Musical protein: Mapping the time sequence of music onto the spatial architecture of proteins

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Music, the ubiquitous language across human cultures, is traditionally considered as a form of art but has been linked to biomolecules in recent years. However, previous efforts have only been addressed on sonification of nucleic acids and proteins to produce so-called life music, the soundscape from the basic building blocks of life. In this study, we attempted to, for the first time, conduct a reverse operation of this process, i.e. conversion of music to protein (CoMtP).

METHODS

A novel notion termed musical protein (MP) -- the protein defined by music -- was proposed and, on this basis, we described a computational strategy to map the time sequence of music onto the spatial architecture of proteins, which considered that each note in the stave of a music (target) can be simply characterized by two acoustical quantities and that each residue in the primary sequence of a protein (hit) was represented by amino acid descriptors.

RESULTS

A simulated annealing (SA) algorithm was applied to iteratively generate the best matched MP hit for a music target and structural bioinformatics was then used to model spatial advanced structure for the resulting MP. We also demonstrated that some small MPs derived from music segments may have potential biological functions, which, for example, can serve as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) to inhibit clinical bacterial strains with moderate or high antibacterial potency.

CONCLUSIONS

This work may benefit many aspects; for example, it would open a door for the hearing-impaired persons to 'listen' music in a biological vision and could be a mean of exposing students to the concepts of biomolecules at an earlier age through the use of auditory characteristics. The CoMtP would also facilitate the rational design of proteins with biological and medicinal significance.

Commonality and variation in mental representations of music revealed by a cross-cultural comparison of rhythm priors in 15 countries

Music is present in every known society but varies from place to place. What, if anything, is universal to music cognition? We measured a signature of mental representations of rhythm in 39 participant groups in 15 countries, spanning urban societies and Indigenous populations. Listeners reproduced random 'seed' rhythms; their reproductions were fed back as the stimulus (as in the game of 'telephone'), such that their biases (the prior) could be estimated from the distribution of reproductions. Every tested group showed a sparse prior with peaks at integer-ratio rhythms. However, the importance of different integer ratios varied across groups, often reflecting local musical practices. Our results suggest a common feature of music cognition: discrete rhythm 'categories' at small-integer ratios. These discrete representations plausibly stabilize musical systems in the face of cultural transmission but interact with culture-specific traditions to yield the diversity that is evident when mental representations are probed across many cultures.

The human auditory system uses amplitude modulation to distinguish music from speech

Music and speech are complex and distinct auditory signals that are both foundational to the human experience. The mechanisms underpinning each domain are widely investigated. However, what perceptual mechanism transforms a sound into music or speech and how basic acoustic information is required to distinguish between them remain open questions. Here, we hypothesized that a sound's amplitude modulation (AM), an essential temporal acoustic feature driving the auditory system across processing levels, is critical for distinguishing music and speech. Specifically, in contrast to paradigms using naturalistic acoustic signals (that can be challenging to interpret), we used a noise-probing approach to untangle the auditory mechanism: If AM rate and regularity are critical for perceptually distinguishing music and speech, judging artificially noise-synthesized ambiguous audio signals should align with their AM parameters. Across 4 experiments (N = 335), signals with a higher peak AM frequency tend to be judged as speech, lower as music. Interestingly, this principle is consistently used by all listeners for speech judgments, but only by musically sophisticated listeners for music. In addition, signals with more regular AM are judged as music over speech, and this feature is more critical for music judgment, regardless of musical sophistication. The data suggest that the auditory system can rely on a low-level acoustic property as basic as AM to distinguish music from speech, a simple principle that provokes both neurophysiological and evolutionary experiments and speculations.

The difference of affect improvement effect of music intervention in aerobic exercise at different time periods

Objectives: A randomized controlled experimental design that combines exercise and music intervention was adopted in this study to verify whether this approach could help improve human affect. The differences in the effect of music listening on affective improvement were compared in four different periods: before, during, and after aerobic power cycling exercise and the whole exercise course. Method: A total of 140 subjects aged 19-30 years (average age: 23.6 years) were recruited and randomly divided into four music intervention groups, namely, the pre-exercise, during-exercise, post-exercise, and the whole-course groups. The subjects' demographic and sociological variables and daily physical activities were collected using questionnaires. Individual factors, such as the subjects' noise sensitivity, personality traits, and degree of learning burnout, were collected via scale scoring. A laboratory in Zhejiang Normal University was selected as the experimental site. The testing procedure can be summarized as follows. In a quiet environment, the subjects were asked to sit quietly for 5 min after completing a preparation work, and then they were informed to take a pre-test. The four subject groups wore headphones and completed 20 min of aerobic cycling (i.e., 7 min of moderate-intensity cycling [50%*HRR + RHR] + 6 min of low-intensity interval cycling [30%*HRR + RHR] + 7 min of moderate-intensity cycling [50%*HRR + RHR] after returning to a calm state (no less than 20 min) for post-testing. The affect improvement indicators (dependent variables) collected in the field included blood pressure (BP), positive/negative affect, and heart rate variability indicators (RMSSD, SDNN, and LF/HF). Results: 1) Significant differences were found in the participants' systolic BP (SBP) indices and the effect of improvement of the positive affect during the exercise-music intervention among the four groups at different durations for the same exercise intensity (F = 2.379, p = 0.030, ɳp 2 = 0.058; F = 2.451, p = 0.043, ɳp 2 = 0.091). 2) Music intervention for individuals during exercise contribute more to the reduction of SBP than the other three time periods (F = 3.170, p = 0.047, ɳp 2 = 0.068). Improvement in the participants' negativity affective score was also better during exercise, and it was significantly different than the other three time periods (F = 5.516, p = 0.006, ɳp 2 = 0.113). No significant differences were found in the improvement effects of the other effective indicators for the four periods. Conclusion: Exercise combined with music intervention has a facilitative effect on human affect improvement, and listening to music during exercise has a better impact on affective improvement than music interventions at the other periods. When people perform physical activities, listening to music during exercise positively affects the progress effect among them.

A review of psychological and neuroscientific research on musical groove

When listening to music, we naturally move our bodies rhythmically to the beat, which can be pleasurable and difficult to resist. This pleasurable sensation of wanting to move the body to music has been called "groove." Following pioneering humanities research, psychological and neuroscientific studies have provided insights on associated musical features, behavioral responses, phenomenological aspects, and brain structural and functional correlates of the groove experience. Groove research has advanced the field of music science and more generally informed our understanding of bidirectional links between perception and action, and the role of the motor system in prediction. Activity in motor and reward-related brain networks during music listening is associated with the groove experience, and this neural activity is linked to temporal prediction and learning. This article reviews research on groove as a psychological phenomenon with neurophysiological correlates that link musical rhythm perception, sensorimotor prediction, and reward processing. Promising future research directions range from elucidating specific neural mechanisms to exploring clinical applications and socio-cultural implications of groove.

When direction matters: Neural correlates of interlimb coordination of rhythm and beat

In a previous experiment, we found evidence for a bodily hierarchy governing interlimb coordination of rhythm and beat, using five effectors: 1) Left foot, 2) Right foot, 3) Left hand, 4) Right hand and 5) Voice. The hierarchy implies that, during simultaneous rhythm and beat performance and using combinations of two of these effectors, executing the task by performing the rhythm with an effector that has a higher number than the beat effector is significantly easier than vice versa. To investigate the neural underpinnings of this proposed bodily hierarchy, we here scanned 46 professional musicians using fMRI as they performed a rhythmic pattern with one effector while keeping the beat with another. The conditions combined the voice and the right hand (V + RH), the right hand and the left hand (RH + LH), and the left hand and the right foot (LH + RF). Each effector combination was performed with and against the bodily hierarchy. Going against the bodily hierarchy increased tapping errors significantly and also increased activity in key brain areas functionally associated with top-down sensorimotor control and bottom-up feedback processing, such as the cerebellum and SMA. Conversely, going with the bodily hierarchy engaged areas functionally associated with the default mode network and regions involved in emotion processing. Theories of general brain function that hold prediction as a key principle, propose that action and perception are governed by the brain's attempt to minimise prediction error at different levels in the brain. Following this viewpoint, our results indicate that going against the hierarchy induces stronger prediction errors, while going with the hierarchy allows for a higher degree of automatization. Our results also support the notion of a bodily hierarchy in motor control that prioritizes certain conductive and supportive tapping roles in specific effector combinations.

