Preferred music listening is associated with perceptual learning enhancement at the expense of self-focused attention

Abstract

Can preferred music listening improve following attentional and learning performances? Here we suggest that this may be the case. In Experiment 1, following preferred and non-preferred musical-piece listening, we recorded electrophysiological responses to an auditory roving-paradigm. We computed the mismatch negativity (MMN – the difference between responses to novel and repeated stimulation), as an index of perceptual learning, and we measured the correlation between trial-by-trial EEG responses and the fluctuations in Bayesian Surprise, as a quantification of the neural attunement with stimulus informational value. Furthermore, during music listening, we recorded oscillatory cortical activity. MMN and trial-by-trial correlation with Bayesian surprise were significantly larger after subjectively preferred versus non-preferred music, indicating the enhancement of perceptual learning. The analysis on oscillatory activity during music listening showed a selective alpha power increased in response to preferred music, an effect often related to cognitive enhancements. In Experiment 2, we explored whether this learning improvement was realized at the expense of self-focused attention. Therefore, after preferred versus non-preferred music listening, we collected Heart-Beat Detection (HBD) accuracy, as a measure of the attentional focus toward the self. HBD was significantly lowered following preferred music listening. Overall, our results suggest the presence of a specific neural mechanism that, in response to aesthetically pleasing stimuli, and through the modulation of alpha oscillatory activity, redirects neural resources away from the self and toward the environment. This attentional up-weighting of external stimuli might be fruitfully exploited in a wide area of human learning activities, including education, neurorehabilitation and therapy.

Beauty and Uncertainty as Transformative Factors: A Free Energy Principle Account of Aesthetic Diagnosis and Intervention in Gestalt Psychotherapy

“…However, we already discussed that such aesthetic attitude does not necessarily require an artistic context (e.g., being in a museum or attending to a theatre play; Pelowski et al, 2017 ), but can be triggered by the expectation of beauty itself in the everyday context ( Sarasso et al, 2020a ). As we demonstrated in a recent paper, the “top-down” expectation of aesthetic pleasure prompted by “bottom-up” aesthetically rewarding experiences, reorients attention from self-referred to environmental stimuli ( Sarasso et al, 2022 ). Similarly, the aesthetic approach in perceiving field forces in therapy is at the root of therapeutic change ( Bloom, 2011 ; Francesetti, 2012 ).…”

“…Not all affects however are able to become proper feelings when social support is missing. Even at a neurophysiological level, the presence of others can make us more or less attuned to sensory and affective uncertainty ( Sarasso et al, 2022 ). For example, John Bowlby described affective detachment or denial as the last defensive phase of early childhood abandonment ( Bowlby, 1960 ).…”

“…Altogether, these findings are referred to as shared attention effects ( Shteynberg, 2015 ). We previously suggested ( Sarasso et al, 2022 ) that the intensification of shared experience may be interpreted as the result of a sensory up-weighting driven by co-presence and implemented through the disinhibition of the post-synaptic gain of pyramidal cells encoding prediction errors ( Auksztulewicz and Friston, 2015 ; Heilbron and Chait, 2017 ).…”

Usability of the REHOME Solution for the Telerehabilitation in Neurological Diseases: Preliminary Results on Motor and Cognitive Platforms

“…An ad-hoc questionnaire was designed to investigate the peculiarities of usability and patient’s satisfaction of a 3D exergame in which a gamified systematic approach and aesthetically pleasing backgrounds were adopted, as several studies have shown that these two elements are able to support patients’ motivation and learning outcomes [ 46 , 101 , 103 , 104 ]. The study also included neuropsychological tests, online behavioral assessments, and specific in-person electrophysiological protocols to monitor the rehabilitation course of patients [ 103 , 105 , 106 , 107 ]. Preliminary results of the questionnaire showed an overall satisfaction rate of more than 65%, with no significant modulations induced by the presence of depressive symptomatology (BDI-II total score) and global cognitive functioning (MoCA total score).…”

The rewarding compensatory mechanism of music enhances the sense of fairness

“…Music is a social product ( Davidson, 2004 ). Despite the vast cultural differences, both China and the West have valued the social function of music in education and governance as an important tool for maintaining social order ( Plato, 1969 ; Cook, 1995 ; Aristotle, 1998 ; Brown and Volgsten, 2005 ; Wilson, 2018 ; Sarasso et al, 2022 ). However, since the Enlightenment, influenced by the aesthetics of Kant and Hegel, some researchers have suggested that the field of art is essentially independent of the area of morality, questioning the notion of art as a tool for moral education.…”