Dynamic Functional Network Connectivity Associated with Musical Emotions Evoked by Different Tempi

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Music Therapy

Background:

• Music tempo significantly impacts emotional responses and brain activity.
• The precise neural mechanisms linking music tempo to emotion remain largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the dynamic network connectivity (dFNC) associated with emotions evoked by music at different tempi.
• To understand how varying music tempi influence neural pathways and emotional experiences.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected from 40 participants listening to music of varying tempi (fast, middle, slow).
• Analysis using group independent component analysis (ICA), sliding time window correlations, and k-means clustering to assess dFNC.
• Paired t-tests used to compare neural network differences.

Main Results:

• Fast-tempo music (155-170 bpm) correlated with higher emotional valence and arousal, showing increased dFNC between somatomotor (SM) and cingulo-opercular (CO) networks.
• Slow-tempo music (50-60 bpm) was linked to weaker emotional responses, decreased overall functional network connectivity, and default mode (DM) network involvement, despite auditory (AUD) network activation.
• Middle-tempo music (90 bpm) elicited moderate emotions and demonstrated the most stable dFNC.

Conclusions:

• Faster music enhances emotional intensity through increased neural activity in SM and CO regions.
• Slower music's weaker emotional impact is associated with reduced AUD engagement and stable DM engagement.
• Dynamic functional connectivity patterns offer insights into the neural basis of tempo-evoked emotions in music.