Rhythmic musical activities may strengthen connectivity between brain networks associated with aging-related deficits in timing and executive functions

Brain aging and common conditions of aging (e.g., hypertension) affect networks important in organizing information, processing speed and action programming (i.e., executive functions). Declines in these networks may affect timing and could have an impact on the ability to perceive and perform musical rhythms. There is evidence that participation in rhythmic musical activities may help to maintain and even improve executive functioning (near transfer), perhaps due to similarities in brain regions underlying timing, musical rhythm perception and production, and executive functioning. Rhythmic musical activities may present as a novel and fun activity for older adults to stimulate interacting brain regions that deteriorate with aging. However, relatively little is known about neurobehavioral interactions between aging, timing, rhythm perception and production, and executive functioning. In this review, we account for these brain-behavior interactions to suggest that deeper knowledge of overlapping brain regions associated with timing, rhythm, and cognition may assist in designing more targeted preventive and rehabilitative interventions to reduce age-related cognitive decline and improve quality of life in populations with neurodegenerative disease. Further research is needed to elucidate the functional relationships between brain regions associated with aging, timing, rhythm perception and production, and executive functioning to direct design of targeted interventions.

Social interaction links active musical rhythm engagement and expressive communication in autistic toddlers

Rhythm is implicated in both social and linguistic development. Rhythm perception and production skills are also key vulnerabilities in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism which impact social communication. However, direct links between musical rhythm engagement and expressive communication in autism is not clearly evident. This absence of a direct connection between rhythm and expressive communication indicates that the mechanism of action between rhythm and expressive communication may recruit other cognitive or developmental factors. We hypothesized that social interactions, including general interpersonal relationships and interactive music-making involving children and caregivers, were a significant such factor, particularly in autism. To test this, we collected data from parents of autistic and nonautistic children 14-36 months of age, including parent reports of their children's rhythmic musical engagement, general social skills, parent-child musical interactions, and expressive communication skills. Path analysis revealed a system of independent, indirect pathways from rhythmic musical engagement to expressive communication via social skills and parent-child musical interactions in autistic toddlers. Such a system implies both that social and musical interactions represent crucial links between rhythm and language and that different kinds of social interactions play parallel, independent roles linking rhythmic musical engagement with expressive communication skills.

Meaning-making and creativity in musical entrainment

In this paper we suggest that basic forms of musical entrainment may be considered as intrinsically creative, enabling further creative behaviors which may flourish at different levels and timescales. Rooted in an agent's capacity to form meaningful couplings with their sonic, social, and cultural environment, musical entrainment favors processes of adaptation and exploration, where innovative and functional aspects are cultivated via active, bodily experience. We explore these insights through a theoretical lens that integrates findings from enactive cognitive science and creative cognition research. We center our examination on the realms of groove experience and the communicative and emotional dimensions of music, aiming to present a novel preliminary perspective on musical entrainment, rooted in the fundamental concepts of meaning-making and creativity. To do so, we draw from a suite of approaches that place particular emphasis on the role of situated experience and review a range of recent empirical work on entrainment (in musical and non-musical settings), emphasizing the latter's biological and cognitive foundations. We conclude that musical entrainment may be regarded as a building block for different musical creativities that shape one's musical development, offering a concrete example for how this theory could be empirically tested in the future.

Individual differences in rhythm perception modulate music-related motor learning: a neurobehavioral training study with children

Rhythm and motor function are intrinsically linked to each other and to music, but the rhythm-motor interplay during music training, and the corresponding brain mechanisms, are underexplored. In a longitudinal training study with children, we examined the role of rhythm predisposition in the fine motor improvements arising from music training, and which brain regions would be implicated. Fifty-seven 8-year-olds were assigned to either a 6-month music training (n = 21), sports training (n = 18), or a control group (n = 18). They performed rhythm and motor tasks, and structural brain scans before and after training were collected. Better ability to perceive rhythm before training was related to less gray matter volume in regions of the cerebellum, fusiform gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, ventral diencephalon, amygdala, and inferior/middle temporal gyri. Music training improved motor performance, and greater improvements correlated with better pre-training rhythm discrimination. Music training also induced a loss of gray matter volume in the left cerebellum and fusiform gyrus, and volume loss correlated with higher motor gains. No such effects were found in the sports and control groups. In summary, children with finer-tuned rhythm perception abilities were prone to finer motor improvements through music training, and this rhythm-motor link was to some extent subserved by the left cerebellum and fusiform gyrus. These findings have implications for models on music-related plasticity and rhythm cognition, and for programs targeting motor function.

An integrated review of music cognition and rhythmic stimuli in sensorimotor neurocognition and neurorehabilitation

This work reviews the growing body of interdisciplinary research on music cognition, using biomechanical, kinesiological, clinical, psychosocial, and sociological methods. The review primarily examines the relationship between temporal elements in music and motor responses under varying contexts, with considerable relevance for clinical rehabilitation. After providing an overview of the terminology and approaches pertinent to theories of rhythm and meter from the musical-theoretical and cognitive fields, this review focuses on studies on the effects of rhythmic sensory stimulation on gait, rhythmic cues' effect on the motor system, reactions to rhythmic stimuli attempting to synchronize mobility (i.e., musical embodiment), and the application of rhythm for motor rehabilitation for individuals with Parkinson's disease, stroke, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, and other neurodegenerative or neurotraumatic diseases. This work ultimately bridges the gap between the musical-theoretical and cognitive science fields to facilitate innovative research in which each discipline informs the other.

The same phase creates a unique visual rhythm unifying moving elements in time

Attention can be selectively tuned to particular features at different spatial locations or objects. The deployment of attention can be guided by properties, such as color, orientation, and so forth, as guiding features. What might be such guiding features for visual stimuli under dynamic rhythmic conditions? We asked specifically what might be the parameters that attract attention when perceiving a visual rhythm. We used a visual search paradigm, in which a dynamic search display consisted of vertically "bouncing balls" with regular rhythms. The search target was defined by a unique visual rhythm (i.e., with either a shorter or longer period) among rhythmic distractors sharing an identical period. We modulated amplitudes and phases of the distractor balls systematically. The results showed a crucial factor of the phase, not the amplitude. If the phase is violated, the target suddenly "pops out" as an "oddball," showing an efficient parallel search. The findings indicate in general the essential role of the phase in conjunction with amplitude and period for visual rhythm perception. Furthermore, a higher saliency of moving objects with a higher frequency component has also been disclosed.

The Neuroscience of Dance: A Conceptual Framework and Systematic Review

Ancient and culturally universal, dance pervades many areas of life and has multiple benefits. In this article, we provide a conceptual framework and systematic review, as a guide for researching the neuroscience of dance. We identified relevant articles following PRISMA guidelines, and summarised and evaluated all original results. We identified avenues for future research in: the interactive and collective aspects of dance; groove; dance performance; dance observation; and dance therapy. Furthermore, the interactive and collective aspects of dance constitute a vital part of the field but have received almost no attention from a neuroscientific perspective so far. Dance and music engage overlapping brain networks, including common regions involved in perception, action, and emotion. In music and dance, rhythm, melody, and harmony are processed in an active, sustained pleasure cycle giving rise to action, emotion, and learning, led by activity in specific hedonic brain networks. The neuroscience of dance is an exciting field, which may yield information concerning links between psychological processes and behaviour, human flourishing, and the concept of eudaimonia.

