Lecture 22

Question 1

What is syncopation?

Answer 1

when notes are played ‘off
the beat’, creating what can be described as a
‘jumpiness’
* This produces a violation of expectations of
sorts, and can lead to increased neural activation
(data on right from Vuust et al., 2009: blue solid
line plots response to syncopated melody)

Question 2

Describe the Iverson study

Answer 2

• Iverson et al. (2009) recorded MEG activity when presenting the same stimuli
  but with instructions to either imagine accents on the first or second note
• Our ability to change meter with our mind is reflected directly by activity in
  the brain
• The blue line plots MEG response when imagining an accent on the first
  note, red reflects the same for the second note

Question 3

Describe interval size

Answer 3

• The most common interval size between notes within a melody is 1-2
  semitones (see next slide), consistent with the expectation outlined above

Question 4

Describe grouping in hearing melodies

Answer 4

• Certain trajectories of notes are also common, such as the arch trajectory
  (involving rising and falling tones)
• In general, large ‘jumps’ in the distance
  between notes:
• Are more likely to increase (rather than
  decrease) in pitch
• Often involve a melody ‘turning around’
  to fill in the gap (referred to as gap fill,
  i.e. the ‘missing’ notes between
  whatever notes were just played)

Question 5

Describe tonality

Answer 5

• Tonality refers to organizing pitches
  around the note associated with the
  composition’s key (referred to as
  the tonic)
• Beginning/ending compositions
  with the tonic note is a common
  practice
• e.g. a song in the key of C might
  start and end on a C note

Question 6

Describe Krumhansl and Kessler (1982) study

Answer 6

Krumhansl and Kessler (1982) had
participants rate how well a probe tone
matched with a scale they just heard

• Found the tonic was rated as more
  compatible than other notes (‘tonal
  hierarchy’, which indicates how well
  each notes fits into a scale)
• This may be based on prior experience

Question 7

Describe the cognitivist approach to music

Answer 7

• The Cognitivist Approach: listeners
  can perceive the emotional meaning of a
  piece of music, but that they don’t
  actually feel the emotions

Question 8

Describe the emotivist approach to music

Answer 8

listeners
emotional response to music involves
actually feeling the emotions
(Thompson, 2015)

Question 9

Describe thrills and chills

Answer 9

• Music is sometimes described as producing
  ‘thrills’ (Oxford dictionary definition: a nervous
  emotion or tremor caused by intense emotional
  excitement… producing a slight shudder of
  tightening through the body), or ‘chills’

Question 10

Describe Eerola et al. (2013) study

Answer 10

• Eerola et al. (2013) found that key and
  tempo had considerable effects on
  valence (data at right)
• Various other effects have been noted:
• Greater Loudness: + arousal, + scary,
• peaceful
• Higher Registers (pitch): - scary,
  + happy
• Greater Dissonance: + tension

Question 11

Describe syntax

Answer 11

syntax (or ‘rules’) that govern how
we expect the pieces are supposed to come together

Question 12

What indexes violations of language syntax?

Answer 12

the P600 ERP component is
thought to index awareness of syntax violations

Question 13

Describe ERAN

Answer 13

Electrical Responses: Unexpected notes can generate a responses that is referred to as the early right anterior
negativity (ERAN), which occurs in the right hemisphere just
a bit earlier than the P600 just discussed

• Brain Scanning: Three areas that can become particularly
  active while listening to music are the amygdala (associated
  with processing emotion), the nucleus accumbens
  (associated with reward), and the hippocampus (associated
  with memories)

Question 14

Describe Salimpoor study

Answer 14

• Salimpoor et al. (2011) asked participants to rate
  the intensity of ‘chills’ and pleasure while
  listening to music and found that both were
  positively associated with activity in the NAcc
• This was interpreted as relating to
  dopaminergic activity (e.g. release)
• Mallik et al. (2017) found that naltrexone, an
  opiate antagonist, reduced the emotional
  response to music
• This may implicate endorphins in the
  emotional experience of music

Question 15

What does amygdala damage do?

Answer 15

• Amygdala damage has been found to:
• Reduce/prevent the pleasurable musical ‘chill’ response (Griffiths et al., 2004),
• Disrupt the ability to perceive the emotional tone of a piece of music (Gosselin
  et al., 2005)

Question 16

What does parahippocampal damage do?

Answer 16

rate dissonant
music as being slightly pleasant (in contrast to healthy controls, which rate it as
unpleasant)

Question 17

Describe acoustic signal

Answer 17

the stimulus
for speech

Question 18

Describe how vowels are produced

Answer 18

vibration of the vocal
cords that accompany changes in the shape of
the vocal tract

• These changes are caused by moving
  articulators (structures like the tongue, lips,
  teeth, jaw, and soft palate), which change the
  resonant frequency of the vocal system
• This change in resonance produces peaks in
  pressure at a number of frequencies (referred
  to as formants)
• Each vowel is associated with a characteristic
  series of formants