Feeling Music (04-04-24)
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. . . . .