Brain networks for temporal adaptation, anticipation, and sensory-motor integration in rhythmic human behavior

Human interaction often requires the precise yet flexible interpersonal coordination of rhythmic behavior, as in group music making. The present fMRI study investigates the functional brain networks that may facilitate such behavior by enabling temporal adaptation (error correction), prediction, and the monitoring and integration of information about 'self' and the external environment. Participants were required to synchronize finger taps with computer-controlled auditory sequences that were presented either at a globally steady tempo with local adaptations to the participants' tap timing (Virtual Partner task) or with gradual tempo accelerations and decelerations but without adaptation (Tempo Change task). Connectome-based predictive modelling was used to examine patterns of brain functional connectivity related to individual differences in behavioral performance and parameter estimates from the adaptation and anticipation model (ADAM) of sensorimotor synchronization for these two tasks under conditions of varying cognitive load. Results revealed distinct but overlapping brain networks associated with ADAM-derived estimates of temporal adaptation, anticipation, and the integration of self-controlled and externally controlled processes across task conditions. The partial overlap between ADAM networks suggests common hub regions that modulate functional connectivity within and between the brain's resting-state networks and additional sensory-motor regions and subcortical structures in a manner reflecting coordination skill. Such network reconfiguration might facilitate sensorimotor synchronization by enabling shifts in focus on internal and external information, and, in social contexts requiring interpersonal coordination, variations in the degree of simultaneous integration and segregation of these information sources in internal models that support self, other, and joint action planning and prediction.

The sound of stress recovery: an exploratory study of self-selected music listening after stress

BACKGROUND

Empirical support for the notion that music listening is beneficial for stress recovery is inconclusive, potentially due to the methodological diversity with which the effects of music on stress recovery have been investigated. Little is presently known about which recovery activities are chosen by individuals for the purpose of stress recovery, and whether audio feature commonalities exist between different songs that are selected by individuals for the purpose of stress recovery. The current pre-registered study investigated whether audio feature commonalities can be extracted from self-selected songs for the purpose of stress recovery. Furthermore, the present study exploratorily examined the relationship between audio features and participants' desired recovery-related emotions while listening and after listening to self-selected music.

METHODS

Participants (N = 470) completed an online survey in which they described what music they would listen to unwind from a hypothetical stressful event. Data analysis was conducted using a split-sample procedure. A k-medoid cluster analysis was conducted to identify audio feature commonalities between self-selected songs. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between audio features and desired recovery emotions.

RESULTS

Participants valued music listening as a recovery activity to a similar extent as watching TV, sleeping, or talking to a significant other. Cluster analyses revealed that self-selected songs for the purpose of stress recovery can be grouped into two distinct categories. The two categories of songs shared similarities in key, loudness, speechiness, acousticness, instrumentalness, liveness, musical valence, tempo, duration, and time signature, and were distinguished by danceability, energy, and mode. No audio features were significantly associated with participants' desired recovery emotions.

CONCLUSIONS

Although a comprehensive portrait of the relationship between audio features and stress recovery still warrants further research, the present study provides a starting point for future enquiries into the nuanced effects of musical audio features on stress recovery.

Exploring the use of music to promote physical activity: From the viewpoint of psychological hedonism

Despite the global efforts to encourage people to regularly participate in physical activity (PA) at moderate-to-vigorous intensity, an inadequate number of adults and adolescents worldwide meet the recommended dose of PA. A major challenge to promoting PA is that sedentary or low-active people experience negative shifts in affective valence (feeling bad versus good) in response to moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA. Interestingly, empirical data indicate that listening to music during acute bouts of PA positively alters affective valence (feeling good versus bad), reduces perceived exertion, and improves physical performance and oxygen utilization efficiency. From the viewpoint of the ancient principle of psychological hedonism - humans have ultimate desires to obtain pleasure and avoid displeasure - we elaborate on three putative mechanisms underlying the affective and ergogenic effects of music on acute bouts of PA: (1) musical pleasure and reward, (2) rhythmic entrainment, and (3) sensory distraction from physical exertion. Given that a positive shift in affective valence during an acute bout of PA is associated with more PA in the future, an important question arises as to whether the affective effect of music on acute PA can be carried over to promote long-term PA. Although this research question seems intuitive, to our knowledge, it has been scarcely investigated. We propose a theoretical model of Music as an Affective Stimulant to Physical Activity (MASPA) to further explain the putative mechanisms underlying the use of music to promote long-term PA. We believe there have been important gaps in music-based interventions in terms of the rationale supporting various components of the intervention and the efficacy of these interventions to promote long-term PA. Our specification of relevant mechanisms and proposal of a new theoretical model may advance our understanding of the optimal use of music as an affective, ergogenic, and sensory stimulant for PA promotion. Future directions are suggested to address the gaps in the literature.

Caressed by music: Related preferences for velocity of touch and tempo of music?

Given that both hearing and touch are 'mechanical senses' that respond to physical pressure or mechanical energy and that individuals appear to have a characteristic internal or spontaneous tempo, individual preferences in musical and touch rhythms might be related. We explored this in two experiments probing individual preferences for tempo in the tactile and auditory modalities. Study 1 collected ratings of received stroking on the forearm and measured the velocity the participants used for stroking a fur. Music tempo preferences were assessed as mean beats per minute of individually selected music pieces and via the adjustment of experimenter-selected music to a preferred tempo. Heart rate was recorded to measure levels of physiological arousal. We found that the preferred tempo of favorite (self-selected) music correlated positively with the velocity with which each individual liked to be touched. In Study 2, participants rated videos of repeated touch on someone else's arm and videos of a drummer playing with brushes on a snare drum, both at a variety of tempos. We found that participants with similar rating patterns for the different stroking speeds did not show similar rating patterns for the different music beats. The results suggest that there may be a correspondence between preferences for favorite music and felt touch, but this is either weak or it cannot be evoked effectively with vicarious touch and/or mere drum beats. Thus, if preferences for touch and music are related, this is likely to be dependent on the specific type of stimulation.

Spontaneous beat synchronization in rats: Neural dynamics and motor entrainment

Beat perception and synchronization within 120 to 140 beats/min (BPM) are common in humans and frequently used in music composition. Why beat synchronization is uncommon in some species and the mechanism determining the optimal tempo are unclear. Here, we examined physical movements and neural activities in rats to determine their beat sensitivity. Close inspection of head movements and neural recordings revealed that rats displayed prominent beat synchronization and activities in the auditory cortex within 120 to 140 BPM. Mathematical modeling suggests that short-term adaptation underlies this beat tuning. Our results support the hypothesis that the optimal tempo for beat synchronization is determined by the time constant of neural dynamics conserved across species, rather than the species-specific time constant of physical movements. Thus, latent neural propensity for auditory motor entrainment may provide a basis for human entrainment that is much more widespread than currently thought. Further studies comparing humans and animals will offer insights into the origins of music and dancing.

