The brain reacts more strongly to live music than to recordings
Published: Tuesday, Feb 27th 2024, 13:20
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Live music triggers more emotions than music from a CD. In various regions of the brain that are important for processing emotions, Zurich researchers measured a significantly higher level of activity with live music compared to recorded music.
For the study, music was played to a group of 27 test subjects, as detailed in a press release issued by the University of Zurich (UZH) on Tuesday. One was played live by a pianist and the other was a pre-recorded audio recording. The researchers then measured brain activity.
During the tests, the pianist was able to observe on a screen how the brain activity of his listeners changed. Similar to how musicians react unconsciously and consciously to the audience at a live concert, the pianist was also able to adapt the tempo, harmony or pitch, for example, to the reaction of the test subjects.
This showed that live music evoked much higher and more consistent activity in the amygdala than recorded music. The amygdala is an important part of the brain involved in the processing of emotions. "The live performance also stimulated a more active exchange of information throughout the brain, indicating strong emotion processing at the affective and cognitive levels of the brain," said study leader Sascha Frühholz according to the press release. The results were published in the journal "Pnas".
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