Can someone explain to me *why* we can perceive emotion in music? It's all kind of magical to me how music really is a universal language. (Erm, it is, right?) We can all recognise a happy tune, a tense tune, an aggressive one, and perhaps a contemplative or serene tune.
Why is that?
Let's #science the shit out of Mastodon. :)
You'll find answers to your question in "Music and social bonding: 'self-other' merging and neurohormonal mechanisms", by Bronwyn Tarr, Jacques Launay, and Robin I. M. Dunbar at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4179700/
If I can recommend a very accessible book by neuroscientist who asked himself very similar questions and wondered what is in our brains and our culture that causes different/same perception and understanding of music:
Daniel J. Levitin
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
@luka @JordiGH Thanks. I haven't read that book, but recommended the Tarr/Launay/Dunbar paper because it is publicly-funded science freely available online.