expertise in individuals can be extended to account for the dynamics and underlying brain mechanisms of collective music making. This in turn has important implications for human creativity as evinced by music improvisation. These recent advances shed new light on what makes music meaningful from a neuroscientific perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music (Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium), Aarhus, Denmark.
| | - Ole A Heggli
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music (Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium), Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Karl J Friston
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
| | - Morten L Kringelbach
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music (Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium), Aarhus, Denmark.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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13
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Reybrouck M, Vuust P, Brattico E. Neural Correlates of Music Listening: Does the Music Matter? Brain Sci 2021; 11:1553. [PMID: 34942855 PMCID: PMC8699514 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11121553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The last decades have seen a proliferation of music and brain studies, with a major focus on plastic changes as the outcome of continuous and prolonged engagement with music. Thanks to the advent of neuroaesthetics, research on music cognition has broadened its scope by considering the multifarious phenomenon of listening in all its forms, including incidental listening up to the skillful attentive listening of experts, and all its possible effects. These latter range from objective and sensorial effects directly linked to the acoustic features of the music to the subjectively affective and even transformational effects for the listener. Of special importance is the finding that neural activity in the reward circuit of the brain is a key component of a conscious listening experience. We propose that the connection between music and the reward system makes music listening a gate towards not only hedonia but also eudaimonia, namely a life well lived, full of meaning that aims at realizing one's own "daimon" or true nature. It is argued, further, that music listening, even when conceptualized in this aesthetic and eudaimonic framework, remains a learnable skill that changes the way brain structures respond to sounds and how they interact with each other.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Reybrouck
- Faculty of Arts, University of Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Art History, Musicology and Theater Studies, IPEM Institute for Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; (P.V.); (E.B.)
- The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; (P.V.); (E.B.)
- Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70122 Bari, Italy
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14
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Falcon C, Navarro-Plaza MC, Gramunt N, Arenaza-Urquijo EM, Grau-Rivera O, Cacciaglia R, González-de-Echavarria JM, Sánchez-Benavides G, Operto G, Knezevic I, Molinuevo JL, Gispert JD. Soundtrack of life: An fMRI study. Behav Brain Res 2021; 418:113634. [PMID: 34710508 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Most people have a soundtrack of life, a set of special musical pieces closely linked to certain biographical experiences. Autobiographical memories (AM) and music listening (ML) involve complex mental processes ruled by differentiate brain networks. The aim of the paper was to determine the way both networks interact in linked occurrences. We performed an fMRI experiment on 31 healthy participants (age: 32.4 ± 7.6, 11 men, 4 left-handers). Participants had to recall AMs prompted by music they reported to be associated with personal biographical events (LMM: linked AM-ML events). In the main control task, participants were prompted to recall emotional AMs while listening known tracks from a pool of popular music (UMM: unlinked AM-ML events). We wanted to investigate to what extent LMM network exceeded the overlap of AM and ML networks by contrasting the activation obtained in LMM versus UMM. The contrast LMM>UMM showed the areas (at P < 0.05 FWE corrected at voxel level and cluster size>20): right frontal inferior operculum, frontal middle gyrus, pars triangularis of inferior frontal gyrus, occipital superior gyrus and bilateral basal ganglia (caudate, putamen and pallidum), occipital (middle and inferior), parietal (inferior and superior), precentral and cerebellum (6, 7 L, 8 and vermis 6 and 7). Complementary results were obtained from additional control tasks. Provided part of tLMM>UMM areas might not be related to ML-AM linkage, we assessed LMM brain network by an independent component analysis (ICA) on contrast images. Results from ICA suggest the existence of a cortico-ponto-cerebellar network including left precuneus, bilateral anterior cingulum, parahippocampal gyri, frontal inferior operculum, ventral anterior part of the insula, frontal medial orbital gyri, caudate nuclei, cerebellum 6 and vermis, which might rule the ML-induced retrieval of AM in closely linked AM-ML events. This topography may suggest that the pathway by which ML is linked to AM is attentional and directly related to perceptual processing, involving salience network, instead of the natural way of remembering typically associated with default mode network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carles Falcon
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Madrid, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona.
| | | | | | - Eider M Arenaza-Urquijo
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain
| | - Oriol Grau-Rivera
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Madrid, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain; Servei de Neurologia, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Raffaele Cacciaglia
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain
| | - José María González-de-Echavarria
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona
| | - Gonzalo Sánchez-Benavides
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain
| | - Grégory Operto
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain
| | - Iva Knezevic
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
| | - José Luis Molinuevo
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan Domingo Gispert
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Madrid, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain.
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15
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Esteve-Faubel RP, Aparicio-Flores MP, Cavia-Naya V, Esteve-Faubel JM. Emotional Intelligence, Perceived Academic Self-Efficacy, and Perfectionistic Automatic Thoughts as Predictors of Aesthetic-Musical Awareness in Late Adolescence. Front Psychol 2021; 12:733025. [PMID: 34456833 PMCID: PMC8397386 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.733025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Aesthetic-musical awareness demarcates a person's own perception of their ability to connect with music and the emotions it evokes. This may imply a benefit for the affective state of the individual. Therefore, the aim of this study was to observe whether there are statistically significant differences in emotional intelligence, perceived academic self-efficacy, and perfectionistic automatic thoughts when there are high and low scores in aesthetic-musical awareness in late adolescence. Likewise, we also aimed to determine whether emotional intelligence, perceived academic self-efficacy, and perfectionistic automatic thoughts are predictors of high aesthetic-musical awareness. To this end, a sample of 798 Spanish students between 17 and 23 years of age (Mage = 18.5 years) was used. Statistically significant differences were found for the dimensions of each variable when there were high and low scores in aesthetic-musical awareness (scores between d = −0.31 and −0.40), with higher mean scores for emotional intelligence, perceived academic self-efficacy, and perfectionistic automatic thoughts being present in the group with high aesthetic-musical awareness. Likewise, it was observed that the probability of presenting high scores in aesthetic-musical awareness was higher when there was an increase in emotional intelligence, perceived academic self-efficacy, and perceived automatic thoughts. In conclusion, the results found demonstrate that both emotional intelligence, perceived academic self-efficacy, and the presence of perfectionistic automatic thoughts influence on whether an individual has greater aesthetic-musical awareness. Taking into account previous studies that show how music influences the well-being of the person, these findings show a favorable link for the design of programs that benefit the emotional state of adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Victoria Cavia-Naya
- Department of Didactics of Music, Plastic and Corporal Expression, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
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16
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He M, Zhang W, Shahid H, Liu Y, Liang X, Duan Y, Wang H, He X. The Impact of Motor Imageries on Aesthetic Judgment of Chinese Calligraphy: An fMRI Study. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:706425. [PMID: 34421563 PMCID: PMC8377275 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.706425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous behavioral studies on aesthetics demonstrated that there was a close association between perceived action and aesthetic appreciation. However, few studies explored whether motor imagery would influence aesthetic experience and its neural substrates. In the current study, Chinese calligraphy was used as the stimuli to explore the relationship between the motor imagery and the aesthetic judgments of a participant using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The imaging results showed that, compared with the baseline, the activation of the brain regions [e.g., anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), putamen, and insula] involved in perceptual processing, cognitive judgments, aesthetic emotional, and reward processing was observed after the participants performed motor imagery tasks. The contrast analyses within aesthetic judgments showed that the kinesthetic imagery significantly activated the middle frontal gyrus, postcentral gyrus, ACC, and thalamus. Generally, these areas were considered to be closely related to positive aesthetic experience and suggested that motor imagery, especially kinesthetic imagery, might be specifically associated with the aesthetic appreciation of Chinese calligraphy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingcheng He
