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

Abstract

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.

Keywords: emotion; expectancy; fMRI; music; tension-resolution patterns.

Fig. 1

Top: Audio waveform (gray) and loudness (blue) of the Mendelssohn piece. Bottom: Individual (gray lines) and average (black line) tension ratings (N = 25). Shaded areas highlight time intervals that were modelled as increasing (red) and decreasing (blue) tension (gray shaded areas were excluded from data analysis because tension effects are confounded by music onset or ending). Loudness and tension ratings were downsampled to 1/2 Hz to match the time intervals of image acquisition. Note the similarity of loudness and the tension profile, and that, therefore, loudness was controlled by including it as regressor in the model used for data evaluation.

Fig. 2

SPMs of different contrasts and regressors, (A)–(E) whole-brain analyses (P < 0.05, FWE-corrected) for the contrasts music > rating (A), loudness (B), tension (C), tension (versions with dynamics) > tension (versions without dynamics) (D), and tension increase > tension decrease (E). (F) ROI analysis for left and right amygdala for the contrast tension increase > tension decrease (P < 0.05, small-volume FWE-corrected). All images are shown in neurological convention.

Fig. 3

SPMs (P < 0.05, FWE-corrected) for the functional connectivity analysis with the peak voxel of the left pars orbitalis used as seed region (MNI coordinate: −39 38 −17). The maps show functional connectivity with bilateral hippocampal and amygdalar regions.