Music synchronizes brainwaves across listeners with strong effects of repetition, familiarity and training
Jens Madsen, Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis, Rhimmon Simchy-Gross and Lucas C. Parra, Scientific Reports, volume 9, Article number: 3576 (2019)
Below we see the inter-subject correlation of 20 subjects as they listen to classical music either composed in a familar style or an unfamilar style.
The traces on the bottom indicate how synchronized the neural responses are between subjects at that point in time. When this inter-subject correlation (ISC) is above the pink-shaded area the correlation is statistically significant.
Experiment 1 - Familiar
Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata No. 20 in A Major, D. 959: 3. Scherzo (Allegro vivace)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony No. 24 in B Flat, K. 182: 1. Allegro Spiritoso
Felix Mendelssohn - String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 44 No. 1
Franz Liszt - A faust Symphony, S. 108: 3. Mephistopheles
Experiment 1 - Unfamiliar
Anton Webern - Symphony, op. 21: II. Variationen
Igor Stravinsky - Piano Sonata (1924), Movement 1
Arnold Schoenberg - 5 Orchestral Pieces, Op. 16 No. 5 Das obligate Resitativ
György Ligeti - String Quartet No. 1, “Metamorphoses nocturnes”
Experiment 2&3 - Familiar
Camille Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op 33 I. Tempo 1
William Grant Still - Symphony No. 1, Movement 1
Gioachino Rossini - La Gazza Ladra: Overture
Felix Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 11, IV: Allegro con fuoco
Georges Bizet - Symphony In C, I. Allegro vivo
Ludwig van Beethoven - Egmont Overture, Op. 84
Experiment 2&3 - Unfamiliar
Arnold Schoenberg - Five Orchestral Pieces Op. 16 I. Vorgefühle
Philip Glass - String Quartet No.5 - Part 3
Béla Bartók - Violin Concerto No 2. Sz. 112, I. Allegro non troppo
Thomas Adès - These Premises Are Alarmed
Silvestre Revueltas - Homenaje a Garcia Lorca: 1. Baiile