Effect of Indian Music as an Auditory Stimulus on Physiological Measures of Stress, Anxiety, Cardiovascular and Autonomic Responses in Humans-A Randomized Controlled Trial

Among the different anthropogenic stimuli humans are exposed to, the psychological and cardiovascular effects of auditory stimuli are less understood. This study aims to explore the possible range of change after a single session of auditory stimulation with three different ‘Modes’ of musical stimuli (MS) on anxiety, biomarkers of stress, and cardiovascular parameters among healthy young individuals. In this randomized control trial, 140 healthy young adults, aged 18−30 years, were randomly assigned to three MS groups (Mode/Raga Miyan ki Todi, Malkauns, and Puriya) and one control group (natural sounds). The outcome measurements of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), salivary cortisol (sCort), blood pressure, and heart rate variability (HRV) were collected at three time points: before (M1), during (M2), and after the intervention (M3). State anxiety was reduced significantly with raga Puriya (p = 0.018), followed by raga Malkauns and raga Miyan Ki Todi. All the groups showed a significant reduction in sAA. Raga Miyan ki Todi and Puriya caused an arousal effect (as evidenced by HRV) during the intervention and significant relaxation after the intervention (both p < 0.005). Raga Malkauns and the control group had a sustained rise in parasympathetic activity over 30 min. Future studies should try to use other modes and features to develop a better scientific foundation for the use of Indian music in medicine.

The rediscovered motor-related area 55b emerges as a core hub of music perception

Passive listening to music, without sound production or evident movement, is long known to activate motor control regions. Nevertheless, the exact neuroanatomical correlates of the auditory-motor association and its underlying neural mechanisms have not been fully determined. Here, based on a NeuroSynth meta-analysis and three original fMRI paradigms of music perception, we show that the long-ignored pre-motor region, area 55b, an anatomically unique and functionally intriguing region, is a core hub of music perception. Moreover, results of a brain-behavior correlation analysis implicate neural entrainment as the underlying mechanism of area 55b’s contribution to music perception. In view of the current results and prior literature, area 55b is proposed as a keystone of sensorimotor integration, a fundamental brain machinery underlying simple to hierarchically complex behaviors. Refining the neuroanatomical and physiological understanding of sensorimotor integration is expected to have a major impact on various fields, from brain disorders to artificial general intelligence.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired during passive listening to music suggest that pre-motor area 55b acts as a core hub of music processing in humans.

Decomposing the Effects of Familiarity with Music Cues on Stride Length and Variability in Persons with Parkinson's Disease: On the Role of Covariates

This study aimed to determine the role of cognitive and affective responses to music cues in modulating the effects of familiarity with music on stride length and stride-to-stride variability in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Using multilevel modeling, people with PD's spatiotemporal gait parameters and self-reported ratings of familiarity, enjoyment, cognitive and physical demand, beats salience of music cues after each walking trial, as well as music reward, were analyzed. Our findings indicate that (1) condition-varying perceived enjoyment and beat salience are positively associated with increased stride length; (2) participants with a greater music reward for mood regulation and emotion evocation show greater stride length changes compared with those with less music reward; (3) condition-varying perceived enjoyment is positively associated with decreases in stride-to-stride variability; and (4) participants with lower cognitive demand of walking with music cues and higher beat salience show lower stride-to-stride variability compared with those with higher cognitive demand and lower beat salience. These results provide behavioral evidence of independent and interactive influences of cognitive and affective responses to music cues on spatiotemporal gait parameters in people with PD.

Influence of Multiple Music Styles and Composition Styles on College Students' Mental Health

The purpose is to reduce students' psychological pressure and improve their quality of study and life. Here, 400 language-impaired students in the public elective psychology course at Northwestern University and the undergraduate psychology class at Xi'an Foreign Studies University in the 2018-2019 academic year are randomly selected as the research objects for this music psychology experiment. The students were divided into different experimental groups using the Questionnaire Survey (QS) method to analyze the students' psychological reactions to Baroque, classical, and romantic music styles. Then, it further discusses the students' emotional response and audiovisual synaesthesia, as well as their recognition and choice of music style. The results show that there are significant differences in the same emotional response intensity of the subjects to different styles of music creation. The music expression is consistent with the actual feelings of the subjects. The tonality and color density of audiovisual synaesthesia vary with the style of music creation. Different music creation styles generate different associations in students' minds, thus showing different psychological reactions. The QS results indicate that soft and soothing music can relieve students' learning pressure most, while music with a strong sense of rhythm and vitality has no significant effect. Therefore, different music creation styles affect students' learning pressure differently. This work discusses the influence of different music creation styles on the mental health of contemporary college students and provides a reference for music therapy to relieve students' learning pressure in the future.

Urges to Move and Other Motivation States for Physical Activity in Clinical and Healthy Populations: A Scoping Review Protocol

Motivation for bodily movement, physical activity and exercise varies from moment to moment. These motivation states may be “affectively-charged,” ranging from instances of lower tension (e.g., desires, wants) to higher tension (e.g., cravings and urges). Currently, it is not known how often these states have been investigated in clinical populations (e.g., eating disorders, exercise dependence/addiction, Restless Legs Syndrome, diabetes, obesity) vs. healthy populations (e.g., in studies of motor control; groove in music psychology). The objective of this scoping review protocol is to quantify the literature on motivation states, to determine what topical areas are represented in investigations of clinical and healthy populations, and to discover pertinent details, such as instrumentation, terminology, theories, and conceptual models, correlates and mechanisms of action. Iterative searches of scholarly databases will take place to determine which combination of search terms (e.g., “motivation states” and “physical activity”; “desire to be physically active,” etc.) captures the greatest number of relevant results. Studies will be included if motivation states for movement (e.g., desires, urges) are specifically measured or addressed. Studies will be excluded if referring to motivation as a trait. A charting data form was developed to scan all relevant documents for later data extraction. The primary outcome is simply the extent of the literature on the topic. Results will be stratified by population/condition. This scoping review will unify a diverse literature, which may result in the creation of unique models or paradigms that can be utilized to better understand motivation for bodily movement and exercise.

Experiencing Rhythm in Dance

In this article, two dance educators offer a definition of rhythm from both educational and performance perspectives and discuss pedagogical practices that waken students’ awareness to rhythm as a lived-experience over which they have creative control. For the dancer, in the midst of the dance, rhythms are, in the words of Margaret H’Doubler, recurring patterns of measured energy. These patterns are nested in scales from the moment-to-moment shifts in muscular contraction and release to the rise and fall of dramatic tension in a performed dance. This approach to rhythm runs counter to many dance students’ studio-based training in which rhythm is equated to synchronizing accents to a specific meter. The authors describe pedagogical practices in the studio that foster engagement with rhythm as lived-experience. Drawing attention to their kinesthetic experience while moving, students are encouraged to modulate levels of exertion embedded in the qualities of movement they are experiencing. As varying levels of exertion are attended to across temporal durations, students notice patterns as they emerge and recur. This attention to recurring patterns of measured exertion is, the authors claim, the lived-experience of rhythm in dance.

Music listening and stress recovery in healthy individuals: A systematic review with meta-analysis of experimental studies

Effective stress recovery is crucial to prevent the long-term consequences of stress exposure. Studies have suggested that listening to music may be beneficial for stress reduction. Thus, music listening stands to be a promising method to promote effective recovery from exposure to daily stressors. Despite this, empirical support for this opinion has been largely equivocal. As such, to clarify the current literature, we conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized, controlled experimental studies investigating the effects of music listening on stress recovery in healthy individuals. In fourteen experimental studies, participants (N = 706) were first exposed to an acute laboratory stressor, following which they were either exposed to music or a control condition. A random-effects meta-regression with robust variance estimation demonstrated a non-significant cumulative effect of music listening on stress recovery g = 0.15, 95% CI [-0.21, 0.52], t(13) = 0.92, p = 0.374. In healthy individuals, the effects of music listening on stress recovery seemed to vary depending on musical genre, who selects the music, musical tempo, and type of stress recovery outcome. However, considering the significant heterogeneity between the modest number of included studies, no definite conclusions may currently be drawn about the effects of music listening on the short-term stress recovery process of healthy individuals. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

