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Brain Sciences
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Exploring the Role of Music in Cognitive Processes
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Exploring the Role of Music in Cognitive Processes

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Behavioral Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2024) | Viewed by 4729

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Marta Olivetti Belardinelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
2. ECONA*, Interuniversity Centre for the Research on Cognitive Processing in Natural and Artificial Systems, Rome, Italy
Interests: psychology of time; psychology of rhythm; psychology of music; embodied cognition; dynamic models of cognitive processes; consciousness; adaptation and adjustment; neuroimaging of cognitive processes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Music processing, either consciously or unconsciously, yields negative or positive emotions as well as affecting cognition in terms of attention, memory, problem-solving, decision-making, creativity, and so on.

In its three modalities, Composition, Performance, and Listening, music aims to realize an emotional communication. Its scope is therefore to determine a corresponding emotional state in the recipient of the shared communication. Since music is a highly dynamic process occurring in the mind of the musician and/or the listener, existing only when experienced, it requires the contribution and integration of different disciplines and methods to be clarified.

To investigate the multifaceted effects of the communication that forms the musical experience, both in the communicator and the recipient, all the cognitive processes involved in the musical experience, in their behavioral and psychophysiological manifestations, as to their possible application in clinic and education, will be considered in this e-topic collection.

The present Special Issue invites studies focusing on the different effects of music on the variety of facets of both emotion and cognition. The studies should consider both healthy people and individuals with health problems. Both advanced experimental research and reviews in this field are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Marta Olivetti Belardinelli
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • music processing
  • dynamic processes
  • cognitive processes
  • shared communication
  • emotions
  • attention
  • memory
  • problem-solving
  • decision-making
  • creativity

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2789 KiB  
Article
What Does It Take to Play the Piano? Cognito-Motor Functions Underlying Motor Learning in Older Adults
by Florian Worschech, Edoardo Passarotto, Hannah Losch, Takanori Oku, André Lee and Eckart Altenmüller
Brain Sci. 2024, 14(4), 405; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14040405 - 20 Apr 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3127
Abstract
The acquisition of skills, such as learning to play a musical instrument, involves various phases that make specific demands on the learner. Knowledge of the cognitive and motor contributions during learning phases can be helpful in developing effective and targeted interventions for healthy [...] Read more.
The acquisition of skills, such as learning to play a musical instrument, involves various phases that make specific demands on the learner. Knowledge of the cognitive and motor contributions during learning phases can be helpful in developing effective and targeted interventions for healthy aging. Eighty-six healthy older participants underwent an extensive cognitive, motoric, and musical test battery. Within one session, one piano-related and one music-independent movement sequence were both learned. We tested the associations between skill performance and cognito-motor abilities with Bayesian mixed models accounting for individual learning rates. Results showed that performance was positively associated with all cognito-motor abilities. Learning a piano-related task was characterized by relatively strong initial associations between performance and abilities. These associations then weakened considerably before increasing exponentially from the second trial onwards, approaching a plateau. Similar performance–ability relationships were detected in the course of learning a music-unrelated motor task. Positive performance–ability associations emphasize the potential of learning new skills to produce positive cognitive and motor transfer effects. Consistent high-performance tasks that demand maximum effort from the participants could be very effective. However, interventions should be sufficiently long so that the transfer potential can be fully exploited. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Role of Music in Cognitive Processes)
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Review

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34 pages, 2098 KiB  
Review
Physiological Entrainment: A Key Mind–Body Mechanism for Cognitive, Motor and Affective Functioning, and Well-Being
by Marco Barbaresi, Davide Nardo and Sabrina Fagioli
Brain Sci. 2025, 15(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15010003 - 24 Dec 2024
Viewed by 991
Abstract
Background: The human sensorimotor system can naturally synchronize with environmental rhythms, such as light pulses or sound beats. Several studies showed that different styles and tempos of music, or other rhythmic stimuli, have an impact on physiological rhythms, including electrocortical brain activity, heart [...] Read more.
Background: The human sensorimotor system can naturally synchronize with environmental rhythms, such as light pulses or sound beats. Several studies showed that different styles and tempos of music, or other rhythmic stimuli, have an impact on physiological rhythms, including electrocortical brain activity, heart rate, and motor coordination. Such synchronization, also known as the “entrainment effect”, has been identified as a crucial mechanism impacting cognitive, motor, and affective functioning. Objectives: This review examines theoretical and empirical contributions to the literature on entrainment, with a particular focus on the physiological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon and its role in cognitive, motor, and affective functions. We also address the inconsistent terminology used in the literature and evaluate the range of measurement approaches used to assess entrainment phenomena. Finally, we propose a definition of “physiological entrainment” that emphasizes its role as a fundamental mechanism that encompasses rhythmic interactions between the body and its environment, to support information processing across bodily systems and to sustain adaptive motor responses. Methods: We reviewed the recent literature through the lens of the “embodied cognition” framework, offering a unified perspective on the phenomenon of physiological entrainment. Results: Evidence from the current literature suggests that physiological entrainment produces measurable effects, especially on neural oscillations, heart rate variability, and motor synchronization. Eventually, such physiological changes can impact cognitive processing, affective functioning, and motor coordination. Conclusions: Physiological entrainment emerges as a fundamental mechanism underlying the mind–body connection. Entrainment-based interventions may be used to promote well-being by enhancing cognitive, motor, and affective functions, suggesting potential rehabilitative approaches to enhancing mental health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Role of Music in Cognitive Processes)
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