G.S. Radchenko - Post-graduate Student, Department of Psychophysiology, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. E-mail: radchenko.grigoriy@mail.ru А.V. Bakhchina - Ph.D. (Psych.), Assistant, Department of Psychophysiology, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. E-mail: nastya18-90@mail.ru S.B. Parin - Dr.Sc. (Biol.), Professor, Head of Laboratory of Psychophysiology, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. E-mail: parins@mail.ru S.A. Polevaya - Dr.Sc. (Biol.), Professor, Head of Department of Psychophysiology, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. E-mail: s453383@mail.ru M.N. Korsakova-Kreyn - Ph.D. (Neuroscinces), Lecturer, Touro College, (New-York, USA). E-mail: mnkors@gmail.com A.I. Fedotchev - Leading Research Scientist, Laboratory of Mechanisms of Reception, Institute of Cell Biophysics RAS (Pushchino, Moscow Region). E-mail: fedotchev@mail.ru

This study explored the influence of tonal modulation on changes in encephalographic measures and on the variability of heart rate. The results revealed that the neurophysiological responses depended on degree of modulation in terms of key proximity, and of mode. We found significant differences in the average power of the EEG in theta, alpha and beta bands for close and distant modulation. For those musical phrases where reorientation to another tonic was accompanied with change in mode from major to minor and from minor to major, the distant-key modulations produced greater level of tension for the regulatory system of the listeners as compared to the near-key modulations. This study investigated the influence of tonal modulation on variability of heart rate and on the characteristics of encephalogram. Fifteen volunteers, 10 females and five males (aged 17 - 28, with a mean age of 20.7 years, SD = 3.4), participated in this study. The participants were asked to listen to a set of 48 brief musical phrases created specifically for this study. There were 12 basic modulating phrases, one for each of the 12 steps of the chromatic scale, which were modified to obtain four versions of modulation to each scale degree: from Major to Major mode (MM), from Major to minor (Mm), from minor to Major (mM), and from minor to minor (mm). The set included the zero-step (nonmodulating) condition to provide baseline data for comparing with responses to other modulating musical phrases. The EEG was registered from seven electrodes: Т3,С3,Cz,С4,Т4,P3,Pz,P4. We calculated power spectrum for the following frequency bands: theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), beta1 (13-24 Hz), and beta2 (25-35 Hz). We used 10-second fragments of EEG before, during, and after stimulation. The recordings were obtained with LA and RA electrodes. We calculated power spectrum of variation of RR intervals in VHF frequency band (0.5 - 2 Hz), using Lomb-Scargle periodogram method. For statistical analysis we used Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Fischer criteria, and multiple testing correction (the Benjamini-Yekutieli procedure). For modulation to a near degree, we found a lower power level in the beta 2 band for the stimuli in a minor-minor condition as compared to the stimuli in a Major-Major condition. For distant modulation, we found a lower power level in the theta band and a higher power level in the alpha band for the stimuli in a Major-Major condition as compared to the stimuli in a minor-minor condition. HRV analysis showed that dominant frequency in VHF band changes depended on the modal conditions of musical fragments. The lowest value of dominant frequency in VHF band was registered for the musical fragments in a minor-minor (mm) condition. The maximum value of dominant frequency in VHF band was found for the stimuli in a Major-minor (Mm) condition. When dominant frequencies for the near and distant modulations were compared, it was found that the modulations to a distant degree had lower power of dominant frequency and larger value of dominant frequencies as compared to the modulations to a near degree. The obtained results suggest that the perception of distant modulation in a Major-Major condition allows for greater synchronization of cortical networks than other modal conditions and that the perception of modulation to a distant degree makes greater load for the regulatory systems than modulation to a near degree.

 

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