COSMOS MAGAZINE

How songs help decode the brain’s mood shifts

Neuroscientists teamed up with musicians to explore how the brain shifts between emotional states using custom-composed music.

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Using fMRI, they studied how 39 people’s brains responded to musical passages designed to evoke emotional transitions.

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They found that brain activity during these transitions depended on the listener’s previous emotional state — sadness felt different after joy than after tension.

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This research could lead to new ways to detect emotional rigidity in mood disorders like depression and improve mental health treatments.

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