Feeling the Music: Preceding Vibroacoustic Stimulation Modulates Oscillatory Brain Dynamics During Music Listening
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Background
Although typically considered an auditory experience, music listening engages multiple sensory systems, including somatosensory and motor pathways, making it an inherently multisensory phenomenon. However, research has predominantly examined the influence of music on other sensory systems, while the reciprocal question of how the existing state of a sensory system modulates the music listening experience, has received considerably less attention. To address this gap, we examined neural activity during music listening in two somatosensory states: one preceded by vibroacoustic stimulation (VAS) and one preceded by rest alone.
Methods
Forty participants completed two MEG sessions in a within-subject crossover design. In one session, they received 20 minutes of 40 Hz VAS before listening to 10 minutes of self-selected relaxing music (VAS_ML); in the other, they lay on the same mattress without stimulation (NoVAS_ML). Oscillatory and aperiodic activity were estimated using DICS beamforming and FOOOF decomposition for the whole music period and for early and late listening segments.
Results
Across the full listening period, the VAS condition was associated with reduced alpha power in the posterior temporal lobe and increased low-gamma power in the medial somatosensory and motor cortices compared to the NoVAS condition, suggesting enhanced cortical excitability and stronger auditory-motor engagement. Over time, both music listening conditions showed increases in alpha and beta power, consistent with habituation to the musical stimulus, though the spatial distribution differed qualitatively: changes were widespread across temporal and occipital regions in the NoVAS condition but remained localized to temporal areas after VAS. Additionally, VAS uniquely increased temporal-lobe theta power over time, whereas the NoVAS condition showed a decrease in the aperiodic exponent. Subjectively, participants reported stronger emotional intensity during music listening after VAS.
Conclusion
These findings suggest that preceding VAS induces a more engaged neural state and qualitatively alters the temporal dynamics of music processing.
