Music and Physiological Arousal

Question 1

What studies have shown that music can module activity in brain structures associated with emotion?

Answer 1

fMRI studies

Functional Neuroimaging studies

Question 2

What brain structure is involved with the perception of emotion in general?

Answer 2

Amygdala

Question 3

What brain structure is involved with motivation, reward, and positive behavioural reinforcement?

Answer 3

Nucleus Accumbens

Question 4

What neurotransmitter is associated with motivation, pleasure, reward, and ‘chills’ or ‘thrills’?

Answer 4

Dopamine

Question 5

Which brain structure is associated with emotion and memory?

Answer 5

Orbitofrontal cortex

Question 6

Which brain structure is associated with emotional regulation, as well as blood pressure and heart rate?

Answer 6

Cingulate cortex

Question 7

What is the amygdala involved with?

Answer 7

The perception of emotion in general

Question 8

What study found that music has an effect on amygdala activity?

Answer 8

Koelsch et al. (2008)

Question 9

Explain findings of Koelsch et al. (2008) study regarding harmony, emotion, and brain activity?

Answer 9

Unexpected chord functions modulated amygdala activity

Irregular chord sequences were perceived as less pleasant

Question 10

What did Gosselin et al. (2007) find regarding impaired amygdala function/patients with amygdala damage?

Answer 10

Deficits in recognising emotion

Question 11

What emotion did Koelsch (2014) identify as being associated with the amygdala?

Answer 11

Amygdala associated with emotion regulation

Amygdala recognises joy, in particular

Question 12

What is the nucleus accumbens linked with in terms of emotion?

Answer 12

Motivation

Reward

Positive behavioural reinforcement

Question 13

What did Mavridis (2015) look at?

Answer 13

Reward values of music associated with activity in the nucleus accumbens

Question 14

What did Mavridis (2015) find in terms of activity in the nucleus accumbens and musical reward?

Answer 14

There was an increase in connectivity between the NA and regions of brain associated with auditory perception as a result of musical reward

Dopamine in also implicated in musical reward

Question 15

What did Salimpoor et al. (2013) find about activity in the NA?

Answer 15

NA activity was the best predictor of value in an auction paradigm

The greater the NA activity, the more participants were willing to bid on a piece of music that they were hearing for the first time

Question 16

What did Salimpoor et al.’s (2013) study look at?

Answer 16

Got participants to bet in an auction activity.

Participants bet on the piece of music that they wanted/liked

Question 17

What did Koelsch (2014) find about the NA?

Answer 17

Nucleus accumbens was associated with ‘the chills’

Question 18

What does the hypothalamus do?

Answer 18

Regulates the body’s internal balance (releases hormones, regulates body temperature)

Question 19

What did Li et al. (2019) look at?

Answer 19

Participants looked at music when paired with scenes, both differing in emotional valence

Subjective report of emotional valence

Question 20

What did Li et al. (2019) find regarding music and the hypothalamus?

Answer 20

Hypothalamus is responsive to presence of music

Found that music guided the intensity of what people felt was being conveyed in the video shots

Subjective reports of emotion intensified by the presence of music

Question 21

What did Hou et al. (2017) find regarding the hypothalamus and music and emotion?

Answer 21

Evidence that hypothalamus is implicated in emotion regulation

Hypothalamus may also be important in therapy for emotion dysregulation

Question 22

What is dopamine associated with?

Answer 22

Reward

Motivation

Pleasure

Question 23

What does dopamine do?

Answer 23

Interacts with various brain structures and systems

Question 24

How does music affect dopamine?

Answer 24

Music increases dopamine activity in various brain structures and systems

Causes feelings of pleasure

Question 25

What did Blood & Zatorre (2001) find regarding pleasure, music, and brain activity?

Answer 25

Intense pleasure from listening to music correlates with activity in brain structures and systems that are associated with reward and emotion

Question 26

What did Gold et al. (2013) find about reinforcement/punishment and pleasurable music?

Answer 26

Pleasurable music affects how we learn the role of reinforcement or avoid punishments

Question 27

What neurotransmitter activity increases when listening to music?

Answer 27

Dopamine activity increases when listening to music (anticipation of a peak reward - the chills)

Question 28

What 2 brain systems have been shown to be activated in the presence of music, in particular?

Answer 28

Dopamine

Nucleus accumbens

Could be an interaction between both.

Question 29

What regions are associated with the chills or thrills when listening to music?

Answer 29

Dopamine and NA - illustrates the interplay between neurotransmitters and brain structures

Question 30

What do the chills refer to?

Answer 30

Physical reaction to music in the form of goosebumps or shivers, most prevalent in happy or sad music

Question 31

What supports the physical-emotion reaction to music?

Answer 31

Multiple modalities of physiological response (e.g., skin conductance, heart rate, blood pressure, facial electromyography all change when we feel different types of emotions)

Question 32

Does music produce a physiological response?

Answer 32

Yes - all over the brain and in the parts that deal with emotion too

Dopamine, NA