Rhythmic Relating: Bidirectional Support for Social Timing in Autism Therapies

We propose Rhythmic Relating for autism: a system of supports for friends, therapists, parents, and educators; a system which aims to augment bidirectional communication and complement existing therapeutic approaches. We begin by summarizing the developmental significance of social timing and the social-motor-synchrony challenges observed in early autism. Meta-analyses conclude the early primacy of such challenges, yet cite the lack of focused therapies. We identify core relational parameters in support of social-motor-synchrony and systematize these using the communicative musicality constructs: pulse; quality; and narrative. Rhythmic Relating aims to augment the clarity, contiguity, and pulse-beat of spontaneous behavior by recruiting rhythmic supports (cues, accents, turbulence) and relatable vitality; facilitating the predictive flow and just-ahead-in-time planning needed for good-enough social timing. From here, we describe possibilities for playful therapeutic interaction, small-step co-regulation, and layered sensorimotor integration. Lastly, we include several clinical case examples demonstrating the use of Rhythmic Relating within four different therapeutic approaches (Dance Movement Therapy, Improvisational Music Therapy, Play Therapy, and Musical Interaction Therapy). These clinical case examples are introduced here and several more are included in the Supplementary Material (Examples of Rhythmic Relating in Practice). A suite of pilot intervention studies is proposed to assess the efficacy of combining Rhythmic Relating with different therapeutic approaches in playful work with individuals with autism. Further experimental hypotheses are outlined, designed to clarify the significance of certain key features of the Rhythmic Relating approach.

Groove rhythm stimulates prefrontal cortex function in groove enjoyers

Hearing a groove rhythm (GR), which creates the sensation of wanting to move to the music, can also create feelings of pleasure and arousal in people, and it may enhance cognitive performance, as does exercise, by stimulating the prefrontal cortex. Here, we examined the hypothesis that GR enhances executive function (EF) by acting on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (l-DLPFC) while also considering individual differences in psychological responses. Fifty-one participants underwent two conditions: 3 min of listening to GR or a white-noise metronome. Before and after listening, participants performed the Stroop task and were monitored for l-DLPFC activity with functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Our results show that GR enhanced EF and l-DLPFC activity in participants who felt a greater groove sensation and a more feeling clear-headed after listening to GR. Further, these psychological responses predict the impact of GR on l-DLPFC activity and EF, suggesting that GR enhances EF via l-DLPFC activity when the psychological response to GR is enhanced.

Temporal Predictions in Space: Isochronous Rhythms Promote Forward Projections of the Body

A regular rhythmic stimulation increases people's ability to anticipate future events in time and to move their body in space. Temporal concepts are usually prescribed to spatial locations through a past-behind and future-ahead mapping. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that a regular rhythmic stimulation could promote the forward-body (i.e., toward the future) projections in the peri-personal space. In a Visual Approach/Avoidance by the Self Task (VAAST), participants (N = 24) observed a visual scene on the screen (i.e., a music studio with a metronome in the middle). They were exposed to 3 s of auditory isochronous or non-isochronous rhythms, after which they were asked to make as quickly as possible a perceptual judgment on the visual scene (i.e., whether the metronome pendulum was pointing to the right or left). The responses could trigger a forward or backward visual flow, i.e., approaching or moving them away from the scene. Results showed a significant interaction between the rhythmic stimulation and the movement projections (p < 0.001): participants were faster for responses triggering forward-body projections (but not backward-body projections) after the exposure to isochronous (but not non-isochronous) rhythm. By highlighting the strong link between isochronous rhythms and forward-body projections, these findings support the idea that temporal predictions driven by a regular auditory stimulation are grounded in a perception-action system integrating temporal and spatial information.

From Dynamic Superwettability to Ionic/Molecular Superfluidity

Life systems present ultralow energy consumption in high-efficiency energy conversion, information transmission, and biosynthesis. The total energy intake of the human body is about 2000 kcal/day to maintain all of our activities, which is comparable to a power of ∼100 W. The energy required for the brain to work is equivalent to ∼20 W, and the rest of the energy (∼80 W) is used for other activities. All in vivo biosyntheses take place only at body temperature, which is much lower than that of in vitro reactions. To achieve these ultralow energy-consumption processes, there should be a kind of ultralow-resistivity matter transport in nanochannels (e.g., ionic and molecular channels), in which the directional collective motion of ions or molecules is a necessary condition rather than traditional Newton diffusion. The directional collective motion of ions and molecules is considered to be ionic/molecular superfluidity. The driving force of ionic/molecular superfluidity formation requires two necessary conditions: (1) Ions or molecules are confined at a certain distance (e.g., approximately twice Debye length (2λ_D) for ions or twice the van der Waals equilibrium distance (2d₀) for molecules). (2) When the attractive potential energy (E₀) is stronger than the thermal noise (k_BT_c), ionic/molecular superfluidity can be formed. The concept of ionic/molecular superfluidity will promote the understanding of energy conversion with ultralow energy consumption in biological systems. The swing of an eel's body generating electricity and cardiac resuscitation denote the conversion from mechanical energy to electrical energy, and mechanical modulation might result in a coherent resonance of ionic motion. The coherent resonance of Ca²⁺ in myocardium cells can induce a heartbeat, realizing the conversion from the electrical energy to the mechanical energy of a biological system. The macroscopic quantum state of ion channels is considered to be a carrier of neural information, and the environment field might play a significant role in regulating the macroscopic quantum states of various ion channels. In the biological ion channels system, the coupling of ion channels and their released photons might induce an environment wave which in turn regulates the ion oscillations in the channels to a coherent state. The states of decoherence and coherence might correspond to the states of sleep and action. We also demonstrated the decomposition of ATP to ADP released photons with a frequency of ∼34 THz, which could further drive DNA polymerization in the nanocavity of DNA polymerase. The photochemical (mid- and far-IR) reaction might be the driving force in high-efficiency biosynthesis. Quantized syntheses resonantly driven by multiple mid- and far-IR photons could be further designed in a tubular reactor with membranes of different microporous structures to achieve a high-efficiency synthesis with a low energy consumption. Finally, we point out that the Bose-Einstein condensate potentially widely exists. We expect that this Account will provide new ideas for the key problem in life science: how can life systems present ultralow energy consumption in high-efficiency energy conversion, information transmission, and biosynthesis?

Neural correlates with individual differences in temporal prediction during auditory-motor synchronization

Temporal prediction ability is vital for movement synchronization with external rhythmic stimuli (sensorimotor synchronization); however, little is known regarding individual variations in temporal prediction ability and its neural correlates. We determined the underlying neural correlates of temporal prediction and individual variations during auditory-motor synchronization. We hypothesized that the non-primary motor cortices, such as the premotor cortex and supplementary motor area, are the key brain regions that correlate individual variations in prediction ability. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (7T) was performed for 18 healthy volunteers who tapped to 3 types of auditory metronome beats: isochronous, tempo change, and random. The prediction ability was evaluated using prediction/tracking ratios that were computed based on cross-correlations between tap timing and pacing events. Participants with a higher prediction/tracking ratio (i.e. stronger predictive tendency) tapped to metronome beats more accurately and precisely. The prediction/tracking ratio was positively correlated with the activity in the bilateral dorsal premotor cortex (PMd), suggesting that the bilateral PMd explains the individual variation in prediction ability. These results indicate that the PMd is involved in generating a model for temporal prediction of auditory rhythm patterns and its activity would reflect model accuracy, which is critical for accurate and precise sensorimotor synchronization.

