Does Brain Electrical Activity React to Music?

Abstract

The electrical activity of the left and right central, temporal and parietal cortex was recorded in 14 amateurs of classical music during silence, pleasant (a piece of music) and unpleasant (a recording of an infant crying) stimulation. All the subjects rated the music as a pleasant stimulation and crying as an unpleasant one. Theta relative power was significantly higher while listening to music and lower during crying. Beta relative power did not change across conditions. No interhemispheric differences in the relative power were found. Interhemispheric correlation did not change either.

Key Words:

• EEG
• Music
• pleasurable stimulation
• crying