Investigating the emotional response to room acoustics: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

While previous research has demonstrated the powerful influence of pleasant and unpleasant music on emotions, the present study utilizes functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess the positive and negative emotional responses as demonstrated in the brain when listening to music convolved with varying room acoustic conditions. During fMRI scans, subjects rated auralizations created in a simulated concert hall with varying reverberation times. The analysis detected activations in the dorsal striatum, a region associated with anticipation of reward, for two individuals for the highest rated stimulus, though no activations were found for regions associated with negative emotions in any subject.