The highs and lows of music: dynamic neurophysiological entrainment in live concert experiences

EPSRC: Rory Kirk: EP/R513313/1

What makes music a rewarding experience? And why are people's strongest musical experiences most often at live concerts? Research into the psychological functions of music is rapidly growing, reflecting an increased recognition of the power of music, which is paralleled in a growing repertoire of uses of music in health interventions, therapy and commercial entertainment and applications.

Despite growth in research, most of what is known about psychological experience and functions of music is based on research with brief musical excerpts. New technologies and facilities are beginning to allow for research into the effects of longer, intensive music engagement and in more naturalistic settings, such as live concerts. With the McMaster Institute of Music & the Mind, we plan to conduct an empirical study at their Large Interactive Virtual Environment (LIVE) Lab, a unique, 106-seat theatre equipped with technology to simultaneously collect behavioural and neurophysiological measures.

We will measure brain activity (EEG), physiology (heart rate, skin conductance) and self-reports of audience members as they listen to a live concert. Using advanced analysis techniques will enable us to investigate how these neurophysiological measures develop over time, are linked to the music and to subjective experiences of pleasure, absorption, and emotion.

The hypotheses being tested predict that neurophysiological measures 'entrain' (synchronise) with aspects of the music and that such entrainment is stronger in heightened emotional experiences of the music. Furthermore, we speculate that neurophysiological entrainment may be contagious between audience members and positively influenced by seeing the performers.

This research will contribute towards our understanding of cognitive processes during prolonged and potentially intense socio-emotional experiences. It has implications for our understanding of the psychology of music enjoyment and uses of music for health and wellbeing, going beyond models of stimulus-response by taking into account temporal, social and neurophysiological dynamics.