title: Personality traits modulate neural responses to emotions expressed in music.
abstract: Music communicates and evokes emotions. The number of studies on the neural correlates of musical emotion processing is increasing but few have investigated the factors that modulate these neural activations. Previous research has shown that personality traits account for individual variability of neural responses. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate how the dimensions Extraversion and Neuroticism are related to differences in brain reactivity to musical stimuli expressing the emotions happiness, sadness and fear. 12 participants (7 female, M=20.33 years) completed the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and were scanned while performing a passive listening task. Neurofunctional analyses revealed significant positive correlations between Neuroticism scores and activations in bilateral basal ganglia, insula and orbitofrontal cortex in response to music expressing happiness. Extraversion scores were marginally negatively correlated with activations in the right amygdala in response to music expressing fear. Our findings show that subjects' personality may have a predictive power in the neural correlates of musical emotion processing and should be considered in the context of experimental group homogeneity.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Maximilian University, Goethestr. 31, 80336 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hennig-Fast
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carl
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pöppel
authors.forename: Lorenz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Welker
authors.forename: Maximilian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reiser
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meindl
authors.forename: Evgeny
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gutyrchik
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007206:Individuality; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology*; D009424:Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D010556:Personality Tests; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Fear; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Happiness; Music processing; Personality