Music in the brain

Music is ubiquitous across human cultures - as a source of affective and pleasurable experience, moving us both physically and emotionally - and learning to play music shapes both brain structure and brain function. Music processing in the brain - namely, the perception of melody, harmony and rhythm - has traditionally been studied as an auditory phenomenon using passive listening paradigms. However, when listening to music, we actively generate predictions about what is likely to happen next. This enactive aspect has led to a more comprehensive understanding of music processing involving brain structures implicated in action, emotion and learning. Here we review the cognitive neuroscience literature of music perception. We show that music perception, action, emotion and learning all rest on the human brain's fundamental capacity for prediction - as formulated by the predictive coding of music model. This Review elucidates how this formulation of music perception and expertise in individuals can be extended to account for the dynamics and underlying brain mechanisms of collective music making. This in turn has important implications for human creativity as evinced by music improvisation. These recent advances shed new light on what makes music meaningful from a neuroscientific perspective.

Pitch and Rhythm Perception and Verbal Short-Term Memory in Acute Traumatic Brain Injury

Music perception deficits are common following acquired brain injury due to stroke, epilepsy surgeries, and aneurysmal clipping. Few studies have examined these deficits following traumatic brain injury (TBI), resulting in an under-diagnosis in this population. We aimed to (1) compare TBI patients to controls on pitch and rhythm perception during the acute phase; (2) determine whether pitch and rhythm perception disorders co-occur; (3) examine lateralization of injury in the context of pitch and rhythm perception; and (4) determine the relationship between verbal short-term memory (STM) and pitch and rhythm perception. Music perception was examined using the Scale and Rhythm tests of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia, in association with CT scans to identify lesion laterality. Verbal short-term memory was examined using Digit Span Forward. TBI patients had greater impairment than controls, with 43% demonstrating deficits in pitch perception, and 40% in rhythm perception. Deficits were greater with right hemisphere damage than left. Pitch and rhythm deficits co-occurred 31% of the time, suggesting partly dissociable networks. There was a dissociation between performance on verbal STM and pitch and rhythm perception 39 to 42% of the time (respectively), with most individuals (92%) demonstrating intact verbal STM, with impaired pitch or rhythm perception. The clinical implications of music perception deficits following TBI are discussed.

The Effect of Rhythm Abilities on Metronome-Cued Walking with an Induced Temporal Gait Asymmetry in Neurotypical Adults

ABSRACT. Human gait is inherently rhythmical, thus walking to rhythmic auditory stimulation is a promising intervention to improve temporal gait asymmetry (TGA) following neurologic injury such as stroke. However, the degree of benefit may relate to an individual's underlying rhythmic ability. We conducted an initial investigation into the relationship between rhythm abilities and responsiveness of TGA when walking to a metronome. TGA was induced in neurotypical young adults with ankle and thigh cuff weights. Participants were grouped by strong or weak rhythm ability based on beat perception and production tests. TGA was induced using a unilateral load affixed to the non-dominant leg. Participants walked under three conditions: uncued baseline, metronome set to 100% of baseline cadence, and metronome set to 90% of baseline cadence. Repeated measures analysis using generalized estimating equations was conducted to determine how rhythm ability affected TGA response in each walking condition. Most participants improved TGA when walking to a metronome at either tempo compared to baseline; however, this improvement did not differ between strong and weak rhythm ability groups. Those who scored worse on the rhythm perception test also were poorer at synchronizing their steps to the beat. The induced TGA is smaller than what is commonly experienced after stroke. A larger induced TGA may be necessary to reveal subtle differences in responsiveness to rhythmical auditory stimulation between those with strong and weak rhythm abilities.

Contextual prediction modulates musical tension: Evidence from behavioral and neural responses

Tension is a bridge between music structure and emotion. It is known that tension is affected by prediction in music listening as music unfolds. Combining behavioral and neural responses, the current research investigated how musical predictions influence tension in the process of prediction build-up based on musical context (anticipatory stage) and its integration with upcoming stimuli (integration stage). The results showed that, at the anticipatory stage, compared with high-prediction conditions, in low-prediction conditions tension curve changed faster and unstable, and a larger N5 in ERP response was elicited. Furthermore, at the integration stage, compared with congruent conditions, in incongruent conditions the behavioral rating of tension were higher regardless of the predictability of the final chord; a right negativity and P600 were elicited, and the amplitude of P600 was modulated by the predictability of the final chord. These results indicated that the effect of prediction on tension was modulated by contextual predictability. The findings provide a more comprehensive view on how musical prediction affects musical tension.

Modality-specific frequency band activity during neural entrainment to auditory and visual rhythms

Rhythm perception depends on the ability to predict the onset of rhythmic events. Previous studies indicate beta band modulation is involved in predicting the onset of auditory rhythmic events (Fujioka et al., 2009, 2012; Snyder & Large, 2005). We sought to determine if similar processes are recruited for prediction of visual rhythms by investigating whether beta band activity plays a role in a modality-dependent manner for rhythm perception. We looked at electroencephalography time-frequency neural correlates of prediction using an omission paradigm with auditory and visual rhythms. By using omissions, we can separate out predictive timing activity from stimulus-driven activity. We hypothesized that there would be modality-independent markers of rhythm prediction in induced beta band oscillatory activity, and our results support this hypothesis. We find induced and evoked predictive timing in both auditory and visual modalities. Additionally, we performed an exploratory-independent components-based spatial clustering analysis, and describe all resulting clusters. This analysis reveals that there may be overlapping networks of predictive beta activity based on common activation in the parietal and right frontal regions, auditory-specific predictive beta in bilateral sensorimotor regions, and visually specific predictive beta in midline central, and bilateral temporal/parietal regions. This analysis also shows evoked predictive beta activity in the left sensorimotor region specific to auditory rhythms and implicates modality-dependent networks for auditory and visual rhythm perception.

Environmental Features Influence Walking Speed: The Effect of Urban Greenery

The study investigated the rarely addressed topic of how visual environmental features can influence walking speed. Young adult participants were asked to walk on a route that leads through areas composed of urban parks and areas with a built environment with a large amount of greenery. Their walking speed was measured in selected sections. The participants walked with a small video camera, and their walk was recorded. The temporal information was derived from the video recordings. Subsequently, the participants evaluated the environmental features of the route by specific spatio-cognitive dimensions of environmental preference. The results show that walking speed in specific sections of the walking route systematically differed and reflected the environmental features. The walking speed was lower in sections with high natural characteristics and a high environmental preference. Noise here was perceived as less annoying than in sections with lower natural characteristics. The results are explained in terms of approach avoidance behavior. The findings are in accordance with environmental preference research that documents various benefits of walking in the natural environment.

The Use of Music in the Treatment and Management of Serious Mental Illness: A Global Scoping Review of the Literature

Mental and substance use disorders have been identified as the leading cause of global disability, and the global burden of mental illness is concentrated among those experiencing disability due to serious mental illness (SMI). Music has been studied as a support for SMIs for decades, with promising results; however, a lack of synthesized evidence has precluded increased uptake of and access to music-based approaches. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify the types and quantity of research at intersections of music and SMIs, document evidentiary gaps and opportunities, and generate recommendations for improving research and practice. Studies were included if they reported on music's utilization in treating or mitigating symptoms related to five SMIs: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Eight databases were searched; screening resulted in 349 included studies for data extraction. Schizophrenia was the most studied SMI, with bipolar disorder studied the least. Demographics, settings, and activity details were found to be inconsistently and insufficiently reported; however, listening to recorded music emerged as the most common musical activity, and activity details appeared to have been affected by the conditions under study. RCTs were the predominant study design, and 271 unique measures were utilized across 289 primary studies. Over two-thirds of primary studies (68.5%) reported positive results, with 2.8% reporting worse results than the comparator, and 12% producing indeterminate results. A key finding is that evidence synthesis is precluded by insufficient reporting, widely varied outcomes and measures, and intervention complexity; as a result, widespread changes are necessary to reduce heterogeneity (as feasible), increase replicability and transferability, and improve understandings of mechanisms and causal pathways. To that end, five detailed recommendations are offered to support the sharing and development of information across disciplines.

