Live musical performances trigger a stronger emotional response than listening to music from a device.
This was revealed by a study by the University of Zurich, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers studied the effects on emotional processes in the human brain. To do so, they conducted an elaborate experiment in which a pianist changed the live music he was playing to intensify emotional reactions in the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain.
During the experiment, the researchers measured real-time activity in the amygdala of 27 listeners and the performer of the musical pieces using magnetic resonance imaging.
Based on these measurements, the pianist immediately adapted his performance to further intensify the audience's emotions.
To compare reactions, listeners were then played a recording of the same music performed by the same musician.
"Our study showed that pleasant and unpleasant emotions performed in the form of live music elicited much more intense and constant activity in an area of the brain called the amygdala than recorded music - notes Sascha Frühholz, lead author of the research - The live performance also stimulated a more active exchange of information throughout the brain, indicating strong emotional processing in the affective and cognitive parts of the brain."
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