Sadness is unique: neural processing of emotions in speech prosody in musicians and non-musicians.

Musical training has been shown to have positive effects on several aspects of speech processing, however, the effects of musical training on the neural processing of speech prosody conveying distinct emotions are yet to be better understood. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether the neural responses to speech prosody conveying happiness, sadness, and fear differ between musicians and non-musicians. Differences in processing of emotional speech prosody between the two groups were only observed when sadness was expressed.

Self processing in the brain: a paradigmatic fMRI case study with a professional singer.

Understanding the mechanisms involved in perception and conception of oneself is a fundamental psychological topic with high relevance for psychiatric and neurological issues, and it is one of the great challenges in neuroscientific research. The paradigmatic single-case study presented here aimed to investigate different components of self- and other-processes and to elucidate corresponding neurobiological underpinnings. An eminent professional opera singer with profound performance experience has undergone functional magnetic resonance imaging and was exposed to excerpts of Mozart arias, sung by herself or another singer.

Differences between musicians and non-musicians in neuro-affective processing of sadness and fear expressed in music.

Music is known to convey and evoke emotional states. Musical training has been argued to lead to changes in neural architecture and enhanced processing of emotions. It is not clear, however, whether musical training is also associated with changes in behavioral and neural responses to musically conveyed discrete emotions.

Personality traits modulate neural responses to emotions expressed in music.

Music communicates and evokes emotions. The number of studies on the neural correlates of musical emotion processing is increasing but few have investigated the factors that modulate these neural activations. Previous research has shown that personality traits account for individual variability of neural responses.

Overture for growth hormone: requiem for interleukin-6?

Background: Music has been used for therapeutic purposes since the beginning of cultural history. However, despite numerous descriptions of beneficial effects, the precise mechanisms by which music may improve human well-being remain unclear.

Methods: We conducted a randomized study in ten critically ill patients to identify mechanisms of music-induced relaxation using a special selection of slow movements of Mozart's piano sonatas.