Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment

Xin Wang; Feiqun Shu

doi:doi:10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15

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Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment

Xin Wang, Feiqun Shu

Published in Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience (Volume 5, Issue 4)

Received: 30 September 2021 Accepted: 19 October 2021 Published: 28 October 2021

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Abstract

In recent two decades, human brain’s response to the emotions of music has become a focus in both neuroscience and applied musicology. Rapid development in brain scanning such as ERP technique provides facilities to explore this fascinating field. How people respond to music emotionally has become a new area of study. This study is one of such explorations and aims to probe into the physical and mental effects of music with negative emotions on humans. Event-related potential (ERP) and behavioural experiment were conducted with 81 participants (20 to 28 years old) with ANOVA / t-test as the analytical tool to compare the effects of two kinds of negative emotional music, i.e., sad music and fearful music. The results showed that the participants had different neural mechanisms, willingness to listen, feelings and music preferences regarding the two types of music with negative emotions. Although fear and sadness are both negative music emotions, the emotional effects on the participants were significantly different based on brain processing. The participants did not reject sad music, but less than 5% of the participants were able to accept fearful music. There were also significant differences in the speed and intensity of the electroencephalography (EEG) responses as well as emotional stability when the participants processed these two music emotions. In sum, this study suggests that close attention people should be paid to the perception of negative emotional music to design music activities that contribute to a positive aesthetic perception.

Published in	Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience (Volume 5, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15
Page(s)	102-110
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Fearful Music, Sad Music, Emotional Effects, Event Related Potentials

References

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Xin Wang, Feiqun Shu. (2021). Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment. Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience, 5(4), 102-110. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15

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ACS Style

Xin Wang; Feiqun Shu. Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment. Clin. Neurol. Neurosci. 2021, 5(4), 102-110. doi: 10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15

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AMA Style

Xin Wang, Feiqun Shu. Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment. Clin Neurol Neurosci. 2021;5(4):102-110. doi: 10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15

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@article{10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15,
  author = {Xin Wang and Feiqun Shu},
  title = {Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment},
  journal = {Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience},
  volume = {5},
  number = {4},
  pages = {102-110},
  doi = {10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cnn.20210504.15},
  abstract = {In recent two decades, human brain’s response to the emotions of music has become a focus in both neuroscience and applied musicology. Rapid development in brain scanning such as ERP technique provides facilities to explore this fascinating field. How people respond to music emotionally has become a new area of study. This study is one of such explorations and aims to probe into the physical and mental effects of music with negative emotions on humans. Event-related potential (ERP) and behavioural experiment were conducted with 81 participants (20 to 28 years old) with ANOVA / t-test as the analytical tool to compare the effects of two kinds of negative emotional music, i.e., sad music and fearful music. The results showed that the participants had different neural mechanisms, willingness to listen, feelings and music preferences regarding the two types of music with negative emotions. Although fear and sadness are both negative music emotions, the emotional effects on the participants were significantly different based on brain processing. The participants did not reject sad music, but less than 5% of the participants were able to accept fearful music. There were also significant differences in the speed and intensity of the electroencephalography (EEG) responses as well as emotional stability when the participants processed these two music emotions. In sum, this study suggests that close attention people should be paid to the perception of negative emotional music to design music activities that contribute to a positive aesthetic perception.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment
AU  - Xin Wang
AU  - Feiqun Shu
Y1  - 2021/10/28
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15
T2  - Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience
JF  - Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience
JO  - Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience
SP  - 102
EP  - 110
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-8930
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15
AB  - In recent two decades, human brain’s response to the emotions of music has become a focus in both neuroscience and applied musicology. Rapid development in brain scanning such as ERP technique provides facilities to explore this fascinating field. How people respond to music emotionally has become a new area of study. This study is one of such explorations and aims to probe into the physical and mental effects of music with negative emotions on humans. Event-related potential (ERP) and behavioural experiment were conducted with 81 participants (20 to 28 years old) with ANOVA / t-test as the analytical tool to compare the effects of two kinds of negative emotional music, i.e., sad music and fearful music. The results showed that the participants had different neural mechanisms, willingness to listen, feelings and music preferences regarding the two types of music with negative emotions. Although fear and sadness are both negative music emotions, the emotional effects on the participants were significantly different based on brain processing. The participants did not reject sad music, but less than 5% of the participants were able to accept fearful music. There were also significant differences in the speed and intensity of the electroencephalography (EEG) responses as well as emotional stability when the participants processed these two music emotions. In sum, this study suggests that close attention people should be paid to the perception of negative emotional music to design music activities that contribute to a positive aesthetic perception.
VL  - 5
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Xin Wang