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wei Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hira Shahid
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yushan Liu
- School of Fine Arts, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoling Liang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yan Duan
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hua Wang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xianyou He
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.,School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
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17
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Liu X, Liu Y, Shi H, Zheng M. Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Musical Aesthetic Emotion Processing. Front Psychol 2021; 12:648062. [PMID: 34366968 PMCID: PMC8334183 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Mindfulness meditation is a form of self-regulatory training for the mind and the body. The relationship between mindfulness meditation and musical aesthetic emotion processing (MAEP) remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the effect of temporary mindfulness meditation on MAEP while listening to Chinese classical folk instrumental musical works. A 2 [(groups: mindfulness meditation group (MMG); control group (CG)] × 3 (music emotions: calm music, happy music, and sad music) mixed experimental design and a convenience sample of university students were used to verify our hypotheses, which were based on the premise that temporary mindfulness meditation may affect MAEP (MMG vs. CG). Sixty-seven non-musically trained participants (65.7% female, age range: 18–22 years) were randomly assigned to two groups (MMG or CG). Participants in MMG were given a single 10-min recorded mindfulness meditation training before and when listening to music. The instruments for psychological measurement comprised of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Self-report results showed no significant between-group differences for PANAS and for the scores of four subscales of the FFMQ (p > 0.05 throughout), except for the non-judging of inner experience subscale. Results showed that temporary mindfulness meditation training decreased the negative emotional experiences of happy and sad music and the positive emotional experiences of calm music during recognition and experience and promoted beautiful musical experiences in individuals with no musical training. Maintaining a state of mindfulness while listening to music enhanced body awareness and led to experiencing a faster passage of musical time. In addition, it was found that Chinese classical folk instrumental musical works effectively induced aesthetic emotion and produced multidimensional aesthetic experiences among non-musically trained adults. This study provides new insights into the relationship between mindfulness and music emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolin Liu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China.,School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.,Research Institute of Aesthetics Psychology of Chinese Classical Music and Basic Theory of Music Performance, Chongqing Institute of Foreign Studies, Chongqing, China
| | - Yong Liu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China.,School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Huijuan Shi
- Research Institute of Aesthetics Psychology of Chinese Classical Music and Basic Theory of Music Performance, Chongqing Institute of Foreign Studies, Chongqing, China
| | - Maoping Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China.,School of Music, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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18
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Eerola T, Vuoskoski JK, Kautiainen H, Peltola HR, Putkinen V, Schäfer K. Being moved by listening to unfamiliar sad music induces reward-related hormonal changes in empathic listeners. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2021; 1502:121-131. [PMID: 34273130 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2021] [Revised: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Many people enjoy sad music, and the appeal for tragedy is widespread among the consumers of film and literature. The underlying mechanisms of such aesthetic experiences are not well understood. We tested whether pleasure induced by sad, unfamiliar instrumental music is explained with a homeostatic or a reward theory, each of which is associated with opposite patterns of changes in the key hormones. Sixty-two women listened to sad music (or nothing) while serum was collected for subsequent measurement of prolactin (PRL) and oxytocin (OT) and stress marker (cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone) concentrations. Two groups of participants were recruited on the basis of low and high trait empathy. In the high empathy group, PRL and OT levels were significantly lower with music compared with no music. And compared to the low empathy group, the high empathy individuals reported an increase of positive mood and higher ratings of being moved with music. None of the stress markers showed any changes across the conditions or the groups. These hormonal changes, inconsistent with the homeostatic theory proposed by Huron, exhibit a pattern expected of general reward. Our findings illuminate how unfamiliar and low arousal music may give rise to pleasurable experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuomas Eerola
- Music Department, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Jonna K Vuoskoski
- Music Department, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylän yliopisto, Finland.,Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | | | | | - Vesa Putkinen
- Music Department, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylän yliopisto, Finland
| | - Katharina Schäfer
- Music Department, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylän yliopisto, Finland
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19
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Tervaniemi M, Putkinen V, Nie P, Wang C, Du B, Lu J, Li S, Cowley BU, Tammi T, Tao S. Improved Auditory Function Caused by Music Versus Foreign Language Training at School Age: Is There a Difference? Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:63-75. [PMID: 34265850 PMCID: PMC8634570 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
In adults, music and speech share many neurocognitive functions, but how do they interact in a developing brain? We compared the effects of music and foreign language training on auditory neurocognition in Chinese children aged 8–11 years. We delivered group-based training programs in music and foreign language using a randomized controlled trial. A passive control group was also included. Before and after these year-long extracurricular programs, auditory event-related potentials were recorded (n = 123 and 85 before and after the program, respectively). Through these recordings, we probed early auditory predictive brain processes. To our surprise, the language program facilitated the children’s early auditory predictive brain processes significantly more than did the music program. This facilitation was most evident in pitch encoding when the experimental paradigm was musically relevant. When these processes were probed by a paradigm more focused on basic sound features, we found early predictive pitch encoding to be facilitated by music training. Thus, a foreign language program is able to foster auditory and music neurocognition, at least in tonal language speakers, in a manner comparable to that by a music program. Our results support the tight coupling of musical and linguistic brain functions also in the developing brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mari Tervaniemi
- Cicero Learning, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Vesa Putkinen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Peixin Nie
- Cicero Learning, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Cuicui Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Bin Du
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Shuting Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Benjamin Ultan Cowley
- Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.,Cognitive Science, Department of Digital Humanities, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tuisku Tammi
- Cognitive Science, Department of Digital Humanities, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sha Tao
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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20
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Liu X, Liu Y, Shi H, Li L, Zheng M. Regulation of Mindfulness-Based Music Listening on Negative Emotions Related to COVID-19: An ERP Study. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18137063. [PMID: 34280999 PMCID: PMC8296951 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18137063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Revised: 06/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
The current study aimed to explore the behavioral and neural correlates of mindfulness-based music listening regulation of induced negative emotions related to COVID-19 using the face-word Stroop task. Eighty-five young adults visited the laboratory and were randomly assigned to three groups: a calm music group (CMG: n = 28), a happy music group (HMG: n = 30), and a sad music group (SMG: n = 27). Negative emotions were induced in all participants using a COVID-19 video, followed by the music intervention condition. Participants underwent the face-word Stroop tasks during which event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The N2, N3, P3, and late positive component (LPC) were investigated. The results showed that calm music and happy music effectively regulate young adults' induced negative emotions, while young adults experienced more negative emotions when listening to sad music; the negative mood states at the post-induction phase inhibited the reaction of conflict control in face-word Stroop tasks, which manifested as lower accuracy (ACC) and slower reaction times (RTs). ERP results showed negative mood states elicited greater N2, N3, and LPC amplitudes and smaller P3 amplitudes. Further studies are needed to develop intervention strategies to enhance emotion regulation related to COVID-19 for other groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolin Liu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; (X.L.); (Y.L.)
