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Current Biology : CB Dec 2019Listening to music often evokes intense emotions [1, 2]. Recent research suggests that musical pleasure comes from positive reward prediction errors, which arise when...
Listening to music often evokes intense emotions [1, 2]. Recent research suggests that musical pleasure comes from positive reward prediction errors, which arise when what is heard proves to be better than expected [3]. Central to this view is the engagement of the nucleus accumbens-a brain region that processes reward expectations-to pleasurable music and surprising musical events [4-8]. However, expectancy violations along multiple musical dimensions (e.g., harmony and melody) have failed to implicate the nucleus accumbens [9-11], and it is unknown how music reward value is assigned [12]. Whether changes in musical expectancy elicit pleasure has thus remained elusive [11]. Here, we demonstrate that pleasure varies nonlinearly as a function of the listener's uncertainty when anticipating a musical event, and the surprise it evokes when it deviates from expectations. Taking Western tonal harmony as a model of musical syntax, we used a machine-learning model [13] to mathematically quantify the uncertainty and surprise of 80,000 chords in US Billboard pop songs. Behaviorally, we found that chords elicited high pleasure ratings when they deviated substantially from what the listener had expected (low uncertainty, high surprise) or, conversely, when they conformed to expectations in an uninformative context (high uncertainty, low surprise). Neurally, we found using fMRI that activity in the amygdala, hippocampus, and auditory cortex reflected this interaction, while the nucleus accumbens only reflected uncertainty. These findings challenge current neurocognitive models of music-evoked pleasure and highlight the synergistic interplay between prospective and retrospective states of expectation in the musical experience. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
Topics: Adult; Amygdala; Auditory Cortex; Auditory Perception; Female; Hippocampus; Humans; Male; Music; Nucleus Accumbens; Pleasure; Uncertainty; Young Adult
PubMed: 31708393
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.09.067 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Jan 2024Expectation is crucial for our enjoyment of music, yet the underlying generative mechanisms remain unclear. While sensory models derive predictions based on local...
Expectation is crucial for our enjoyment of music, yet the underlying generative mechanisms remain unclear. While sensory models derive predictions based on local acoustic information in the auditory signal, cognitive models assume abstract knowledge of music structure acquired over the long term. To evaluate these two contrasting mechanisms, we compared simulations from four computational models of musical expectancy against subjective expectancy and pleasantness ratings of over 1000 chords sampled from 739 US Billboard pop songs. Bayesian model comparison revealed that listeners' expectancy and pleasantness ratings were predicted by the independent, non-overlapping, contributions of cognitive and sensory expectations. Furthermore, cognitive expectations explained over twice the variance in listeners' perceived surprise compared to sensory expectations, suggesting a larger relative importance of long-term representations of music structure over short-term sensory-acoustic information in musical expectancy. Our results thus emphasize the distinct, albeit complementary, roles of cognitive and sensory expectations in shaping musical pleasure, and suggest that this expectancy-driven mechanism depends on musical information represented at different levels of abstraction along the neural hierarchy. This article is part of the theme issue 'Art, aesthetics and predictive processing: theoretical and empirical perspectives'.
Topics: Pleasure; Auditory Perception; Music; Motivation; Bayes Theorem; Cognition; Acoustic Stimulation
PubMed: 38104601
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0420 -
Journal of Psychiatric Research Feb 2020Recent conceptual frameworks propose anhedonia reflects abnormalities in the temporal dynamics of positive emotion in schizophrenia, characterized by intact consummatory... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
OBJECTIVE
Recent conceptual frameworks propose anhedonia reflects abnormalities in the temporal dynamics of positive emotion in schizophrenia, characterized by intact consummatory and impaired anticipatory pleasure. A comprehensive meta-analysis can directly test this theory using self-report data.
METHOD
A meta-analysis was performed on studies reporting Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS) data from healthy controls and schizophrenia or schizotypy groups. The TEPS was examined as it contains subscales to measure both consummatory and anticipatory pleasure separately. Statistical heterogeneity and study bias were examined. Meta-regressions evaluated moderators.
RESULTS
53 studies were retrieved (7,797 participants). Results revealed small effect sizes for comparisons of combined schizophrenia/schizotypy and control groups for both consummatory and anticipatory pleasure. Within-group comparisons of pleasure conditions were nonsignificant. The percentage of male schizophrenia/schizotypy participants significantly moderated anticipatory and consummatory pleasure for the combined sample and schizotypy alone; male participants were found to report reduced pleasure. There was only minor evidence of bias; sensitivity analysis confirmed result robustness. Exploratory outlier removal for schizophrenia within-group pleasure comparisons revealed a statistically significant difference between reported anticipatory and consummatory pleasure, with consummatory pleasure reduced relative to anticipatory (i.e., in the opposite direction of the majority of experimental research findings).
