In a first-of-its-kind experiment, a team of scientists led by Daniel Levitin, Steve McAdams, and Teresa Marrin Nakra attached electrophysiological sensors to conductor Keith Lockhart, 5 members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and 15 audience members, to measure their brain activity and emotional reactions during a live concert in Boston's Symphony Hall on August 8, 2006. 35 additional audience members adjusted a slider box in real time to indicate their experience of emotion during the concert, which featured four pieces by Mozart and two by Robert Kapilow. A remote audience will be similarly wired up on June 6, 2006 at McGill's Tanna Schulich Hall, and will experience a high quality video and audio recording of the concert. If you would ike to attend the concert for free, send email to expt at cirmmt.mcgill.ca (replace the word at with @).
The experiment was designed to address the following research questions:
1) To track the communication of emotion over time from the conductor, to the musicians, and finally to the audience.
2) To quantify differences in arousal and impact between being at a live concert and seeing a broadcast of one.
3) To characterize and quantify any differences in emotional levels and type of emotion experienced from the conductor to the musicians and the musicians to the audience.
The researchers anticipate that it will take several months of data analysis before they can draw any conclusions.
The project was generously supported by Delphys Systems, Thought Technologies, Body Media, and by grants from VRQ, CFI and SSHRC. |
