Tension-related activity in the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala: an fMRI study with music | Zendy

Moritz Lehne | Zendy; Martin Rohrmeier | Zendy; Stefan Koelsch | Zendy

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Tension-related activity in the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala: an fMRI study with music

Author(s) -

Moritz Lehne,

Martin Rohrmeier,

Stefan Koelsch

Publication year - 2013

Publication title -

social cognitive and affective neuroscience

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 2.229

H-Index - 103

eISSN - 1749-5024

pISSN - 1749-5016

DOI - 10.1093/scan/nst141

Subject(s) - orbitofrontal cortex , psychology , functional magnetic resonance imaging , amygdala , neural correlates of consciousness , brain activity and meditation , neuroimaging , cognitive psychology , neuroscience , audiology , prefrontal cortex , electroencephalography , cognition , medicine

Tonal music is characterized by a continuous flow of tension and resolution. This flow of tension and resolution is closely related to processes of expectancy and prediction and is a key mediator of music-evoked emotions. However, the neural correlates of subjectively experienced tension and resolution have not yet been investigated. We acquired continuous ratings of musical tension for four piano pieces. In a subsequent functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, we identified blood oxygen level-dependent signal increases related to musical tension in the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (pars orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyrus). In addition, a region of interest analysis in bilateral amygdala showed activation in the right superficial amygdala during periods of increasing tension (compared with decreasing tension). This is the first neuroimaging study investigating the time-varying changes of the emotional experience of musical tension, revealing brain activity in key areas of affective processing.

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