CONCLUSIONS
These findings provided only modest support for the temporal dynamics of positive emotion conceptualization because they revealed no evidence for: 1) specific anticipatory pleasure deficits in schizophrenia-spectrum participants compared to controls; 2) significant reductions in anticipatory pleasure relative to consummatory pleasure in schizophrenia-spectrum participants.
Topics: Anhedonia; Anticipation, Psychological; Humans; Pleasure; Schizophrenia; Schizotypal Personality Disorder
PubMed: 31783235
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2019.11.007 -
Scientific Reports Feb 2022The main hypothesis for the relation between physical activity and mental health is that autonomous motivation, such as subjective pleasure for the activity, plays an...
The main hypothesis for the relation between physical activity and mental health is that autonomous motivation, such as subjective pleasure for the activity, plays an important role. However, no report has described empirical research designed to examine the role of subjective pleasure in the relation between objectively measured physical activity and psychological indexes. We used accelerometers to collect data indicating participants' physical activity intensity during a week. Participants recorded their subjective pleasure of activity per hour. In 69% of them, the individual correlation coefficients between physical activity and pleasure in an hour (an index of Physical Activity-Pleasure; PA-PL) were positive (r = 0.22, 95%Cl = [0.11-0.38]), indicating that pleasant sensations increased concomitantly with increasing physical activity. Conversely, 31% participants exhibited negative values of PA-PL, which means that the increase in physical activity had the opposite effect, decreasing pleasure. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that avoidance/rumination behaviors decreased significantly with increased PA-PL (β = -6.82, 95%CI: [-13.27 to -0.38], p < .05). These results indicate that subjective pleasure attached to the PA is more important than the PA amount for reducing depressive behavior.
Topics: Adolescent; Avoidance Learning; Emotions; Exercise; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Health; Motivation; Pleasure; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
PubMed: 35181696
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-06563-3 -
Journal of Affective Disorders Feb 2022Anhedonia has long been theorized to be a multidimensional construct, focusing on domains of reward stimuli and temporal relationship to reward. However, little...
BACKGROUND
Anhedonia has long been theorized to be a multidimensional construct, focusing on domains of reward stimuli and temporal relationship to reward. However, little empirical work has directly examined whether there is support for this assertion.
METHODS
The study used data from young adults from four independent samples (n = 2098). Participants completed multiple measures of anhedonia.
RESULTS
We used rigorous conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on items from six commonly used anhedonia measures to examine dimensions underlying anhedonia. Results suggested a four-factor solution with factors reflecting social reward, social disinterest, status/achievement, and physical/natural reward. The identified factors reflected broad content domains of pleasure, but not specific reward processes. The four factors were modestly associated with one another, suggesting a weak common underlying anhedonia trait that manifests across multiple dimensions. Factor scores were associated with personality measures, reward-related indices, and depression symptoms, supporting the validity of the factors.
LIMITATIONS
Participants were all young adults and we assessed anhedonia only at the level of self-report.
CONCLUSION
Anhedonia is a multidimensional construct. However, the dimensions of anhedonia only distinguish domains of, but not temporal processes of anhedonia. Future work should continue to refine the structures underlying the construct of anhedonia through iterative theory- and data-driven research and examine associations between anhedonia and clinical outcomes.
Topics: Anhedonia; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Humans; Pleasure; Reward; Self Report; Young Adult
PubMed: 34864118
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.11.069 -
Journal of Personality Assessment 2021Are there individual differences in the tendency to enjoy tasks regardless of the tasks' contents or situational determinants? To answer this question, we constructed...
Are there individual differences in the tendency to enjoy tasks regardless of the tasks' contents or situational determinants? To answer this question, we constructed and validated the six-item Trait Task Enjoyment Scale (TTES). In Study 1, it had an internally consistent one-factor structure (pooled = 997); good test-retest reliabilities over 1 and 4 months; measurement invariance regarding gender (strong) and time (partial strong); and was not redundant with respect to a large number of theoretically related constructs. In Studies 2 and 3, the TTES predicted self-reported momentary task enjoyment, one of its opposites, boredom, and voluntary persistence in a free-choice paradigm. It did so for various tasks, including thirty diverse tasks presented in vignettes and a memory task in the lab. Results suggest that the TTES may predict momentary task enjoyment regardless of objective task aversiveness or, in this case, equally well for tasks with boring or enjoyable contents. The TTES addresses an important gap in current research on task enjoyment and is an adequately valid and reliable research tool.
Topics: Emotions; Humans; Individuality; Pleasure; Reproducibility of Results; Self Report
PubMed: 33656404
DOI: 10.1080/00223891.2021.1882473 -
Journal of Sex Research 2022Despite documented negative sexual health sequelae of unwanted sexual contact (USC), it is unclear why individuals who have experienced USC within the context of...
