Pleasurable Emotional Response to Music: A Case of Neurodegenerative Generalized Auditory Agnosia

Journal

Neurocase

Year

2009

Volume

15

Issue

3

First Page

248

Last Page

259

Abstract

Recent functional neuroimaging studies implicate the network of mesolimbic structures known to be active in reward processing as the neural substrate of pleasure associated with listening to music. Psychoacoustic and lesion studies suggest that there is a widely distributed cortical network involved in processing discreet musical variables. Here we present the case of a young man with auditory agnosia as the consequence of cortical neurodegeneration who continues to experience pleasure when exposed to music. In a series of musical tasks, the subject was unable to accurately identify any of the perceptual components of music beyond simple pitch discrimination, including musical variables known to impact the perception of affect. The subject subsequently misidentified the musical character of personally familiar tunes presented experimentally, but continued to report that the activity of 'listening' to specific musical genres was an emotionally rewarding experience. The implications of this case for the evolving understanding of music perception, music misperception, music memory, and music-associated emotion are discussed.

Music and Health Institute Terms

Alzheimer's and Related Dementias; Cognitive Abilities; Emotional Functioning; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Memory; Music and Cognition; Music Cognition; Music Listening; Neurodegenerative Disorders

Indexed Terms

Agnosia; Atrophy; Auditory Perception; Auditory Perceptual Disorders; Brain; Cerebrovascular Disorders; Disease Progression; Emotions; Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration; Limbic System; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Memory; Models, Neurological; Nerve Net; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Neuropsychological Tests; Pleasure; Reward

Study Type

Case Study; Qualitative Methods

Disciplines

Neurology

PubMed ID

19253088

Document Type

Article

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