New Dissertation Reveals Listening to Music is a Multisensory Experience
A new doctoral dissertation in musicology reveals a dynamic map of the brain, showing how large-scale neural networks interact—like instruments in a symphony—to create our musical experience. The study demonstrates that music processing is a complex, whole-brain endeavor, engaging not only hearing but also vision, reward, and introspection.
The research investigated the brain's "hidden dance"—its dynamic functional connectivity—during listening music. Using advanced neuroimaging analysis, Dai captured how neural networks interact in real time, moving beyond static brain areas. The work explored the dynamics behind aesthetic chills, the influence of musical expertise, and development in preadolescents.
The findings revealed that the feeling of musical beauty is a complex cognitive event, driven by the brain's reward center dynamically interacting with other networks. The research demonstrated that musical training sculpts the brain's functional architecture by refining interactions between cognitive control and sensory integration systems. Furthermore, the study showed that the brain's capacity for combining sight and sound develops early, with preadolescents already showing established cross-modal integration pathways.
"This work provides a new model for understanding music perception”, says Dai. "It's not about one brain area, but about the precise, timed coordination between distributed networks that process sound, memory, and emotion. We've captured how the brain's dynamic connectome processes music as the temporal art form it is."
This research connects network theory and neuroscience, offering a novel framework that validates existing knowledge and opens new avenues for exploring aesthetics, expertise, and development.
Ruijiao Dai will defend her doctoral dissertation “Dynamic Functional Connectivity during Music Listening: Aesthetic Experience, Musical Expertise, and Childhood Engagement” on Wednesday 10.12.2025 at 12:00 in the M103, Musica, University of Jyväskylä. The opponent will be Assistant Professor Vinoo Alluri (Music Cognition Group, Cognitive Science Lab, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, India) and the Custos Professor Petri Toiviainen (University of Jyväskylä). The language of the event is English.
The research can be read in JYX-archive.
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Ruijiao Dai