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
- Institute of Chinese Music Aesthetic Psychology and Basic Theory of Music Performance, Chongqing Institute of Foreign Studies, Chongqing 401120, China; (H.S.); (L.L.)
| | - Yong Liu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; (X.L.); (Y.L.)
- School of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
| | - Huijuan Shi
- Institute of Chinese Music Aesthetic Psychology and Basic Theory of Music Performance, Chongqing Institute of Foreign Studies, Chongqing 401120, China; (H.S.); (L.L.)
| | - Ling Li
- Institute of Chinese Music Aesthetic Psychology and Basic Theory of Music Performance, Chongqing Institute of Foreign Studies, Chongqing 401120, China; (H.S.); (L.L.)
| | - Maoping Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China; (X.L.); (Y.L.)
- School of Music, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing 400715, China
- Correspondence:
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21
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22
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Putkinen V, Nazari-Farsani S, Seppälä K, Karjalainen T, Sun L, Karlsson HK, Hudson M, Heikkilä TT, Hirvonen J, Nummenmaa L. Decoding Music-Evoked Emotions in the Auditory and Motor Cortex. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:2549-2560. [PMID: 33367590 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Revised: 10/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Music can induce strong subjective experience of emotions, but it is debated whether these responses engage the same neural circuits as emotions elicited by biologically significant events. We examined the functional neural basis of music-induced emotions in a large sample (n = 102) of subjects who listened to emotionally engaging (happy, sad, fearful, and tender) pieces of instrumental music while their hemodynamic brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Ratings of the four categorical emotions and liking were used to predict hemodynamic responses in general linear model (GLM) analysis of the fMRI data. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) was used to reveal discrete neural signatures of the four categories of music-induced emotions. To map neural circuits governing non-musical emotions, the subjects were scanned while viewing short emotionally evocative film clips. The GLM revealed that most emotions were associated with activity in the auditory, somatosensory, and motor cortices, cingulate gyrus, insula, and precuneus. Fear and liking also engaged the amygdala. In contrast, the film clips strongly activated limbic and cortical regions implicated in emotional processing. MVPA revealed that activity in the auditory cortex and primary motor cortices reliably discriminated the emotion categories. Our results indicate that different music-induced basic emotions have distinct representations in regions supporting auditory processing, motor control, and interoception but do not strongly rely on limbic and medial prefrontal regions critical for emotions with survival value.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vesa Putkinen
- Turku PET Centre, and Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520, Turku, Finland
| | - Sanaz Nazari-Farsani
- Turku PET Centre, and Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520, Turku, Finland
| | - Kerttu Seppälä
- Turku PET Centre, and Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520, Turku, Finland
| | - Tomi Karjalainen
- Turku PET Centre, and Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520, Turku, Finland
| | - Lihua Sun
- Turku PET Centre, and Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520, Turku, Finland
| | - Henry K Karlsson
- Turku PET Centre, and Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520, Turku, Finland
| | - Matthew Hudson
- Turku PET Centre, and Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520, Turku, Finland.,National College of Ireland, D01 K6W2, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Timo T Heikkilä
- Department of Psychology, University of Turku, FI-20014, Turku, Finland
| | - Jussi Hirvonen
- Turku PET Centre, and Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520, Turku, Finland.,Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, 20520, Turku, Finland
| | - Lauri Nummenmaa
- Turku PET Centre, and Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520, Turku, Finland.,Department of Psychology, University of Turku, FI-20014, Turku, Finland
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23
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Unraveling the Temporal Dynamics of Reward Signals in Music-Induced Pleasure with TMS. J Neurosci 2021; 41:3889-3899. [PMID: 33782048 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0727-20.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2020] [Revised: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Music's ability to induce feelings of pleasure has been the subject of intense neuroscientific research lately. Prior neuroimaging studies have shown that music-induced pleasure engages cortico-striatal circuits related to the anticipation and receipt of biologically relevant rewards/incentives, but these reports are necessarily correlational. Here, we studied both the causal role of this circuitry and its temporal dynamics by applying transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the left dorsolateral PFC combined with fMRI in 17 male and female participants. Behaviorally, we found that, in accord with previous findings, excitation of fronto-striatal pathways enhanced subjective reports of music-induced pleasure and motivation, whereas inhibition of the same circuitry led to the reduction of both. fMRI activity patterns indicated that these behavioral changes were driven by bidirectional TMS-induced alteration of fronto-striatal function. Specifically, changes in activity in the NAcc predicted modulation of both hedonic and motivational responses, with a dissociation between pre-experiential versus experiential components of musical reward. In addition, TMS-induced changes in the fMRI functional connectivity between the NAcc and frontal and auditory cortices predicted the degree of modulation of hedonic responses. These results indicate that the engagement of cortico-striatal pathways and the NAcc, in particular, is indispensable to experience rewarding feelings from music.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Neuroimaging studies have shown that music-induced pleasure engages cortico-striatal circuits involved in the processing of biologically relevant rewards. Yet, these reports are necessarily correlational. Here, we studied both the causal role of this circuitry and its temporal dynamics by combining brain stimulation over the frontal cortex with functional imaging. Behaviorally, we found that excitation and inhibition of fronto-striatal pathways enhanced and disrupted, respectively, subjective reports of music-induced pleasure and motivation. These changes were associated with changes in NAcc activity and NAcc coupling with frontal and auditory cortices, dissociating between pre-experimental versus experiential components of musical reward. These results indicate that the engagement of cortico-striatal pathways, and the NAcc in particular, is indispensable to experience rewarding feeling from music.
