Altogether 102 research subjects listened to music that evokes emotions while their brain function was scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The researchers used a machine-learning algorithm to map which brain regions are activated when the different music-induced emotions are separated from each other. Listening to music did not strongly activate these regions nor did their activation separate the music-induced emotions from each other. As for the music-induced emotions, they are based on the acoustic characteristics of music and coloured by cultural influences and personal history. Traditionally, music-induced emotions have been studied through classical instrumental music.

Source: Hindustan Times December 29, 2020 03:33 UTC