Body Maps of Uncertainty and Surprise in Musical Chord Progression and its individual differences in Depression and Body Perception Sensitivity

Abstract

Music has profoundly shaped the human experience across diverse cultures and generations, yet the mechanisms that it influences our minds and bodies remain elusive. This study examined how the perception of music chords elicits bodily sensations and emotions through predictive processing of the brain. By deploying body-mapping tests and emotional evaluations on 527 participants exposed to chord progressions, we unveil the intricate interplay between musical uncertainty, prediction error, and temporal dynamics in eliciting specific bodily sensations and emotions. Our results demonstrated that the chord progressions characterized by low uncertainty coupled with high surprise or predictability evoke bodily sensations closely associated with interoception including the cardiac and abdominal regions. Notably, these sensations are associated with aesthetic appreciation, with the intensity of cardiac sensations being positively correlated with valence in chord progressions with low uncertainty and high surprise. These results highlight the pivotal role of uncertainty and prediction error in shaping emotional responses and also suggest a hypothesis for emotion generation through predictive processing and sound embodiment. This study offers a tantalizing glimpse into the potential nexus between interoception by music and mental well-being, underscoring the importance of recognizing diverse forms of musical pleasure and their unique effects on our minds and bodies.