Frisson
Rhythmic, dynamic, harmonic, and/or melodic violations of a person's explicit or implicit expectations are associated with musical frisson as a prerequisite. Loud, very high or low frequency, or quickly varying sounds (unexpected harmonies, moments of modulations, melodic appoggiaturas) has been shown to arouse the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Activation of the ANS has a consistently strong correlation with frisson, as one study showed that an opioid antagonist could block frisson from music.[4] Leonard Meyer, a prominent philosopher of music, argues that music's ability to evoke emotion in the listener stems from its ability to meet and break expectations.[17]
Frisson can be induced by spectating a dance performance, which involves both observing the dancers and hearing the music, corresponding to two sense modalities: vision and audition, respectively. This scenario provides the means for frisson to occur, yet it is not guaranteed that the conflict between audition and vision will trigger frisson.[18]
Frisson can also be a product of emotional contagion. Within the context of music, emotional contagion involves various musical devices, such as tonality, rhythm, and lyrics that imply emotion, triggering similar emotions in the listener. In "The Emotional Power of Music: Multidisciplinary perspectives on musical arousal, expression, and social control," Stephen Davies suggests that "music is expressive because we experience it as presenting the kind of carriage, gait, or demeanor that can be symptomatic of states such as happiness, sadness, anger, sassy sexuality, and so on."[4][19]
Frisson can also be amplified by one's environment and by the social context that the piece has been listened to. For example, if one listens to a movie soundtrack in a cinema, the overall volume and the film's story will provide intentional context, likely creating deeper emotional feelings of frisson in the listener. The culture and nationality of both the piece and the composer will affect the levels of frisson felt, or if frisson is even felt at all. If one is very familiar with music built on established Western musical traditions, deviations will violate the listener's expectations. If one is from a non-Western culture, deviations from western musical tradition may prove to have no effect on the listener. Jeanette Bicknell, writing for the “Journal of Consciousness Studies,” wrote, “Different musical cultures are based upon different patterns of tonal and rhythmic organization. These patterns of musical structure and meaning are social constructions that evolved through human musical practice."[20]
Experimental studies have also shown that tingling during frisson is accompanied by increased electrodermal activity (skin conductance) – which is mediated via the activation of the sympathetic nervous system – and that the intensity of tingling is positively correlated with the magnitude of sympathetic activation.[6] Frisson is also associated with piloerection, enlarged pupil diameter, and physiological arousal, all of which are mediated by activation of the sympathetic nervous system.[6][7]
Neuroimaging studies have found that the intensity of tingling is positively correlated with the magnitude of brain activity in specific regions of the reward system, including the nucleus accumbens, orbitofrontal cortex, and insular cortex.[6][7] All three of these brain structures are known to contain a hedonic hotspot, a region of the brain that is responsible for producing pleasure cognition.[21][22][23] Since music-induced euphoria can occur without the sensation of tingling or piloerection,[7] the authors of one review hypothesized that the emotional response to music during a frisson evokes a sympathetic response that is experienced as a tingling sensation.[7]
