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Emotions, Arousal, and Frontal Alpha Rhythm Asymmetry During Beethoven’s 5th Symphony

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Abstract

Music is capable of inducing emotional arousal. While previous studies used brief musical excerpts to induce one specific emotion, the current study aimed to identify the physiological correlates of continuous changes in subjective emotional states while listening to a complete music piece. A total of 19 participants listened to the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 5th symphony (duration: ~7.4 min), during which a continuous 76-channel EEG was recorded. In a second session, the subjects evaluated their emotional arousal during the listening. A fast fourier transform was performed and covariance maps of spectral power were computed in association with the subjective arousal ratings. Subjective arousal ratings had good inter-individual correlations. Covariance maps showed a right-frontal suppression of lower alpha-band activity during high arousal. The results indicate that music is a powerful arousal-modulating stimulus. The temporal dynamics of the piece are well suited for sequential analysis, and could be necessary in helping unfold the full emotional power of music.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bolligenstrasse 111, 3000, Bern 60, Switzerland

    Christian Mikutta & Werner Strik

  2. University Hospital of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, University of Bern, Bolligenstrasse 111, 3000, Bern 60, Switzerland

    Andreas Altorfer & Thomas Koenig

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  1. Christian Mikutta
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  2. Andreas Altorfer
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Correspondence to Christian Mikutta.

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Mikutta, C., Altorfer, A., Strik, W. et al. Emotions, Arousal, and Frontal Alpha Rhythm Asymmetry During Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. Brain Topogr 25, 423–430 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-012-0227-0

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