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NeuroDante: Poetry Mentally Engages More Experts but Moves More Non-Experts, and for Both the Cerebral Approach Tendency Goes Hand in Hand with the Cerebral Effort. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11030281. [PMID: 33668815 PMCID: PMC7996310 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11030281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2020] [Revised: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroaesthetics, the science studying the biological underpinnings of aesthetic experience, recently extended its area of investigation to literary art; this was the humus where neurocognitive poetics blossomed. Divina Commedia represents one of the most important, famous and studied poems worldwide. Poetry stimuli are characterized by elements (meter and rhyme) promoting the processing fluency, a core aspect of neuroaesthetics theories. In addition, given the evidence of different neurophysiological reactions between experts and non-experts in response to artistic stimuli, the aim of the present study was to investigate, in poetry, a different neurophysiological cognitive and emotional reaction between Literature (L) and Non-Literature (NL) students. A further aim was to investigate whether neurophysiological underpinnings would support explanation of behavioral data. Investigation methods employed: self-report assessments (recognition, appreciation, content recall) and neurophysiological indexes (approach/withdrawal (AW), cerebral effort (CE) and galvanic skin response (GSR)). The main behavioral results, according to fluency theories in aesthetics, suggested in the NL but not in the L group that the appreciation/liking went hand by hand with the self-declared recognition and with the content recall. The main neurophysiological results were: (i) higher galvanic skin response in NL, whilst higher CE values in L; (ii) a positive correlation between AW and CE indexes in both groups. The present results extended previous evidence relative to figurative art also to auditory poetry stimuli, suggesting an emotional attenuation “expertise-specific” showed by experts, but increased cognitive processing in response to the stimuli.
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25
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26
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Mas-Herrero E, Maini L, Sescousse G, Zatorre RJ. Common and distinct neural correlates of music and food-induced pleasure: A coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 123:61-71. [PMID: 33440196 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2020] [Revised: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 12/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Neuroimaging studies have shown that, despite the abstractness of music, it may mimic biologically rewarding stimuli (e.g., food) in its ability to engage the brain's reward circuitry. However, due to the lack of research comparing music and other types of reward, it is unclear to what extent the recruitment of reward-related structures overlaps among domains. To achieve this goal, we performed a coordinate-based meta-analysis of 38 neuroimaging studies (703 subjects) comparing the brain responses specifically to music and food-induced pleasure. Both engaged a common set of brain regions, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, and insula. Yet, comparative analyses indicated a partial dissociation in the engagement of the reward circuitry as a function of the type of reward, as well as additional reward type-specific activations in brain regions related to perception, sensory processing, and learning. These results support the idea that hedonic reactions rely on the engagement of a common reward network, yet through specific routes of access depending on the modality and nature of the reward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ernest Mas-Herrero
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, 08907, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Cognition, Development and Education Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Larissa Maini
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Guillaume Sescousse
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center - INSERM U1028 - CNRS UMR5292, PSYR2 Team, University of Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Robert J Zatorre
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; International Laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montreal, QC, Canada.
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27
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A coordinate-based meta-analysis of music-evoked emotions. Neuroimage 2020; 223:117350. [PMID: 32898679 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Since the publication of the first neuroscience study investigating emotion with music about two decades ago, the number of functional neuroimaging studies published on this topic has increased each year. This research interest is in part due to the ubiquity of music across cultures, and to music's power to evoke a diverse range of intensely felt emotions. To support a better understanding of the brain correlates of music-evoked emotions this article reports a coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies (n = 47 studies with n = 944 subjects). The studies employed a range of diverse experimental approaches (e.g., using music to evoke joy, sadness, fear, tension, frissons, surprise, unpleasantness, or feelings of beauty). The results of an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) indicate large clusters in a range of structures, including amygdala, anterior hippocampus, auditory cortex, and numerous structures of the reward network (ventral and dorsal striatum, anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex). The results underline the rewarding nature of music, the role of the auditory cortex as an emotional hub, and the role of the hippocampus in attachment-related emotions and social bonding.
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28
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Weber CE, Shinkareva SV, Kim J, Gao C, Wedell DH. Evaluative Conditioning of Affective Valence. SOCIAL COGNITION 2020. [DOI: 10.1521/soco.2020.38.2.97] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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The urge to judge: Why the judgmental attitude has anything to do with the aesthetic enjoyment of negative emotions. Behav Brain Sci 2019; 40:e353. [PMID: 29342780 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x17001613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Based on arguments from both philosophical and empirical aesthetics, we hereby propose that the enjoyment of negative emotions in art and fiction is distinct from the immediate pleasure deriving from sensory features, because it requires a conscious, intentional attitude toward the object. This attitude is linked with the compelling goal of providing a judgment of liking, beauty, perfection, or similar.
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Musical reward prediction errors engage the nucleus accumbens and motivate learning. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:3310-3315. [PMID: 30728301 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1809855116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Enjoying music reliably ranks among life's greatest pleasures. Like many hedonic experiences, it engages several reward-related brain areas, with activity in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) most consistently reflecting the listener's subjective response. Converging evidence suggests that this activity arises from musical "reward prediction errors" (RPEs) that signal the difference between expected and perceived musical events, but this hypothesis has not been directly tested. In the present fMRI experiment, we assessed whether music could elicit formally modeled RPEs in the NAc by applying a well-established decision-making protocol designed and validated for studying RPEs. In the scanner, participants chose between arbitrary cues that probabilistically led to dissonant or consonant music, and learned to make choices associated with the consonance, which they preferred. We modeled regressors of trial-by-trial RPEs, finding that NAc activity tracked musically elicited RPEs, to an extent that explained variance in the individual learning rates. These results demonstrate that music can act as a reward, driving learning and eliciting RPEs in the NAc, a hub of reward- and music enjoyment-related activity.
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31
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Abstract
Understanding how the brain translates a structured sequence of sounds, such as music, into a pleasant and rewarding experience is a fascinating question which may be crucial to better understand the processing of abstract rewards in humans. Previous neuroimaging findings point to a challenging role of the dopaminergic system in music-evoked pleasure. However, there is a lack of direct evidence showing that dopamine function is causally related to the pleasure we experience from music. We addressed this problem through a double blind within-subject pharmacological design in which we directly manipulated dopaminergic synaptic availability while healthy participants (n = 27) were engaged in music listening. We orally administrated to each participant a dopamine precursor (levodopa), a dopamine antagonist (risperidone), and a placebo (lactose) in three different sessions. We demonstrate that levodopa and risperidone led to opposite effects in measures of musical pleasure and motivation: while the dopamine precursor levodopa, compared with placebo, increased the hedonic experience and music-related motivational responses, risperidone led to a reduction of both. This study shows a causal role of dopamine in musical pleasure and indicates that dopaminergic transmission might play different or additive roles than the ones postulated in affective processing so far, particularly in abstract cognitive activities.
