Music AND Cognition

BACKGROUND: Participation in multimodal leisure activities, such as playing a musical instrument, may be protective against brain aging and dementia in older adults (OA). Potential neuroprotective correlates underlying musical activity remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study investigated the association between lifetime musical activity and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) in three higher-order brain networks: the Default Mode, Fronto-Parietal, and Salience networks...

INTRODUCTION: In two studies we investigated if specific acoustic stimulations could be more effective to induce a relaxation response in comparison to silence. Acoustic stimulations included monaural beats and musical sequences based on a pentatonic scale. METHODS: In the first study, 47 participants evaluated monaural beats and pentatonic sequences presented through loudspeakers and varying along three frequencies (0.2, 2, 4 Hz). In the second study, 31 participants relaxed with their eyes closed for 10 min during a passive listening of monaural beats and a pentatonic sequence presented through loudspeakers...

INTRODUCTION: Drawing on the S-O-R model, this study aims to investigate the influence of three stimuli from AI-modified music (i.e., event relevance, lyric resonance, and AI-singer origins), two responses from social media content consumers (i.e., audience interpretation and emotional resonance) on the social media engagement of personalized background music modified by artificial intelligence (AI). METHODS: The structural equation modeling analyses of 467 social media content consumers' responses confirmed the role of those three stimuli and the mediating effect of audience interpretation and emotional resonance in shaping social media engagement...

This quantitative study aimed to explore the relationships among music performance anxiety (MPA), teacher anxiety (TA), and self-efficacy (SE) through a survey study of Chinese preservice music teachers ( N  = 237). We also examined gender, grade, primary instrument, secondary instrument, music learning time length, and time spent in four activities: peer teaching, practicum, internship, and private teaching as potential predictors of MPA, TA, and SE. Results indicated that the higher the self-efficacy, the lower music performance anxiety and teaching anxiety; Simultaneously, the increased music performance anxiety was associated with an increased teaching anxiety...

In the original publication [...].

The acquisition of skills, such as learning to play a musical instrument, involves various phases that make specific demands on the learner. Knowledge of the cognitive and motor contributions during learning phases can be helpful in developing effective and targeted interventions for healthy aging. Eighty-six healthy older participants underwent an extensive cognitive, motoric, and musical test battery. Within one session, one piano-related and one music-independent movement sequence were both learned. We tested the associations between skill performance and cognito-motor abilities with Bayesian mixed models accounting for individual learning rates...

Jacoby and colleagues used an iterative rhythm reproduction paradigm with listeners from around the world to provide evidence for both rhythm universals (simple-integer ratios 1:1 and 2:1) and cross-cultural variation for specific rhythmic categories that can be linked to local music traditions in different regions of the world.

Traditionally, visual, perceptual, and cognitive (VPC) testing is performed in well-lit, silent rooms, whilst seated, and with little incentive. Whilst this is a well-controlled setting, it may lack key features of ecological validity and therefore generalisations to real-world environments and tasks may be erroneous. In the present study, 60 participants completed tests of processing speed, divided attention, and selective attention under varying conditions of light, auditory demands, movement demands, and incentive...

More than a century ago, Darwin proposed a putative role for music in sexual attraction (i.e., sex appeal), a hypothesis that has recently gained traction in the field of music psychology. In his writings, Darwin particularly emphasized the charming aspects of music. Across a broad range of cultures, music has a profound impact on humans' feelings, thoughts and behavior. Human mate choice is determined by the interplay of several factors. A number of studies have shown that music and musicality (i.e., the ability to produce and enjoy music) exert a positive influence on the evaluation of potential sexual partners...

PURPOSE: This study is aimed at the seniors of the "2022 Taiwan Senior Citizens Fitness Club Subsidy Plan" with a sample. METHOD: The doctor will diagnose and confirm whether the physical condition suits participation. Then, the professional sports instructor will design and arrange a progressive fitness enhancement group course suitable for the Senior person's physical fitness, conducted four times a week, every 2 h, for three months of group course training...

