Linna Taruffi, Stefan Koelsch med flera har tittat närmare på vad glad och sorgsen musik gör med hjärnan. De fann att sorgsen musik inte bara gjorde försökspersonerna nedstämda, den fördjupade också deras självreflektion. De skriver:
Although over the last decade neuroscience has provided numerous insights into how sad and happy music modulate activity in brain structures involved in emotion, the effects of sad and happy music on cognition remain elusive. In a previous study we found that a common use of sad (but not happy) music is to enhance self-reflection. Since the ability for self-reflection crucially requires internally-directed cognition, which is typical of mind-wandering, we sought to investigate the influence of sad and happy music on mind-wandering episodes. Mind-wandering is a form of self-generated thought, which involves overcoming the constraints of the “here and now” by immersing in one’s own stream of consciousness. Humans spend a substantial amount of time mind-wandering, predominantly about matters of self-importance, social relationships, future planning, and autobiographical memories. Mind-wandering is associated with benefits such as facilitating creative problem solving and delaying gratifcation, but also with costs such as disrupting ongoing task performance.
Deras studie "Effects of Sad and Happy Music on Mind-Wandering and the Default Mode Network" publicerades i Nature Scientific Reports 31 oktober 2017. Den är fritt tillgänglig och kan läsas här.
Stefan Koelsch, professor i musikpsykologi vid Universitetet i Bergen, besökte KI förra året och deltog i vår föreläsningsserie Den kulturella hjärnan. Han berättade om sin forskning i Svenska Dagbladet 1/9 2017.
Se också The pleasures of sad music: a systematic review av Matthew Sachs, Antonio Damasio och Habibi Assal.