Effects of Sad and Happy Music on Mind-Wandering and the Default Mode Network
Liila Taruffi, Corinna Pehrs, Stavros Skouras, Stefan Koelsch
Scientific Reports October 25, 2017 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14849-0 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study with probe-caught thought sampling and fMRI Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | Sad music Happy music |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Mind-wandering Cognitive psychology Speech recognition |
| Citations | 177 |
| Key findings | Sad music, compared with happy music, is associated with stronger mind-wandering and greater centrality of Default Mode Network nodes. |
Abstract
Music is a ubiquitous phenomenon in human cultures, mostly due to its power to evoke and regulate emotions. However, effects of music evoking different emotional experiences such as sadness and happiness on cognition, and in particular on self-generated thought, are unknown. Here we use probe-caught thought sampling and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the influence of sad and happy music on mind-wandering and its underlying neuronal mechanisms. In three experiments we found that sad music, compared with happy music, is associated with stronger mind-wandering (Experiments 1A and 1B) and greater centrality of the nodes of the Default Mode Network (DMN) (Experiment 2). Thus, our results demonstrate that, when listening to sad vs. happy music, people withdraw their attention inwards and engage in spontaneous, self-referential cognitive processes. Importantly, our results also underscore that DMN activity can be modulated as a function of sad and happy music. These findings call for a systematic investigation of the relation between music and thought, having broad implications for the use of music in education and clinical settings.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Functional connectivity of default mode network components: Correlation, anticorrelation, and causality Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study using resting-state fMRI and seed correlation analysis | |
| Patterns of Brain Activity Supporting Autobiographical Memory, Prospection, and Theory of Mind, and Their Relationship to the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2009 | Experimental study using fMRI | |
| Dynamic reconfiguration of the default mode network during narrative comprehension Human subjects | 2016 | Experimental study | |
| Broadband Cortical Desynchronization Underlies the Human Psychedelic State Healthy human participants | 2013 | Experimental study | |
| The brain on art: intense aesthetic experience activates the default mode network Human observers | 2012 | Observational study with fMRI and behavioral analysis |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Mind wandering during creative incubation predicts increases in creative performance in a writing task. Scientific Reports July 9, 2025
- Differences in brain functional connectivity between autonomous sensory meridian response and classical music. Frontiers in Neuroscience 2026
- Parcellation‐based anatomic modeling of the default mode network Brain and Behavior December 18, 2020
Cites 4
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Experience sampling during fMRI reveals default network and executive system contributions to mind wandering. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences May 26, 2009
- A Correspondence between Individual Differences in the Brain's Intrinsic Functional Architecture and the Content and Form of Self-Generated Thoughts PLoS One May 13, 2014
- Moral decision-making, ToM, empathy and the default mode network Biological Psychology March 20, 2012