OxCIN Global Scholars + WIP

Trait-Sensitive Dynamics of Music-Evoked Emotions: Integrating Behavioural Statistical Modelling and In-Vivo Functional MR Spectroscopy

Presented by Arijit Bhattacharya

Abstract: Music is a powerful naturalistic stimulus for evoking and modulating emotions, providing a unique model to investigate the dynamic relationship between subjective affective experience and its neurochemical substrates. This ongoing study employs a multimodal design integrating a behavioural emotion-tracking paradigm with functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy (fMRS) to characterise music-evoked emotional processes across psychological and neurochemical levels. In the behavioural experiment, participants complete validated questionnaires assessing trait-related factors such as mood, anxiety, and musicality, followed by continuous real-time emotion ratings during music listening using an MR-compatible joystick. Statistical modelling of these data reveals inter-individual variability in valence and arousal trajectories, partial correspondence between structural musical features and perceived emotions, and sequential priming effects across musical excerpts, highlighting the influence of trait-dependent top-down modulation on dynamic affective responses. In the neuroimaging experiment, functional H¹-MRS (SVS-PRESS) is used to track task-related fluctuations in key metabolites, including glutamate, glutamine, GABA, and N-acetylaspartate, within predefined regions of interest while participants perform the same music-emotion task inside the scanner. Preliminary findings suggest condition-dependent neurochemical modulation (Glutamate & GABA), with emerging evidence that individual differences in emotional responsiveness are paralleled by trait-linked variations in metabolite dynamics. Ongoing multivariate analyses aim to further characterise the relationship between neurochemical fluctuations and moment-to-moment emotional trajectories. Together, these findings demonstrate that music provides a robust experimental framework for linking behavioural affective dynamics with their underlying neurochemical mechanisms, advancing our understanding of the neurobiology of emotion.

Ocular Plasticity with patching Intervention and esketamine

Betina Ip, Beata GodlewskaHolly Bridge, Emilia Giacco, Ellen Davies

Abstract tbc