Toward a neurobiology of musical emotions

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to present current knowledge about musical emotions from a neuropsychological perspective. With limbic mediation, consistency, and precociousness, musical emotions resemble other important classes of emotions that are important for survival. Because music seems to be a much larger culturally learning component, one may wonder how the relation between music and these neurobiological substrates should be conceptualized. Here, we examine the possibility that music is particularly suited (or designed) to invade emotion circuits that have evolved for emotional vocalizations.