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32
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The Neural Basis of Fear Promotes Anger and Sadness Counteracts Anger. Neural Plast 2018; 2018:3479059. [PMID: 30013595 PMCID: PMC6022272 DOI: 10.1155/2018/3479059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2018] [Revised: 04/21/2018] [Accepted: 05/07/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
In contrast to cognitive emotion regulation theories that emphasize top-down control of prefrontal-mediated regulation of emotion, in traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine, different emotions are considered to have mutual promotion and counteraction relationships. Our previous studies have provided behavioral evidence supporting the hypotheses that “fear promotes anger” and “sadness counteracts anger”; this study further investigated the corresponding neural correlates. A basic hypothesis we made is the “internal versus external orientation” assumption proposing that fear could promote anger as its external orientation associated with motivated action, whereas sadness could counteract anger as its internal or homeostatic orientation to somatic or visceral experience. A way to test this assumption is to examine the selective involvement of the posterior insula (PI) and the anterior insula (AI) in sadness and fear because the posterior-to-anterior progression theory of insular function suggests that the role of the PI is to encode primary body feeling and that of the AI is to represent the integrative feeling that incorporates the internal and external input together. The results showed increased activation in the AI, parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), posterior cingulate (PCC), and precuneus during the fear induction phase, and the activation level in these areas could positively predict subsequent aggressive behavior; meanwhile, the PI, superior temporal gyrus (STG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) were more significantly activated during the sadness induction phase, and the activation level in these areas could negatively predict subsequent feelings of subjective anger in a provocation situation. These results revealed a possible cognitive brain mechanism underlying “fear promotes anger” and “sadness counteracts anger.” In particular, the finding that the AI and PI selectively participated in fear and sadness emotions was consistent with our “internal versus external orientation” assumption about the different regulatory effects of fear and sadness on anger and aggressive behavior.
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33
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Reybrouck M, Vuust P, Brattico E. Brain Connectivity Networks and the Aesthetic Experience of Music. Brain Sci 2018; 8:brainsci8060107. [PMID: 29895737 PMCID: PMC6025331 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci8060107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2018] [Revised: 05/28/2018] [Accepted: 06/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Listening to music is above all a human experience, which becomes an aesthetic experience when an individual immerses himself/herself in the music, dedicating attention to perceptual-cognitive-affective interpretation and evaluation. The study of these processes where the individual perceives, understands, enjoys and evaluates a set of auditory stimuli has mainly been focused on the effect of music on specific brain structures, as measured with neurophysiology and neuroimaging techniques. The very recent application of network science algorithms to brain research allows an insight into the functional connectivity between brain regions. These studies in network neuroscience have identified distinct circuits that function during goal-directed tasks and resting states. We review recent neuroimaging findings which indicate that music listening is traceable in terms of network connectivity and activations of target regions in the brain, in particular between the auditory cortex, the reward brain system and brain regions active during mind wandering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Reybrouck
- Faculty of Arts, University of Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
- Department of Art History, Musicology and Theater Studies, IPEM Institute for Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
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34
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Koelsch S. Investigating the Neural Encoding of Emotion with Music. Neuron 2018; 98:1075-1079. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.04.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2018] [Revised: 04/19/2018] [Accepted: 04/20/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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35
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Poikonen H, Toiviainen P, Tervaniemi M. Naturalistic music and dance: Cortical phase synchrony in musicians and dancers. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0196065. [PMID: 29672597 PMCID: PMC5908167 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2017] [Accepted: 04/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Expertise in music has been investigated for decades and the results have been applied not only in composition, performance and music education, but also in understanding brain plasticity in a larger context. Several studies have revealed a strong connection between auditory and motor processes and listening to and performing music, and music imagination. Recently, as a logical next step in music and movement, the cognitive and affective neurosciences have been directed towards expertise in dance. To understand the versatile and overlapping processes during artistic stimuli, such as music and dance, it is necessary to study them with continuous naturalistic stimuli. Thus, we used long excerpts from the contemporary dance piece Carmen presented with and without music to professional dancers, musicians, and laymen in an EEG laboratory. We were interested in the cortical phase synchrony within each participant group over several frequency bands during uni- and multimodal processing. Dancers had strengthened theta and gamma synchrony during music relative to silence and silent dance, whereas the presence of music decreased systematically the alpha and beta synchrony in musicians. Laymen were the only group of participants with significant results related to dance. Future studies are required to understand whether these results are related to some other factor (such as familiarity to the stimuli), or if our results reveal a new point of view to dance observation and expertise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna Poikonen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- * E-mail:
| | - Petri Toiviainen
- Department of Music, Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Mari Tervaniemi
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Cicero Learning, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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36
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Negative emotions in art reception: Refining theoretical assumptions and adding variables to the Distancing-Embracing model. Behav Brain Sci 2018; 40:e380. [PMID: 29342806 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x17001947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
While covering all commentaries, our response specifically focuses on the following issues: How can the hypothesis of emotional distancing (qua art framing) be compatible with stipulating high levels of felt negative emotions in art reception? Which concept of altogether pleasurable mixed emotions does our model involve? Can mechanisms of predictive coding, social sharing, and immersion enhance the power of our model?
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37
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Liu C, Brattico E, Abu-Jamous B, Pereira CS, Jacobsen T, Nandi AK. Effect of Explicit Evaluation on Neural Connectivity Related to Listening to Unfamiliar Music. Front Hum Neurosci 2017; 11:611. [PMID: 29311874 PMCID: PMC5742221 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
People can experience different emotions when listening to music. A growing number of studies have investigated the brain structures and neural connectivities associated with perceived emotions. However, very little is known about the effect of an explicit act of judgment on the neural processing of emotionally-valenced music. In this study, we adopted the novel consensus clustering paradigm, called binarisation of consensus partition matrices (Bi-CoPaM), to study whether and how the conscious aesthetic evaluation of the music would modulate brain connectivity networks related to emotion and reward processing. Participants listened to music under three conditions - one involving a non-evaluative judgment, one involving an explicit evaluative aesthetic judgment, and one involving no judgment at all (passive listening only). During non-evaluative attentive listening we obtained auditory-limbic connectivity whereas when participants were asked to decide explicitly whether they liked or disliked the music excerpt, only two clusters of intercommunicating brain regions were found: one including areas related to auditory processing and action observation, and the other comprising higher-order structures involved with visual processing. Results indicate that explicit evaluative judgment has an impact on the neural auditory-limbic connectivity during affective processing of music.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Liu
- Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, United Kingdom
