Researchers at the University of Turku have discovered what type of neural mechanisms are the basis for emotional responses to music.
Researchers at the University of Turku have discovered what type of neural mechanisms are the basis for emotional responses to music. Altogether 102 research subjects listened to music that evokes emotions while their brain function was scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The study was carried out in the national PET Centre.
The researchers used a machine learning algorithm to map which brain regions are activated when the different music-induced emotions are separated from each other.
– Based on the activation of the auditory and motor cortex, we were able to accurately predict whether the research subject was listening to happy or sad music. The auditory cortex processes the acoustic elements of music, such as rhythm and melody. Activation of the motor cortex, then again, may be related to the fact that music inspires feelings of movement in the listeners even when they are listening to music while holding still in an MRI machine, says Postdoctoral Researcher Vesa Putkinen.
Read more at University of Turku
