Thematic Contents of Mental Imagery are Shaped by Concurrent Task-Irrelevant Music.

Imagination plays a key role in evidence-based, cognitive therapies, and recent research highlights that music - a perceptual stimulus imbued with affective and social meaning - can influence some aspects of imagination, such as vividness and emotional tone. However, little is known about music's capability to facilitate specific imagery themes that may be relevant for therapy. Here, we examine whether the quantity and quality (related to themes of affect, social dynamics, and confidence) of people's imagery is affected by the presence of task-irrelevant background music.