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark.,AMI Centre, School of Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Basel Abu-Jamous
- Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, United Kingdom
| | | | - Thomas Jacobsen
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Helmut Schmidt University, University of Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Asoke K Nandi
- Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, United Kingdom.,The Key Laboratory of Embedded Systems and Service Computing, College of Electronic and Information Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
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38
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Ackerley R, Aimonetti JM, Ribot-Ciscar E. Emotions alter muscle proprioceptive coding of movements in humans. Sci Rep 2017; 7:8465. [PMID: 28814736 PMCID: PMC5559453 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-08721-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2016] [Accepted: 07/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotions can evoke strong reactions that have profound influences, from gross changes in our internal environment to small fluctuations in facial muscles, and reveal our feelings overtly. Muscles contain proprioceptive afferents, informing us about our movements and regulating motor activities. Their firing reflects changes in muscle length, yet their sensitivity can be modified by the fusimotor system, as found in animals. In humans, the sensitivity of muscle afferents is modulated by cognitive processes, such as attention; however, it is unknown if emotional processes can modulate muscle feedback. Presently, we explored whether muscle afferent sensitivity adapts to the emotional situation. We recorded from single muscle afferents in the leg, using microneurography, and moved the ankle joint of participants, while they listened to evocative classical music to induce sad, neutral, or happy emotions, or sat passively (no music). We further monitored their physiological responses using skin conductance, heart rate, and electromyography measures. We found that muscle afferent firing was modified by the emotional context, especially for sad emotions, where the muscle spindle dynamic response increased. We suggest that this allows us to prime movements, where the emotional state prepares the body for consequent behaviour-appropriate reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rochelle Ackerley
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, LNIA, FR3C, Marseille, France.,Department of Physiology, University of Gothenburg, 40530, Göteborg, Sweden
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39
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Margulis EH, Levine WH, Simchy-Gross R, Kroger C. Expressive intent, ambiguity, and aesthetic experiences of music and poetry. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0179145. [PMID: 28746376 PMCID: PMC5528260 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2016] [Accepted: 05/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing number of studies are investigating the way that aesthetic experiences are generated across different media. Empathy with a perceived human artist has been suggested as a common mechanism [1]. In this study, people heard 30 s excerpts of ambiguous music and poetry preceded by neutral, positively valenced, or negatively valenced information about the composer's or author's intent. The information influenced their perception of the excerpts-excerpts paired with positive intent information were perceived as happier and excerpts paired with negative intent information were perceived as sadder (although across intent conditions, musical excerpts were perceived as happier than poetry excerpts). Moreover, the information modulated the aesthetic experience of the excerpts in different ways for the different excerpt types: positive intent information increased enjoyment and the degree to which people found the musical excerpts to be moving, but negative intent information increased these qualities for poetry. Additionally, positive intent information was judged to better match musical excerpts and negative intent information to better match poetic excerpts. These results suggest that empathy with a perceived human artist is indeed an important shared factor across experiences of music and poetry, but that other mechanisms distinguish the generation of aesthetic appreciation between these two media.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - William H. Levine
- Department of Psychological Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States of America
| | - Rhimmon Simchy-Gross
- Department of Psychological Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States of America
| | - Carolyn Kroger
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
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Zamorano AM, Cifre I, Montoya P, Riquelme I, Kleber B. Insula-based networks in professional musicians: Evidence for increased functional connectivity during resting state fMRI. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 38:4834-4849. [PMID: 28737256 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2017] [Revised: 05/24/2017] [Accepted: 05/26/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite considerable research on experience-dependent neuroplasticity in professional musicians, detailed understanding of an involvement of the insula is only now beginning to emerge. We investigated the effects of musical training on intrinsic insula-based connectivity in professional classical musicians relative to nonmusicians using resting-state functional MRI. Following a tripartite scheme of insula subdivisions, coactivation profiles were analyzed for the posterior, ventral anterior, and dorsal anterior insula in both hemispheres. While whole-brain connectivity across all participants confirmed previously reported patterns, between-group comparisons revealed increased insular connectivity in musicians relative to nonmusicians. Coactivated regions encompassed constituents of large-scale networks involved in salience detection (e.g., anterior and middle cingulate cortex), affective processing (e.g., orbitofrontal cortex and temporal pole), and higher order cognition (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the temporoparietal junction), whereas no differences were found for the reversed group contrast. Importantly, these connectivity patterns were stronger in musicians who experienced more years of musical practice, including also sensorimotor regions involved in music performance (M1 hand area, S1, A1, and SMA). We conclude that musical training triggers significant reorganization in insula-based networks, potentially facilitating high-level cognitive and affective functions associated with the fast integration of multisensory information in the context of music performance. Hum Brain Mapp 38:4834-4849, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna M Zamorano
- Research Institute of Health Sciences (IUNICS-IdISBa), University of the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Ignacio Cifre
- University Ramon Llull, Blanquerna, FPCEE, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pedro Montoya
- Research Institute of Health Sciences (IUNICS-IdISBa), University of the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Inmaculada Riquelme
- Research Institute of Health Sciences (IUNICS-IdISBa), University of the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.,Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Boris Kleber
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark.,Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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41
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Measuring aesthetic emotions: A review of the literature and a new assessment tool. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0178899. [PMID: 28582467 PMCID: PMC5459466 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2016] [Accepted: 05/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Aesthetic perception and judgement are not merely cognitive processes, but also involve feelings. Therefore, the empirical study of these experiences requires conceptualization and measurement of aesthetic emotions. Despite the long-standing interest in such emotions, we still lack an assessment tool to capture the broad range of emotions that occur in response to the perceived aesthetic appeal of stimuli. Elicitors of aesthetic emotions are not limited to the arts in the strict sense, but extend to design, built environments, and nature. In this article, we describe the development of a questionnaire that is applicable across many of these domains: the Aesthetic Emotions Scale (Aesthemos). Drawing on theoretical accounts of aesthetic emotions and an extensive review of extant measures of aesthetic emotions within specific domains such as music, literature, film, painting, advertisements, design, and architecture, we propose a framework for studying aesthetic emotions. The Aesthemos, which is based on this framework, contains 21 subscales with two items each, that are designed to assess the emotional signature of responses to stimuli’s perceived aesthetic appeal in a highly differentiated manner. These scales cover prototypical aesthetic emotions (e.g., the feeling of beauty, being moved, fascination, and awe), epistemic emotions (e.g., interest and insight), and emotions indicative of amusement (humor and joy). In addition, the Aesthemos subscales capture both the activating (energy and vitality) and the calming (relaxation) effects of aesthetic experiences, as well as negative emotions that may contribute to aesthetic displeasure (e.g., the feeling of ugliness, boredom, and confusion).
