Emotional responses to music perception: An electromyography study

DIAZ ABRAHAN, V.; ALBA, G.; JUSTEL, N.; MUÑOZ, M. A.

Congreso; XXXV Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2020

Music has an extraordinary ability to evoke powerful emotion. However, the psychophysiological mechanisms underlying the effects of music perception remain poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of music perception on the electromyography response (EMG). A total of 23 healthy volunteers participated in the study (mean age = 22.42, SD = 2-9). Facial muscle activity (zygomaticus and corrugator) was recorded while the participants listened to 48 musical excerpts with different emotional valence (pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral), lasting 7?13 seconds each. Electromyography was recorded using BIOPAC MP150 modules (BIOPAC Systems, Inc., Goleta, CA, USA) set at a sample rate of 1,000 samples per second with gain set at 100 Hz. The signals were filtered using a bandpass from 100 to 500 Hz and a notch filter at 60 Hz. The acquisition of the EMG signals was controlled by BIOPAC?s AcqKnowledge software Version 3.0.21 (Mindware Technologies LTD., Gahanna, OH, USA). After recording, the musical excerpts were rated in terms of Valence, Arousal, and Dominance using the computerized version of the Self-Assessment Manikin. The EMG data obtained were analyzed with the Student's t-test, while the subjective assessment was analyzed with repeated measures ANOVA. The subjective assessment showed that the pleasant excerpts presented higher values of valence, arousal, and dominance than the unpleasant and neutral ones (p < .001). The results of EMG showed greater corrugator activity for unpleasant excerpts than for pleasant and neutral ones (p < .001). The zygomaticus showed greated activity for pleasant than unpleasant and neutral excerpts (p = .012). These results show that music induces emotions through physiological changes.