Dai and associates studied brain activity while listening to music. They “exploratorily applied a recent algorithm for extracting the dynamic changes in time-varying functional connectivity (FC) by measuring functional magnetic resonance imaging responses from 36 participants attentively listening to an entire musical piece. A separate behavioral session served to identify the musical passages that were consistently rated as beautiful or nonbeautiful.
Research completed by Scott and colleagues confirms that listening to music while doing mental work may not be a good idea. The investigators collected data from “three studies: a pilot study of 108 employees from a software company who took part in a 2-week . . .
Daikoku, Tanaka, and Yamawaki evaluated how we, literally, feel music. They found when they played sequences of four chords to participants that “sensations in the heart were strongly linked to aesthetic appreciation and feelings of pleasure. . . . the strongest abdominal sensations were recorded when all four chords progressed with low surprise and low uncertainty. . . . This very predictable tune also brought out feelings of calmness, relief, satisfaction, nostalgia and empathy. . . . .
Recent research identifies some consistencies and differences in how music is evaluated; these findings may have implications for soundscaping generally. An MIT press release reports that “When listening to music, the human brain appears to be biased toward hearing and producing rhythms composed of simple integer ratios — for example, a series of four beats separated by equal time intervals (forming a 1:1:1 ratio).
Trost and colleagues investigated human responses to live and recorded music. They report that “Unlike recorded music, intense musical emotions are most often expressed in live musical performances and are experienced when listening to live music in concerts, given the dynamic relationship between performing artists and the audience. Here, we show that live music can stimulate the affective brain of listeners more strongly and consistently than recorded music.”
Recently completed research indicates consistent responses to music in multiple cultures.
Van Hedger, Bongiovanni, and Khudhair studied people’s responses to different sounds.
Acoustics driving design-related outcomes
Zoghaib and associates have looked into branding with music and appropriately translated to other sensory systems their findings seem more generally applicable.
In a new book, Sherman and Plies share how music influences humans using neuroscience research to make their point.