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Musical harmony is processed during sleep: a proof-of-concept study
1Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
Sleep Advances : a Journal of the Sleep Research Society
|December 24, 2025
Summary
The sleeping brain differentiates between major, minor, and dissonant musical chords, showing distinct neural responses. Musical training enhances this processing during sleep.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Music Psychology
Background:
- Musical chords convey emotion, with distinct neural correlates during wakefulness.
- Limited understanding exists regarding auditory processing of musical chords during sleep.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the sleeping brain differentiates between major, minor, and dissonant musical chords.
- To explore the influence of musical expertise on auditory processing during sleep.
Main Methods:
- Presented major, minor, and dissonant chords to 47 participants during non-rapid eye movement sleep.
- Recorded sleep using polysomnography and analyzed event-related responses.
- Examined differences in time-frequency domain and peak-to-peak amplitudes.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in neural responses were observed across chord categories during sleep.
- Major chords elicited the strongest negative amplitude, while dissonant chords showed the lowest.
- Musical training correlated with enhanced differentiation of musical harmony during sleep.
Conclusions:
- The sleeping brain continues to process single musical chords differently based on harmonic features.
- Musical expertise modulates the neural processing of harmony during sleep.
- Further research is needed for complex musical structures during sleep.
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