Measurement of Motivation States for Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior: Development and Validation of the CRAVE Scale

Physical activity, and likely the motivation for it, varies throughout the day. The aim of this investigation was to create a short assessment (CRAVE: Cravings for Rest and Volitional Energy Expenditure) to measure motivation states (wants, desires, urges) for physical activity and sedentary behaviors. Five studies were conducted to develop and evaluate the construct validity and reliability of the scale, with 1,035 participants completing the scale a total of 1,697 times. In Study 1, 402 university students completed a questionnaire inquiring about the want or desire to perform behaviors "at the present moment (right now)." Items related to physical activity (e.g., "move my body") and sedentary behaviors (e.g., "do nothing active"). An exploratory structural equation model (ESEM) revealed that 10 items should be retained, loading onto two factors (5 each for Move and Rest). In Study 2, an independent sample (n = 444) confirmed these results and found that Move and Rest desires were associated with stage-of-change for exercise behavior. In Study 3, 127 community-residing participants completed the CRAVE at 6-month intervals over two years- two times each session. Across-session interclass correlations (ICC) for Move (ICC = 0.72-0.95) and Rest (ICC = 0.69-0.88) were higher than when they were measured across 24-months (Move: ICC = 0.53; Rest: ICC = 0.49), indicating wants/desires have state-like qualities. In Study 4, a maximal treadmill test was completed by 21 university students. The CRAVE was completed immediately pre and post. Move desires decreased 26% and Rest increased 74%. Changes in Move and Rest desires were moderately associated with changes in perceived physical fatigue and energy. In Study 5, 41 university students sat quietly during a 50-min lecture. They completed the CRAVE at 3 time points. Move increased 19.6% and Rest decreased 16.7%. Small correlations were detected between move and both perceived energy and tiredness, but not calmness or tension. In conclusion, the CRAVE scale has good psychometric properties. These data also support tenets of the WANT model of motivation states for movement and rest (Stults-Kolehmainen et al., 2020a). Future studies need to explore how desires to move/rest relate to dynamic changes in physical activity and sedentarism.

Electrophysiological Correlation Underlying the Effects of Music Preference on the Prefrontal Cortex Using a Brain-Computer Interface

This study aims to research the task of recognising brain activities in the prefrontal cortex that correspond to music at different preference levels. Since task performance regarding the effects of the subjects’ favourite music can lead to better outcomes, we focus on the physical interpretation of electroencephalography (EEG) bands underlying the preference level for music. The experiment was implemented using a continuous response digital interface for the preference classification of three types of musical stimuli. The results showed that favourite songs more significantly evoked frontal theta than did the music of low and moderate preference levels. Additionally, correlations of frontal theta with cognitive state indicated that the frontal theta is associated not only with the cognitive state but also with emotional processing. These findings demonstrate that favourite songs can have more positive effects on listeners than less favourable music and suggest that theta and lower alpha in the frontal cortex are good indicators of both cognitive state and emotion.

The Role of Canalization and Plasticity in the Evolution of Musical Creativity

Creativity is defined as the ability to generate something new and valuable. From a biological point of view this can be seen as an adaptation in response to environmental challenges. Although music is such a diverse phenomenon, all people possess a set of abilities that are claimed to be the products of biological evolution, which allow us to produce and listen to music according to both universal and culture-specific rules. On the one hand, musical creativity is restricted by the tacit rules that reflect the developmental interplay between genetic, epigenetic and cultural information. On the other hand, musical innovations seem to be desirable elements present in every musical culture which suggests some biological importance. If our musical activity is driven by biological needs, then it is important for us to understand the function of musical creativity in satisfying those needs, and also how human beings have become so creative in the domain of music. The aim of this paper is to propose that musical creativity has become an indispensable part of the gene-culture coevolution of our musicality. It is suggested that the two main forces of canalization and plasticity have been crucial in this process. Canalization is an evolutionary process in which phenotypes take relatively constant forms regardless of environmental and genetic perturbations. Plasticity is defined as the ability of a phenotype to generate an adaptive response to environmental challenges. It is proposed that human musicality is composed of evolutionary innovations generated by the gradual canalization of developmental pathways leading to musical behavior. Within this process, the unstable cultural environment serves as the selective pressure for musical creativity. It is hypothesized that the connections between cortical and subcortical areas, which constitute cortico-subcortical circuits involved in music processing, are the products of canalization, whereas plasticity is achieved by the means of neurological variability. This variability is present both at the level of an individual structure’s enlargement in response to practicing (e.g., the planum temporale) and within the involvement of neurological structures that are not music-specific (e.g., the default mode network) in music processing.

Collective music listening: Movement energy is enhanced by groove and visual social cues

The regularity of musical beat makes it a powerful stimulus promoting movement synchrony among people. Synchrony can increase interpersonal trust, affiliation, and cooperation. Musical pieces can be classified according to the quality of groove; the higher the groove, the more it induces the desire to move. We investigated questions related to collective music-listening among 33 participants in an experiment conducted in a naturalistic yet acoustically controlled setting of a research concert hall with motion tracking. First, does higher groove music induce (1) movement with more energy and (2) higher interpersonal movement coordination? Second, does visual social information manipulated by having eyes open or eyes closed also affect energy and coordination? Participants listened to pieces from four categories formed by crossing groove (high, low) with tempo (higher, lower). Their upper body movement was recorded via head markers. Self-reported ratings of grooviness, emotional valence, emotional intensity, and familiarity were collected after each song. A biomechanically motivated measure of movement energy increased with high-groove songs and was positively correlated with grooviness ratings, confirming the theoretically implied but less tested motor response to groove. Participants’ ratings of emotional valence and emotional intensity correlated positively with movement energy, suggesting that movement energy relates to emotional engagement with music. Movement energy was higher in eyes-open trials, suggesting that seeing each other enhanced participants’ responses, consistent with social facilitation or contagion. Furthermore, interpersonal coordination was higher both for the high-groove and eyes-open conditions, indicating that the social situation of collective music listening affects how music is experienced.

A general procedure to measure the pacing of body movements timed to music and metronome in younger and older adults

Finger-tapping tasks are classically used to investigate sensorimotor synchronization in relation to neutral auditory cues, such as metronomes. However, music is more commonly associated with an entrained bodily response, such as toe tapping, or dancing. Here we report an experimental procedure that was designed to bridge the gap between timing and intervention studies by directly comparing the effects of metronome and musical cue types on motor timing abilities across the three naturalistic voluntary actions of finger tapping, toe tapping, and stepping on the spot as a simplified case of whole body movement. Both pacing cues were presented at slow, medium, and fast tempi. The findings suggested that the task of stepping on the spot enabled better timing performances than tapping both in younger and older adults (75+). Timing performances followed an inverse U shape with best performances observed in the medium tempi that were set close to the spontaneous motor tempo in each movement type. Finally, music provided an entrainment effect in addition to pace setting that enabled better motor timing and greater stability than classically reported using a metronome. By applying time-stamp analyses to kinetic data, we demonstrate that tapping and stepping engage different timing modes. This work details the importance of translational research for a better understanding of motor timing. It offers a simple procedure that strengthens the validity of applying academic work and contributes in knowledge towards a wide range of therapeutic interventions.

Development and Psychometric Validation of the Music Receptivity Scale

A new construct, termed music receptivity, is introduced and discussed in this work. Music receptivity can be defined as a measure of the extent of internalization that an individual has, to a given piece of music, as measured at the point of listening. Through three studies, we demonstrate the psychometric properties of the construct—the Music Receptivity Scale (MRS). Exploratory factor analysis on a sample of 313 revealed good psychometric validity, with a four-factor solution (emotional experience, interest, attention, and hurdles), with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.89, and a two-factor solution (emotion experience and attention), with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.87. The tool also had a good test–retest reliability (r = 0.87 for a 15 day interval and r = 0.91 for 1 month interval). Overall, the tool had 20 items in the long form and 12 items in the short version. The MRS could distinguish musicians and non-musicians supporting its discriminant validity. We have also discussed the implication of the MRS in the field of music psychology.

