The Joys of Spring: Changes in mental alertness and brain function

Riby, Leigh (2012) The Joys of Spring: Changes in mental alertness and brain function. Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie), 60 (2). pp. 71-79. ISSN 1618-3169

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Abstract

This study used Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, an extraordinary example of program music, to explore the consequence of music exposure on cognitive event-related potentials (ERPs). Seventeen participants performed a three-stimulus visual odd-ball task while ERPs were recorded. Participants were required to differentiate between a rare target stimulus (to elicit a memory updating component; P3b), a rare novel stimulus (to elicit a novelty attention component; P3a), and a frequent nontarget stimulus. During task performance participants listened to the four concertos: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter in comparison to a silent control condition. Additionally, the three movements of each concerto have a fast, slow, fast structure that enabled examination of the impact of tempo. The data revealed that “Spring,” particularly the well-recognized, vibrant, emotive, and uplifting first movement, had the ability to enhance mental alertness and brain measures of attention and memory.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	music, attention, ERPs, P3a, P3b, odd-ball task
Subjects:	C800 Psychology
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User:	Ay Okpokam
Date Deposited:	04 Mar 2013 12:52
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2019 16:29
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/11319

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