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Fronto-temporal theta phase-synchronization underlies music-evoked pleasantness
Alberto Ara1, Josep Marco-Pallarés1
1Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Spain; Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, Spain.
Neuroimage
|February 23, 2020
Summary
Pleasant music activates brain networks for reward and emotion. Increased theta band synchronization between frontal and temporal areas correlates with greater music-evoked pleasure, highlighting slow fronto-temporal loops in musical enjoyment.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Music Psychology
- Brain Oscillations
Background:
- Music listening engages distributed brain networks involved in auditory, reward, emotional, and memory processing.
- Frontal theta rhythms (4-8 Hz) are implicated in assigning value to music, but their role in music-evoked pleasantness is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between brain synchronization in the theta band and the subjective experience of music-evoked pleasantness.
- To determine the extent to which theta band oscillatory mechanisms underlie brain interactions during pleasant music listening.
Main Methods:
- Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded from 25 healthy participants.
- Participants listened to music and provided ratings for experienced pleasantness.
- A multilevel Bayesian approach was employed to analyze phase synchronization in the theta band.
Main Results:
- Phase synchronization in the theta band between right temporal and frontal EEG signals significantly increased with higher levels of experienced pleasure.
- This finding suggests a direct correlation between fronto-temporal theta synchronization and the intensity of music-evoked pleasantness.
Conclusions:
- Slow fronto-temporal neural loops, specifically synchronized in the theta frequency band, play a crucial role in the brain mechanisms underlying music-evoked pleasantness.
- These findings provide new insights into the neural basis of musical enjoyment and reward processing.