The Question of Lag: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Conductor Gesture and Sonic Response in Instrumental Ensembles

Group musical performance, especially large instrumental ensembles, present the outward appearance of an asymmetric, temporally immediate stimulus-response relationship between conductor and ensemble. Interestingly, anecdotal reports from both conductors and performers indicate a degree of variability in the timing of orchestral response to the conductor's gestures. This observation is not present in anecdotal accounts of other instrumental ensemble settings, like wind bands, but commonplace occurrence among orchestral musicians indicates the potential presence of greater complexity in the observed relationship. This study investigates both the quality and quantity of temporal lag between conductor and ensemble in two common instrumental ensemble configurations - wind bands and orchestras - in an effort to describe the interplay present within conducted group performance. The findings indicate that the anecdotally identified lag is present within all ensemble types, and that it presents a flexible, dynamic temporal relationship between conductor and ensemble. Additionally, both the quantity and quality of lag values are significantly different between ensemble types, experience levels, and musical content. Several avenues for future research are identified, and confounds within the sampled ensembles are examined for their potential roles in the observed relationships.

Multimodal Sensory-Spatial Integration and Retrieval of Trained Motor Patterns for Body Coordination in Musicians and Dancers

Dancers and musicians are experts in spatial and temporal processing, which allows them to coordinate movement with music. This high-level processing has been associated with structural and functional adaptation of the brain for high performance sensorimotor integration. For these integration processes, adaptation does not only take place in primary and secondary sensory and motor areas but also in tertiary brain areas, such as the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) and the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), providing vital resources for highly specialized performance. Here, we review evidence for the role of these brain areas in multimodal training protocols and integrate these findings into a new model of sensorimotor processing in complex motor learning.

Motivation States for Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior: Desire, Urge, Wanting, and Craving

To better explain daily fluctuations in physical activity and sedentary behavior, investigations of motivation are turning from social cognitive frameworks to those centered on affect, emotion and automaticity, such as the Affect and Health Behavior Framework (AHBF), Integrated Framework and Affective-Reflective Theory (ART). This shift has necessitated: (a) re-examination of older theories and their constructs, such as drives, needs and tensions and (b) an inspection of competing theories from other fields that also attempt to explain dynamic changes in health behaviors. The Dynamical Model of Desire, Elaborated Intrusion Theory and others commonly share with AHBF the idea that human behavior is driven strongly by desires and/or the similar concepts of wants, urges, and cravings. These affectively-charged motivation states (ACMS) change quickly and may better explain physical activity behavior from one moment to the next. Desires for movement predominantly derive from negative but also positive reinforcement. Data from clinical populations with movement dysfunction or psychiatric disorders provides further evidence of these drivers of movement. Those with Restless Legs Syndrome, akathisia, tic disorders and exercise dependence all report strong urges to move and relief when it is accomplished. Motor control research has identified centers of the brain responsible for wants and urges for muscular movement. Models elaborated herein differentiate between wants, desires, urges and cravings. The WANT model (Wants and Aversions for Neuromuscular Tasks) conceptualizes desires for movement and rest as varying by magnitude, approach or avoidance-orientation (wants versus aversions) and as occupying independent dimensions instead of opposite ends of the same axis. For instance, one hypothetically might be in a state of both high desire for movement and rest simultaneously. Variations in motivation states to move and rest may also be associated with various stress states, like freezing or fight and flight. The first validated instrument to measure feelings of desire/want for movement and rest, the CRAVE Scale (Cravings for Rest and Volitional Energy Expenditure) is already shedding light on the nature of these states. With these advances in theory, conceptual modeling and instrumentation, future investigations may explore the effects of desires and urges for movement and sedentary behavior in earnest.

Links Between the Neurobiology of Oxytocin and Human Musicality

The human species possesses two complementary, yet distinct, universal communication systems—language and music. Functional imaging studies have revealed that some core elements of these two systems are processed in closely related brain regions, but there are also clear differences in brain circuitry that likely underlie differences in functionality. Music affects many aspects of human behavior, especially in encouraging prosocial interactions and promoting trust and cooperation within groups of culturally compatible but not necessarily genetically related individuals. Music, presumably via its impact on the limbic system, is also rewarding and motivating, and music can facilitate aspects of learning and memory. In this review these special characteristics of music are considered in light of recent research on the neuroscience of the peptide oxytocin, a hormone that has both peripheral and central actions, that plays a role in many complex human behaviors, and whose expression has recently been reported to be affected by music-related activities. I will first briefly discuss what is currently known about the peptide’s physiological actions on neurons and its interactions with other neuromodulator systems, then summarize recent advances in our knowledge of the distribution of oxytocin and its receptor (OXTR) in the human brain. Next, the complex links between oxytocin and various social behaviors in humans are considered. First, how endogenous oxytocin levels relate to individual personality traits, and then how exogenous, intranasal application of oxytocin affects behaviors such as trust, empathy, reciprocity, group conformity, anxiety, and overall social decision making under different environmental conditions. It is argued that many of these characteristics of oxytocin biology closely mirror the diverse effects that music has on human cognition and emotion, providing a link to the important role music has played throughout human evolutionary history and helping to explain why music remains a special prosocial human asset. Finally, it is suggested that there is a potential synergy in combining oxytocin- and music-based strategies to improve general health and aid in the treatment of various neurological dysfunctions.

The Influence of Music Tempo on Inhibitory Control: An ERP Study

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the influence of music tempo on inhibition control. An electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded when participants performed a Go/No-go task while listening to slow (54 bpm), medium-paced (104 bpm), fast (154 bpm), or no music. The behavioral results showed that the accuracies for the No-go trials were lower in the fast than in the slow tempo music conditions, while the accuracies for the Go trials were also lower in the fast tempo than in no music conditions. The event-related potential (ERP) study results showed that larger N2 and P3 amplitudes were elicited by No-go than by Go conditions. Moreover, the difference N2 (N2d) amplitudes observed by No-go vs. Go condition were larger in fast music than in medium-paced, slow, and no music conditions, indicating more consumption of cognitive resources in the process of conflict monitoring under the fast music condition. However, no such differences were observed among medium-paced, slow, and no music conditions. In addition, the difference P3 (P3d) amplitudes, an index of response inhibition, were not significant among these four music conditions. The present study showed a detrimental influence of music tempo on inhibition control. More specifically, listening to fast music might impair an individual’s ability to monitor conflict when performing the inhibitory control task.

Headphones or Speakers? An Exploratory Study of Their Effects on Spontaneous Body Movement to Rhythmic Music

Previous studies have shown that music may lead to spontaneous body movement, even when people try to stand still. But are spontaneous movement responses to music similar if the stimuli are presented using headphones or speakers? This article presents results from an exploratory study in which 35 participants listened to rhythmic stimuli while standing in a neutral position. The six different stimuli were 45 s each and ranged from a simple pulse to excerpts from electronic dance music (EDM). Each participant listened to all the stimuli using both headphones and speakers. An optical motion capture system was used to calculate their quantity of motion, and a set of questionnaires collected data about music preferences, listening habits, and the experimental sessions. The results show that the participants on average moved more when listening through headphones. The headphones condition was also reported as being more tiresome by the participants. Correlations between participants' demographics, listening habits, and self-reported body motion were observed in both listening conditions. We conclude that the playback method impacts the level of body motion observed when people are listening to music. This should be taken into account when designing embodied music cognition studies.