Ressources.ircam

Philosophers and music theorists alike have long emphasized the pleasure that is derived purely from attentive listening to musical structure, or from simply “following and anticipating the composer’s designs, here to be confirmed in his expectations, there to be agreeably led astray.” (Hanslick, 1854). However, research into how pleasure from musical structure is mediated by the brain’s
emotion and reward systems is still in its infancy.
In this talk, I will present ongoing (neuroimaging and behavioural) studies that examine the extent to which “novelty” (once considered an “aesthetic perfection” along with the beautiful and the sublime) may constitute an intrinsic source of reward from music listening. I will discuss these studies in the context of a larger research program focusing on how epistemic emotions, in general, may also contribute to the reward derived from attentive music listening.