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Brattico P, Brattico E, Vuust P. Global Sensory Qualities and Aesthetic Experience in Music. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:159. [PMID: 28424573 PMCID: PMC5380758 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2016] [Accepted: 03/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A well-known tradition in the study of visual aesthetics holds that the experience of visual beauty is grounded in global computational or statistical properties of the stimulus, for example, scale-invariant Fourier spectrum or self-similarity. Some approaches rely on neural mechanisms, such as efficient computation, processing fluency, or the responsiveness of the cells in the primary visual cortex. These proposals are united by the fact that the contributing factors are hypothesized to be global (i.e., they concern the percept as a whole), formal or non-conceptual (i.e., they concern form instead of content), computational and/or statistical, and based on relatively low-level sensory properties. Here we consider that the study of aesthetic responses to music could benefit from the same approach. Thus, along with local features such as pitch, tuning, consonance/dissonance, harmony, timbre, or beat, also global sonic properties could be viewed as contributing toward creating an aesthetic musical experience. Several such properties are discussed and their neural implementation is reviewed in the light of recent advances in neuroaesthetics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/AalborgAarhus, Denmark
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Alluri V, Toiviainen P, Burunat I, Kliuchko M, Vuust P, Brattico E. Connectivity patterns during music listening: Evidence for action-based processing in musicians. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 38:2955-2970. [PMID: 28349620 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2016] [Revised: 02/23/2017] [Accepted: 03/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Musical expertise is visible both in the morphology and functionality of the brain. Recent research indicates that functional integration between multi-sensory, somato-motor, default-mode (DMN), and salience (SN) networks of the brain differentiates musicians from non-musicians during resting state. Here, we aimed at determining whether brain networks differentially exchange information in musicians as opposed to non-musicians during naturalistic music listening. Whole-brain graph-theory analyses were performed on participants' fMRI responses. Group-level differences revealed that musicians' primary hubs comprised cerebral and cerebellar sensorimotor regions whereas non-musicians' dominant hubs encompassed DMN-related regions. Community structure analyses of the key hubs revealed greater integration of motor and somatosensory homunculi representing the upper limbs and torso in musicians. Furthermore, musicians who started training at an earlier age exhibited greater centrality in the auditory cortex, and areas related to top-down processes, attention, emotion, somatosensory processing, and non-verbal processing of speech. We here reveal how brain networks organize themselves in a naturalistic music listening situation wherein musicians automatically engage neural networks that are action-based while non-musicians use those that are perception-based to process an incoming auditory stream. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2955-2970, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinoo Alluri
- Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Petri Toiviainen
- Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Iballa Burunat
- Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Marina Kliuchko
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Denmark.,Advanced Magnetic Imaging (AMI) Centre, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland
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Vuoskoski JK, Eerola T. The Pleasure Evoked by Sad Music Is Mediated by Feelings of Being Moved. Front Psychol 2017; 8:439. [PMID: 28377740 PMCID: PMC5359245 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2016] [Accepted: 03/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Why do we enjoy listening to music that makes us sad? This question has puzzled music psychologists for decades, but the paradox of “pleasurable sadness” remains to be solved. Recent findings from a study investigating the enjoyment of sad films suggest that the positive relationship between felt sadness and enjoyment might be explained by feelings of being moved (Hanich et al., 2014). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether feelings of being moved also mediated the enjoyment of sad music. In Experiment 1, 308 participants listened to five sad music excerpts and rated their liking and felt emotions. A multilevel mediation analysis revealed that the initial positive relationship between liking and felt sadness (r = 0.22) was fully mediated by feelings of being moved. Experiment 2 explored the interconnections of perceived sadness, beauty, and movingness in 27 short music excerpts that represented independently varying levels of sadness and beauty. Two multilevel mediation analyses were carried out to test competing hypotheses: (A) that movingness mediates the effect of perceived sadness on liking, or (B) that perceived beauty mediates the effect of sadness on liking. Stronger support was obtained for Hypothesis A. Our findings suggest that – similarly to the enjoyment of sad films – the aesthetic appreciation of sad music is mediated by being moved. We argue that felt sadness may contribute to the enjoyment of sad music by intensifying feelings of being moved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonna K Vuoskoski
- Faculty of Music, University of OxfordOxford, UK; Department of Music, University of JyväskyläJyväskylä, Finland
| | - Tuomas Eerola
- Department of Music, University of JyväskyläJyväskylä, Finland; Department of Music, Durham UniversityDurham, UK
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Wassiliwizky E, Jacobsen T, Heinrich J, Schneiderbauer M, Menninghaus W. Tears Falling on Goosebumps: Co-occurrence of Emotional Lacrimation and Emotional Piloerection Indicates a Psychophysiological Climax in Emotional Arousal. Front Psychol 2017; 8:41. [PMID: 28223946 PMCID: PMC5293808 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2016] [Accepted: 01/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
This psychophysiological study is the first to examine the relationship between emotional tears and emotional piloerection (i.e., goosebumps). Although both phenomena have been related to peak states of being moved, details about their temporal occurrence and the associated levels of physiological arousal have remained unknown. In our study, we used emotionally powerful film scenes that were self-selected by participants. Our findings show that even within peak moments of emotional arousal, a gradation of intensity is possible. The overlap of tears and goosebumps signifies a maximal climax within peak moments. On the side of the stimulus, we found that displays of prosocial behavior play a crucial role in the elicitation of tears and goosebumps. Finally, based on the results of a formal film analysis of the tears-eliciting clips provided by our participants, as compared to randomly extracted, equally long control clips from the same films, we show how the technical and artistic making of the clips was optimized for the display of social interaction and emotional expressions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugen Wassiliwizky
- Language and Literature Department, Max Planck Institute for Empirical AestheticsFrankfurt am Main, Germany
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität BerlinBerlin, Germany
| | - Thomas Jacobsen
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces HamburgHamburg, Germany
| | - Jan Heinrich
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität BerlinBerlin, Germany
| | - Manuel Schneiderbauer
- Language and Literature Department, Max Planck Institute for Empirical AestheticsFrankfurt am Main, Germany
- Departments of Time-based Media and Film, University of Fine Arts HamburgHamburg, Germany
| | - Winfried Menninghaus
- Language and Literature Department, Max Planck Institute for Empirical AestheticsFrankfurt am Main, Germany
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Jacobsen T, Beudt S. Stability and Variability in Aesthetic Experience: A Review. Front Psychol 2017; 8:143. [PMID: 28223955 PMCID: PMC5293782 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 01/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Based on psychophysics’ pragmatic dualism, we trace the cognitive neuroscience of stability and variability in aesthetic experience. With regard to different domains of aesthetic processing, we touch upon the relevance of cognitive schemata for aesthetic preference. Attitudes and preferences are explored in detail. Evolutionary constraints on attitude formation or schema generation are elucidated, just as the often seemingly arbitrary influences of social, societal, and cultural nature are. A particular focus is put on the concept of critical periods during an individual’s ontogenesis. The latter contrasting with changes of high frequency, such as fashion influences. Taken together, these analyses document the state of the art in the field and, potentially, highlight avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Jacobsen
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Humanities and Social Sciences, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg Hamburg, Germany
| | - Susan Beudt
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Humanities and Social Sciences, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg Hamburg, Germany
