A pilot study on how different musical genres affect autonomic response.

The cognitive processes and emotions experienced by individuals during music listening is affected by the specific musical genre of the incoming piece. Specifically, previous studies showed that the categories of Tonality and Salience have different effects in perception and memory at the behavioural and cerebral level. In light of Tulving’s memory model, Tonality, that is based on tonal grammar - implicitly known to every listener in Western culture, seems to be linked to Semantic Memory; on the other side, Salience, based on perceived characteristics, seems to be related to Episodic Memory. Interestingly, listeners' cognitive processes and reactions to music were recently studied by exploring pupil dilation response. The aim of this study is to investigate possible pupillary changes, in perception and recognition, based on four categories of stimuli divided for Salience and Tonality (Salient/Tonal, Salient/Non-tonal, Non-salient/Tonal, Non-salient/Non-tonal), and to examine the extent to which recollection quality is revealed by pupillometry. Twelve music experts (at least five years of musical experience) and fourteen naïve participants listened to 24 short unknown melodies, equally divided in the four categories based on Tonality and Salience and presented in random order. Afterwards, participants were presented with a test list containing 48 stimuli (24 old melodies and 24 new ones) and they had to respond whether each melody: was in the study list (“Remember” response according Tulving’s model; “R”); evoked a sense of familiarity (“Know” response; “K”); or was not recognized at all (“New”). Behavioural results confirm the link between Salience and Episodic Memory (Salient R > Non-Salient R), Tonality and Semantic Memory (Tonal K >Salient K). Pupillometry data highlight the different cognitive load required by Salience and Tonality in relation to different: tasks (perception, recognition), expertise (experts, naïves), gender (males, females) musical style (Salience, Tonality).