Despite documented negative sexual health sequelae of unwanted sexual contact (USC), it is unclear why individuals who have experienced USC within the context of intoxication (intoxication-related USC) are at particular risk for poor sexual functioning. Intoxication-related USC may impact relational factors like relationship satisfaction, as trauma symptoms interfere with emotional closeness during sex. Additionally, although individual traits - such as sexual excitation and sensation seeking - affect the relationship between trauma and sexual functioning, it is unknown whether these factors differentially impact those who have experienced intoxication-related USC. Finally, because presence of a partner may evoke trauma-related symptoms during partnered (dyadic) sexual activity, mediators may differ across solitary versus dyadic sexual pleasure and desire. We tested relational and individual trait mediators of the association between intoxication-related USC and solitary and dyadic sexual pleasure and desire in a sample of heterosexual and sexual minority women. Trait factors consistently mediated the association between intoxication-related USC and both dyadic and solitary desire and pleasure, while relational factors such as emotional closeness were inconsistently related to sexual wellbeing. If replicated, these findings would suggest that trait factors may be useful targets for clinical sexual wellness interventions among sexuality-diverse women who have experienced intoxication-related USC.
Topics: Female; Humans; Libido; Pleasure; Sexual Partners; Sexual Behavior; Heterosexuality
PubMed: 35262426
DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2022.2030661 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023Predictability plays an important role in the experience of musical pleasure. By leveraging expectations, music induces pleasure through tension and surprise. However,...
Predictability plays an important role in the experience of musical pleasure. By leveraging expectations, music induces pleasure through tension and surprise. However, musical predictions draw on both prior knowledge and immediate context. Similarly, musical pleasure, which has been shown to depend on predictability, may also vary relative to the individual and context. Although research has demonstrated the influence of both long-term knowledge and stimulus features in influencing expectations, it is unclear how perceptions of a melody are influenced by comparisons to other music pieces heard in the same context. To examine the effects of context we compared how listeners' judgments of two distinct sets of stimuli differed when they were presented alone or in combination. Stimuli were excerpts from a repertoire of Western music and a set of experimenter created melodies. Separate groups of participants rated liking and predictability for each set of stimuli alone and in combination. We found that when heard together, the Repertoire stimuli were more liked and rated as less predictable than if they were heard alone, with the opposite pattern being observed for the Experimental stimuli. This effect was driven by a change in ratings between the Alone and Combined conditions for each stimulus set. These findings demonstrate a context-based shift of predictability ratings and derived pleasure, suggesting that judgments stem not only from the physical properties of the stimulus, but also vary relative to other options available in the immediate context.
PubMed: 38034280
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1175682 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023In this paper we analyze some key concepts and problems in olfaction and argue that many concepts borrowed from vision are not helpful in elucidating the functions of... (Review)
Review
In this paper we analyze some key concepts and problems in olfaction and argue that many concepts borrowed from vision are not helpful in elucidating the functions of human olfaction. This is illustrated with several examples. Olfaction is rarely in the focus of human attention. Olfaction is, compared to vision, a 'hidden sense', but still guides many important behaviors by way of unattended unconscious olfactory perception and implicit memory. Not all olfactory processing, however, is of an unconscious nature. Flavors, and the pleasures gained from them, are most often consciously perceived. These are experiences mostly determined by olfaction, taste, touch and chemesthesis. Our analyses lead us to conclude that olfaction should not be modeled on vision, neither conceptually nor with respect to the problems solved by the two senses. A critical examination of the ecological and physical constraints of olfaction and the other senses should be given priority. Such analyses will further our understanding of which problems are solved by the different senses and how they collaborate to guide us through the world.
PubMed: 37829060
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1244480 -
Schizophrenia Bulletin Jun 2022Negative symptoms, particularly the motivation and pleasure (MAP) deficits, are associated with impaired social functioning in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ)....
Negative symptoms, particularly the motivation and pleasure (MAP) deficits, are associated with impaired social functioning in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ). However, previous studies seldom examined the role of the MAP on social functioning while accounting for the complex interplay between other psychopathology. This network analysis study examined the network structure and interrelationship between negative symptoms (at the "symptom-dimension" and "symptom-item" levels), other psychopathology and social functioning in a sample of 269 patients with SCZ. The psychopathological symptoms were assessed using the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Social functioning was evaluated using the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS). Centrality indices and relative importance of each node were estimated. The network structures between male and female participants were compared. Our resultant networks at both the "symptom-dimension" and the "symptom-item" levels suggested that the MAP factor/its individual items were closely related to social functioning in SCZ patients, after controlling for the complex interplay between other nodes. Relative importance analysis showed that MAP factor accounted for the largest proportion of variance of social functioning. This study is among the few which used network analysis and the CAINS to examine the interrelationship between negative symptoms and social functioning. Our findings supported the pivotal role of the MAP factor to determine SCZ patients' social functioning, and as a potential intervention target for improving functional outcomes of SCZ.
Topics: Female; Humans; Male; Motivation; Pleasure; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Reproducibility of Results; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenic Psychology; Social Interaction
PubMed: 35524755
DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbac017