Electrical Engineering Department, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad Postal Code: 9177948974, Iran.
Shiraz Neuroscience Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz Postal Code: 7194815644, Iran.
Brain Res. 2019 May 15;1711:7-15. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2019.01.011. Epub 2019 Jan 7.
We investigated the neural correlates of pleasure induced by listening to highly pleasant and neutral musical excerpts using electroencephalography (EEG). Power spectrum analysis of EEG data showed a distinct gradual change in the power of low-frequency oscillations in response to highly pleasant, but not neutral, musical excerpts. Specifically, listening to highly pleasant music was associated with (i) relatively higher oscillatory activity in the theta band over the frontocentral (FC) area and in the alpha band over the parieto-occipital area, and (ii) a gradual increase in the oscillatory power over time. Correlation analysis between behavioral and electrophysiological data revealed that theta power over the FC electrodes was correlated with subjective assessment of pleasantness while listening to music. To study the link between attention and positive valence in our experiments, volunteers performed a delayed match-to-sample memory task while listening to the musical excerpts. The subjects' performances were significantly lower under highly pleasant conditions compared to neutral conditions. Listening to pleasant music requires higher degrees of attention, leading to the observed decline in memory performance. Gradual development of low-frequency oscillations in the frontal and posterior areas may be at least partly due to gradual recruitment of higher levels of attention over time in response to pleasurable music.
我们使用脑电图（EEG）研究了聆听高度愉悦和中性音乐片段时愉悦感产生的神经相关性。脑电图数据的功率谱分析显示，低频振荡的功率在对高度愉悦但非中性的音乐片段的反应中发生了明显的逐渐变化。具体来说，聆听高度愉悦的音乐与以下方面相关：（i）在前额中央（FC）区域的θ波段中存在相对较高的振荡活动，在顶枕区域的α波段中存在较高的振荡活动，以及（ii）随着时间的推移，振荡功率逐渐增加。行为和电生理数据之间的相关分析表明，FC 电极上的θ功率与聆听音乐时对愉悦感的主观评估相关。为了在我们的实验中研究注意力和正效价之间的联系，志愿者在聆听音乐片段的同时执行了延迟匹配样本记忆任务。与中性条件相比，在高度愉悦的条件下，受试者的表现明显下降。聆听愉悦的音乐需要更高程度的注意力，导致观察到的记忆表现下降。额叶和枕叶区域低频振荡的逐渐发展可能至少部分归因于随着时间的推移，对愉悦音乐的注意力逐渐增强。