The topic of attentional focus (focus of attention, FOA) in musical learning and performance has recently received increasing interest, as the growing number of empirical studies inspired by the established FOA paradigm in sports by Wulf and colleagues in 1998. The current systematical review aims at collecting, abstracting, and categorizing relevant data to show which kinds of FOA instructions were applied in experimental designs and what kinds of dependent variables were used to measure the effects of FOA instruction on musical performance...

Numerous studies have explored the effects of background music on reading comprehension, however, little is known about how native language (L1) lyrics and second language (L2) lyrics in background music influence reading comprehension performance for college students. The present study used a mixed experimental design to examine the effects of listening habits (between-participants variable: non-listeners or listeners), music type (between-participants variable: L1 (Mandarin) pop music, L2 (English) pop music or no music) and text language (within-participants variable: L1 or L2) on reading comprehension of college students in East China...

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of nonpharmacological interventions (NPIs) on poststroke depression (PSD) in stroke patients. METHODS: Computer searches were conducted on the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), and Wanfang databases from their establishment to December 2023. The selection was made using the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and 40 articles were included to compare the effects of the 17 NPIs on patients with PSD...

INTRODUCTION: Subjective cognitive decline means a decline in the subjective perception of self-cognitive function, which is likely to evolve into mild cognitive impairment and dementia. The number of elderly with subjective cognitive decline has increased, bringing huge burdens and challenges to caregivers and society. With the increase in research on art therapies, some of them have gradually been proven to be effective for cognitive function. Therefore, this study aims to summarise the evidence and identify the best art therapy for elderly with subjective cognitive decline...

BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurobehavioral disorder. Treatments for ADHD include pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapy. However, pharmacological treatments have side effects such as poor appetite, sleep disturbance, and headache. Moreover, nonpharmacological treatments are not effective in ameliorating core symptoms and are time-consuming. Hence, developing an alternative and effective treatment without (or with fewer) side effects is crucial...

Schizophrenia is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder with significant morbidity. Treatment options that address the spectrum of symptoms are limited, highlighting the need for innovative therapeutic approaches. Gamma Entrainment Using Sensory Stimulation (GENUS) is an emerging treatment for neuropsychiatric disorders that uses sensory stimulation to entrain impaired oscillatory network activity and restore brain function. Aberrant oscillatory activity often underlies the symptoms experienced by patients with schizophrenia...

INTRODUCTION: The field of electroencephalogram (EEG)-based emotion identification has received significant attention and has been widely utilized in both human-computer interaction and therapeutic settings. The process of manually analyzing electroencephalogram signals is characterized by a significant investment of time and work. While machine learning methods have shown promising results in classifying emotions based on EEG data, the task of extracting distinct characteristics from these signals still poses a considerable difficulty...

The strategies that enable musicians to adapt their behaviors so that they can break through, feel energized, and perform well collectively distinguish what it is to be a self-regulated learner. These strategies range from one's ability to monitor thoughts and actions to being able to navigate and control one's emotions, especially when feeling frustrated or anxious. Given the challenges of the music profession, it becomes imperative for teachers to equip their students with the necessary skills to self-regulate their own actions, feelings, and thinking so that they are eventually able to cope with the demands required of a contemporary professional musical career...

Nowadays there are multiple ways to perceive music, from attending concerts (live) to listening to recorded music through headphones (medial). In between there are many mixed modes, such as playback performances. In empirical music research, this plurality of performance forms has so far found little recognition. Until now no measuring instrument has existed that could adequately capture the differences in perception and aesthetic judgment. The purpose of our empirical investigation was to capture all dimensions relevant to such an assessment...

Physical and mental health problems in music students are usually identified using self-reported data. The use of an Electronic Health Record database can avoid biases to give an overview of the extent of health problems in this population. Therefore, the aim of this study is to gain insight into both physical and mental health related issues in classical music students using this type of data collection. An Electronic Health Record database including five years of data from a Performing Arts Health Centre (PAHC) of a university or the arts, was used to analyze the number and characteristics of health consultations in music students...