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The neuroscientists from the Institute of Biosciences at 911爆料网 Life Sciences Centre focuse on the development of brain-computer interface. In addition to using measured brain impulses for rehabilitation, the scientists use them to control assistive mechanisms for people with disabilities, and to use brain responses to amplify the emotions of audiences during concerts and performances. Dr. Inga Gri拧kova-Bulanova, a researcher at the VU Institute of Biosciences, discussed the emotions evoked by music, her international project, and the possibilities of 鈥渕ind reading.鈥�

Music is language, emotion, and mathematics

Everyone knows that music evokes some kind of emotion, but is it possible to identify the genre of music that has the greatest impact on feelings? According to Dr. I. Gri拧kova-Bulanova, emotions are very individual and difficult to study, depending on both the listener and the context.

鈥淒ifferent genres of music evoke different sensations. But, in this case, much more important is the personal experience of the listener. The most emotional works are the ones you recognize, the genre is not that important. And if you listen to a piece of music in the laboratory and are told what emotion you should feel, then that emotion is the most likely to emerge. So, the music is important, but even more important is the person listening to it,鈥� she says.

Music, in its structure, involves a lot of mathematical features: there are certain patterns in the way it is created, not only in terms of sequential processing but also in terms of spatial processing, in terms of predicting consequences, or in terms of picking up on relationships that are not immediately apparent.

鈥淟istening to music activates many areas of the brain, including areas responsible for decision-making, which are also important in mathematics. So, learning mathematics and learning music are both mutually reinforcing processes,鈥� she says.

Music is also a form of language. According to the researcher, listening to music activates a large number of areas in the brain that overlap with language areas as well as emotional and memory centers.

鈥淚t seems that for people with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease listening to music can help filling in the gaps in memory and finding the secret tracks that lead to memories. People with this disease may not remember much, but they may know the lyrics of a song or the emotions associated with it,鈥� says the researcher.

Using a brain-computer interface to amplify the senses evoked by music

One area of brain-computer interface implementation is music performance. During the project 鈥淏rain-Computer Interface for Music Embodiment Research鈥�, Dr. I. Gri拧kova-Bulanova, in cooperation with musicians from Latvia and engineers from Taiwan, delved deeper into the brain-computer musical interface and aimed to use brain signals to amplify the sensations evoked by music.

鈥淭his is an area of interest for musicians who don鈥檛 have enough 鈥渉ands on deck鈥� to make their performances unforgettable. They need a tool that uses the brain to help the performer convey their music in a way that has the greatest possible impact on people. We were first approached by musicians from Latvia. Their main representative is a PhD student in systematic musicology who is looking for more innovative ways to teach music performance,鈥� says the researcher.

To develop the tool, researchers used electroencephalography to measure electrical activity in the brain. They wanted to create conditions that were as close as possible to a real performance in concert.

鈥淎t the very beginning of the project, we had an ambitious idea. We wanted to study performers while they perform under natural conditions, i.e., in concert with an audience. But the Covid-19 situation ruined our plans. It so happened that for most of the study, the musicians performed the pieces in the lab without an audience, so the emotion was not entirely accurate. We are very pleased to have been able to carry out brain activity recordings this spring with students playing for their classmates under observation and evaluation. This brings us at least a little closer to the real conditions,鈥� says Dr. I. Gri拧kova-Bulanova.

Brain-controlled light effects to enhance emotion

The researchers were able to record brain activity under controlled conditions and identify the parameters that need to be taken into account to reflect the emotion being conveyed. This would be of great help in the future development of an instrument that works under real conditions.

鈥淲ith the results of the project at their disposal, the colleagues were able to enliven the musical performance. The performer was allowed to play as he or she wished, and our team used the brain activity data to create effects that enhance the listener鈥檚 emotions. The performance sound and visual effects were modulated depending on brain activity,鈥� the researcher said, discussing the results.

The project team鈥檚 vision for the future is to carry out 鈥渞eal鈥� research where musicians can perform under natural conditions: in a hall, with an audience. Researchers would also like to find out what makes the listener feel the emotion that the performer conveys.

鈥淭his would require brain activity research to record several people at the same time: the one who plays the music and the one who listens to it. But that鈥檚 a topic for future research,鈥� she says.

鈥淢ind reading鈥� is a long way off

Brain research, including artificial intelligence techniques, is increasingly talking about possible 鈥渕ind reading.鈥� According to Dr. I. Gri拧kova-Bulanova, the successful 鈥渕ind reading鈥� trials carried out so far have taken place in a strictly controlled environment and the brain signal received has been thoroughly processed using special techniques and professional equipment.

鈥淩esearch in the laboratory takes place under strictly controlled conditions. So, the brain signals recorded here are as clean as possible from all environmental disturbances. But if we were to try the same experiment in a shoe shop, both the conditions and the results would not be equivalent. Equally important is the equipment used, which is designed for research in the laboratory with no ambient noise, and which would be totally unsuitable for other conditions,鈥� the researcher says.

Dr. I. Gri拧kova-Bulanova also points out that all people are individual and it is very difficult to devise methods and systems that can 鈥渞ead鈥� the minds of all people.

鈥淚n our research, we have only tried to control light, and still faced many obstacles. Our success rate is around 80%, but it was all done in a laboratory under strictly controlled conditions and we knew in advance what we wanted to measure and test. In my opinion, the most that the brain can be trained to do is to 鈥渦se the mind鈥� to turn the pages because that is a motor action. But I can鈥檛 yet imagine global decision-making through 鈥渕ind reading,鈥� the researcher says.