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Eerola T, Vuoskoski JK, Kautiainen H. Being Moved by Unfamiliar Sad Music Is Associated with High Empathy. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1176. [PMID: 27695424 PMCID: PMC5025521 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2016] [Accepted: 07/25/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The paradox of enjoying listening to music that evokes sadness is yet to be fully understood. Unlike prior studies that have explored potential explanations related to lyrics, memories, and mood regulation, we investigated the types of emotions induced by unfamiliar, instrumental sad music, and whether these responses are consistently associated with certain individual difference variables. One hundred and two participants were drawn from a representative sample to minimize self-selection bias. The results suggest that the emotional responses induced by unfamiliar sad music could be characterized in terms of three underlying factors: Relaxing sadness, Moving sadness, and Nervous sadness. Relaxing sadness was characterized by felt and perceived peacefulness and positive valence. Moving sadness captured an intense experience that involved feelings of sadness and being moved. Nervous sadness was associated with felt anxiety, perceived scariness and negative valence. These interpretations were supported by indirect measures of felt emotion. Experiences of Moving sadness were strongly associated with high trait empathy and emotional contagion, but not with other previously suggested traits such as absorption or nostalgia-proneness. Relaxing sadness and Nervous sadness were not significantly predicted by any of the individual difference variables. The findings are interpreted within a theoretical framework of embodied emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuomas Eerola
- Department of Music, Durham UniversityDurham, UK; Department of Music, University of JyväskyläJyväskylä, Finland
| | - Jonna K Vuoskoski
- Department of Music, University of JyväskyläJyväskylä, Finland; Faculty of Music, University of OxfordOxford, UK
| | - Hannu Kautiainen
- Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki Helsinki, Finland
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Bogert B, Numminen-Kontti T, Gold B, Sams M, Numminen J, Burunat I, Lampinen J, Brattico E. Hidden sources of joy, fear, and sadness: Explicit versus implicit neural processing of musical emotions. Neuropsychologia 2016; 89:393-402. [PMID: 27394152 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2015] [Revised: 06/16/2016] [Accepted: 07/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Music is often used to regulate emotions and mood. Typically, music conveys and induces emotions even when one does not attend to them. Studies on the neural substrates of musical emotions have, however, only examined brain activity when subjects have focused on the emotional content of the music. Here we address with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) the neural processing of happy, sad, and fearful music with a paradigm in which 56 subjects were instructed to either classify the emotions (explicit condition) or pay attention to the number of instruments playing (implicit condition) in 4-s music clips. In the implicit vs. explicit condition, stimuli activated bilaterally the inferior parietal lobule, premotor cortex, caudate, and ventromedial frontal areas. The cortical dorsomedial prefrontal and occipital areas activated during explicit processing were those previously shown to be associated with the cognitive processing of music and emotion recognition and regulation. Moreover, happiness in music was associated with activity in the bilateral auditory cortex, left parahippocampal gyrus, and supplementary motor area, whereas the negative emotions of sadness and fear corresponded with activation of the left anterior cingulate and middle frontal gyrus and down-regulation of the orbitofrontal cortex. Our study demonstrates for the first time in healthy subjects the neural underpinnings of the implicit processing of brief musical emotions, particularly in frontoparietal, dorsolateral prefrontal, and striatal areas of the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigitte Bogert
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit (CBRU), Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Taru Numminen-Kontti
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit (CBRU), Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Benjamin Gold
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit (CBRU), Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland; Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Mikko Sams
- Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science (BECS), School of Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Jussi Numminen
- Helsinki Medical Imaging Center, University of Helsinki, Töölö Hospital, Finland
| | - Iballa Burunat
- Finnish Center for Interdisciplinary Music Research, Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Jouko Lampinen
- Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science (BECS), School of Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit (CBRU), Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland; Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark; AMI Centre, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.
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Eerola T, Peltola HR. Memorable Experiences with Sad Music-Reasons, Reactions and Mechanisms of Three Types of Experiences. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0157444. [PMID: 27300268 PMCID: PMC4907454 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2016] [Accepted: 05/31/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Reactions to memorable experiences of sad music were studied by means of a survey administered to a convenience (N = 1577), representative (N = 445), and quota sample (N = 414). The survey explored the reasons, mechanisms, and emotions of such experiences. Memorable experiences linked with sad music typically occurred in relation to extremely familiar music, caused intense and pleasurable experiences, which were accompanied by physiological reactions and positive mood changes in about a third of the participants. A consistent structure of reasons and emotions for these experiences was identified through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses across the samples. Three types of sadness experiences were established, one that was genuinely negative (Grief-Stricken Sorrow) and two that were positive (Comforting Sorrow and Sweet Sorrow). Each type of emotion exhibited certain individual differences and had distinct profiles in terms of the underlying reasons, mechanisms, and elicited reactions. The prevalence of these broad types of emotional experiences suggested that positive experiences are the most frequent, but negative experiences were not uncommon in any of the samples. The findings have implications for measuring emotions induced by music and fiction in general, and call attention to the non-pleasurable aspects of these experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuomas Eerola
- Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
- Department of Music, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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Lepping RJ, Atchley RA, Chrysikou E, Martin LE, Clair AA, Ingram RE, Simmons WK, Savage CR. Neural Processing of Emotional Musical and Nonmusical Stimuli in Depression. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0156859. [PMID: 27284693 PMCID: PMC4902194 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2015] [Accepted: 05/21/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and striatum are part of the emotional neural circuitry implicated in major depressive disorder (MDD). Music is often used for emotion regulation, and pleasurable music listening activates the dopaminergic system in the brain, including the ACC. The present study uses functional MRI (fMRI) and an emotional nonmusical and musical stimuli paradigm to examine how neural processing of emotionally provocative auditory stimuli is altered within the ACC and striatum in depression. Method Nineteen MDD and 20 never-depressed (ND) control participants listened to standardized positive and negative emotional musical and nonmusical stimuli during fMRI scanning and gave subjective ratings of valence and arousal following scanning. Results ND participants exhibited greater activation to positive versus negative stimuli in ventral ACC. When compared with ND participants, MDD participants showed a different pattern of activation in ACC. In the rostral part of the ACC, ND participants showed greater activation for positive information, while MDD participants showed greater activation to negative information. In dorsal ACC, the pattern of activation distinguished between the types of stimuli, with ND participants showing greater activation to music compared to nonmusical stimuli, while MDD participants showed greater activation to nonmusical stimuli, with the greatest response to negative nonmusical stimuli. No group differences were found in striatum. Conclusions These results suggest that people with depression may process emotional auditory stimuli differently based on both the type of stimulation and the emotional content of that stimulation. This raises the possibility that music may be useful in retraining ACC function, potentially leading to more effective and targeted treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca J. Lepping
- Hoglund Brain Imaging Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Ruth Ann Atchley
- Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America
| | - Evangelia Chrysikou
- Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America
| | - Laura E. Martin
- Hoglund Brain Imaging Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, United States of America
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, United States of America
| | - Alicia A. Clair
- Department of Music Education and Music Therapy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America
| | - Rick E. Ingram
- Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America
| | - W. Kyle Simmons
- Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States of America
- Faculty of Community Medicine, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States of America
| | - Cary R. Savage
- Center for Health Behavior Neuroscience, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, United States of America
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, United States of America
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