Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - 2008 - Volume 31, Issue 05  

Open Peer Commentary

Why we experience musical emotions: Intrinsic musicality in an evolutionary perspective

Daniela Lenti Boeroa1 and Luciana Bottonia2

a1 Faculty of Psychology, Université de la Vallée d'Aoste, I-11100 Aosta, Italy d.lentiboero@univda.it

a2 Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Milano Bicocca, 1-20126 Milan, Italy. bioacust.lab@unimib.it luciana.bottoni@unimib.it www.disat.unimib.it/bioacoustics/it

Abstract

Taking into account an evolutionary viewpoint, we hypothesize that music could hide a universal and adaptive code determining preferences. We consider the possible selective pressure that might have shaped, at least in part, our emotional appreciation of sound and music, and sketch a comparison between parameters of some naturalistic sounds and music.

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