Subjective Appraisal of Music: Neuroimaging Evidence
Abstract
In the neurosciences of music, a consensus on the nature of affective states during music listening has not been reached. What is undeniable is that subjective affective states can be triggered by various and even opposite musical events. Here we review the few recent studies on the neural determinants of subjective affective processes of music, contrasted with early automatic neural processes linked to the objective universal properties of music. In particular, we focus on the evaluative judgments of music by subjects according to its aesthetic and structural values, on music‐specific emotions felt by listeners, and on conscious liking. We then discuss and seek to stimulate further research on the interplay between the emotional attributes of music and the subjective cognitive, psychological, and biographic factors, such as personality traits and cognitive strategies of listening. We finally draw the neuroscientist's attention to the sociocultural context as a relevant variable to study when considering music as an aesthetic domain.
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fMRI studies implicate emotion processing regions in subjective response to emotive music.
“fMRI studies also implicate emotion processing regions in subjective response to emotive music (Brattico and Jacobsen 2009).”
From Affective Cognition and its Disruption in Mood Disorders (2011) · cites this paper as Brattico and Jacobsen 2009
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Affective Cognition and its Disruption in Mood Disorders
Elliott, R., Zahn, R., Deakin, J. F. W., & Anderson, I. M. (2011) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2010.77 · Cited by 330 · see citing works
- Authors
- Brattico, E., & Jacobsen, T.
- Affiliations
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Leipzig University (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Brattico, Elvira
- Venue
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-07
- Volume
- 1169
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 308-317
- ISSN
- 0077-8923 (ISSN-L)
- 1749-6632
- OpenAlex
- W1875576418
- Cited by
- 58
- References
- 79
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 0.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Aesthetic Perception and Analysis
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Music Therapy and Health
- Keywords
- music listening, music and emotion, music assessment, liking, aesthetic judgment, personality traits, listening strategies, sociocultural context, music cognition
- MeSH terms
- Emotions, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Music
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