College of Music Education, Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Guangzhou, China
Feiqun Shu

Faculty of Music, Bangkok Thonburi University, Bangkok, Thailand

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Xin Wang, Feiqun Shu. (2021). Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment. Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience, 5(4), 102-110. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15

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ACS Style

Xin Wang; Feiqun Shu. Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment. Clin. Neurol. Neurosci. 2021, 5(4), 102-110. doi: 10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15

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AMA Style

Xin Wang, Feiqun Shu. Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment. Clin Neurol Neurosci. 2021;5(4):102-110. doi: 10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15,
  author = {Xin Wang and Feiqun Shu},
  title = {Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment},
  journal = {Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience},
  volume = {5},
  number = {4},
  pages = {102-110},
  doi = {10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cnn.20210504.15},
  abstract = {In recent two decades, human brain’s response to the emotions of music has become a focus in both neuroscience and applied musicology. Rapid development in brain scanning such as ERP technique provides facilities to explore this fascinating field. How people respond to music emotionally has become a new area of study. This study is one of such explorations and aims to probe into the physical and mental effects of music with negative emotions on humans. Event-related potential (ERP) and behavioural experiment were conducted with 81 participants (20 to 28 years old) with ANOVA / t-test as the analytical tool to compare the effects of two kinds of negative emotional music, i.e., sad music and fearful music. The results showed that the participants had different neural mechanisms, willingness to listen, feelings and music preferences regarding the two types of music with negative emotions. Although fear and sadness are both negative music emotions, the emotional effects on the participants were significantly different based on brain processing. The participants did not reject sad music, but less than 5% of the participants were able to accept fearful music. There were also significant differences in the speed and intensity of the electroencephalography (EEG) responses as well as emotional stability when the participants processed these two music emotions. In sum, this study suggests that close attention people should be paid to the perception of negative emotional music to design music activities that contribute to a positive aesthetic perception.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Emotional Effects Stimulated by Sad and Fearful Music: A Comparative Study Based on ERP and Behavioural Experiment
AU  - Xin Wang
AU  - Feiqun Shu
Y1  - 2021/10/28
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15
T2  - Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience
JF  - Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience
JO  - Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience
SP  - 102
EP  - 110
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-8930
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20210504.15
AB  - In recent two decades, human brain’s response to the emotions of music has become a focus in both neuroscience and applied musicology. Rapid development in brain scanning such as ERP technique provides facilities to explore this fascinating field. How people respond to music emotionally has become a new area of study. This study is one of such explorations and aims to probe into the physical and mental effects of music with negative emotions on humans. Event-related potential (ERP) and behavioural experiment were conducted with 81 participants (20 to 28 years old) with ANOVA / t-test as the analytical tool to compare the effects of two kinds of negative emotional music, i.e., sad music and fearful music. The results showed that the participants had different neural mechanisms, willingness to listen, feelings and music preferences regarding the two types of music with negative emotions. Although fear and sadness are both negative music emotions, the emotional effects on the participants were significantly different based on brain processing. The participants did not reject sad music, but less than 5% of the participants were able to accept fearful music. There were also significant differences in the speed and intensity of the electroencephalography (EEG) responses as well as emotional stability when the participants processed these two music emotions. In sum, this study suggests that close attention people should be paid to the perception of negative emotional music to design music activities that contribute to a positive aesthetic perception.
VL  - 5
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download