Specific neuronal mechanisms process music to induce emotional states
Convergent neuroimaging and electrophysiological evidence demonstrates that specific cortical and subcortical neural mechanisms process music to induce emotional and rewarding states.
The claim posits that specific neuronal mechanisms process music to induce emotional states. Multiple neuroimaging, EEG, and meta-analytic studies confirm that music listening systematically engages specific brain regions (such as the amygdala, striatum, thalamus, and prefrontal cortex) and reward pathways, supporting the claim.
I. Daly, Asad Malik, F. Hwang, E. Roesch, James Weaver, A. Kirke, Duncan A. H. Williams, E. Miranda, S. Nasuto. Neural correlates of emotional responses to music: an EEG study.. 2014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2014.05.003
Identifies specific neural correlates and EEG patterns associated with music-induced emotions over the prefrontal cortex.
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N. C. Hansen, M. Dietz, P. Vuust. Commentary: Predictions and the brain: how musical sounds become rewarding. 2017. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00168
Links musical sounds to rewarding experiences via predictive processes and dopamine release in the brain's pleasure networks.
I. Daly, Duncan A. H. Williams, F. Hwang, A. Kirke, E. Miranda, S. Nasuto. Electroencephalography reflects the activity of sub-cortical brain regions during approach-withdrawal behaviour while listening to music. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-45105-2
Demonstrates that prefrontal EEG asymmetry reflects underlying activity changes in sub-cortical emotional and reward networks while listening to music.
Nieves Fuentes-Sánchez, Alejandro Espino-Payá, Sabine Prantner, D. Sabatinelli, M. Pastor, M. Junghöfer. On joy and sorrow: Neuroimaging meta-analyses of music-induced emotion. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00425
Provides a quantitative meta-analysis showing that specific cortical and subcortical brain regions are systematically activated during the processing of emotional music.
A. Sayal, Ana Gabriela Guedes, Inês A. T. Almeida, D. J. Pereira, César F. Lima, R. Panda, R. Paiva, T. Sousa, M. Castelo-Branco, I. Bernardino, B. Direito. Decoding Musical Valence And Arousal: Exploring The Neural Correlates Of Music Evoked Emotions And The Role Of Expressivity Features. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1109/TAFFC.2024.3507192
Shows that variations in musical features modulate activity in specific valence, arousal, and reward brain networks such as the amygdala and thalamus.
Patrik N. Juslin, Laura S. Sakka. Neural Correlates of Music and Emotion. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198804123.013.13
Reviews extensive empirical literature demonstrating consistent neural correlates for the perception and induction of emotions via music.
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