Considerations about reward mechanisms and maintaining the functional nature of tonal music

Abstract

From the end of the 1990s, several studies based on imaging evidenced the participation of reward mechanisms in the hearing of tonal music. Tonal music is constructed from a set of discrete elements (musical notes) organized in time according to mathematical reasons and well-defined structural relationships, thus enabling, through the repetition of listening, the apprehension of the rules of construction and, consequently, the formation of expectations. Reward mechanisms correspond to systems which are responsive to expectations, comprising three components, formed by partially dissociable neural substrates, related to motivation, learning and hedonia. This paper seeks connections between the characteristics of tonal musical structure and material and the process of musical apprehension and activation of reward systems, suggesting the important role of such mechanisms in maintaining the longevity of tonal music in modern society, particularly in relation to its functional nature.

Keywords

• cognition
• music perception
• reward mechanisms
• tonal music