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Mapping Aesthetic Musical Emotions in the Brain

Trost, Wiebke ; Ethofer, Thomas ; Zentner, Marcel ; Vuilleumier, Patrik

In: Cerebral Cortex, 2012, vol. 22, no. 12, p. 2769-2783

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    Title
    • Mapping Aesthetic Musical Emotions in the Brain
    Author
    • Trost, Wiebke. Laboratory of Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
    • Ethofer, Thomas. Laboratory of Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
    • Zentner, Marcel. Department of Psychology, University of York, YO10 5DD York, UK
    • Vuilleumier, Patrik. Laboratory of Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • Cerebral Cortex, 2012, vol. 22, no. 12, p. 2769-2783. Oxford University Press
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:294534
    Summary
    Music evokes complex emotions beyond pleasant/unpleasant or happy/sad dichotomies usually investigated in neuroscience. Here, we used functional neuroimaging with parametric analyses based on the intensity of felt emotions to explore a wider spectrum of affective responses reported during music listening. Positive emotions correlated with activation of left striatum and insula when high-arousing (Wonder, Joy) but right striatum and orbitofrontal cortex when low-arousing (Nostalgia, Tenderness). Irrespective of their positive/negative valence, high-arousal emotions (Tension, Power, and Joy) also correlated with activations in sensory and motor areas, whereas low-arousal categories (Peacefulness, Nostalgia, and Sadness) selectively engaged ventromedial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. The right parahippocampal cortex activated in all but positive high-arousal conditions. Results also suggested some blends between activation patterns associated with different classes of emotions, particularly for feelings of Wonder or Transcendence. These data reveal a differentiated recruitment across emotions of networks involved in reward, memory, self-reflective, and sensorimotor processes, which may account for the unique richness of musical emotions