of biologically relevant sounds,^8 including musical sounds (NM I no. 30, p. 231). Furthermore, he
warned against overestimating the localization of brain functions in neuroimaging studies. Finally, he
encouraged fruitful discussions between neuroscientists and composers.
In his own paper (NM I, no. 36, pp. 282-301), Minciacchi declares his intention to challenge the
classical quest for universals in music (p. 298).
Aesthetic and bodily experience
Curtis Roads (NM I, pp. 302-303), who is a composer and a computer scientist, acknowledged the
efforts of neuroscience, but pointed out that aesthetic experience cannot be distilled to a process
that is triggered by a specific stimulus. He drew attention to the diversity of musical preference, and
to the bodily experience of music.
In his own paper (NM I no. 35, pp. 272-281) he illuminates the perception of microsounds,
the sound particles that last only a few milliseconds. He recommends that music should be defined
in the broadest possible sense, and encourages studies of the roots of music in the senso-motoric
dynamics of the nervous system.
Scientific impoverishment
John Sloboda (NM I, pp. 389-391) encouraged studies of the social, motivational, and emotional fac-
tors sustaining musical activity, and research into aesthetic and creative aspects of musical develop-
ment. He warned against music cognition experiments based on the participant’s response to a dis-
embodied brief tone sequence, characterizing this type of research as ”methodologically convenient,
but scientifically impoverished” (p. 391).
3.1.3. Achievements and problems of research in NM I
The critical comments focused on a number of problems:
- Low ecological validity
- Cultural bias, giving preference to Western tonal music
- Neglect of aesthetic and social factors
- Possible overestimation of the localization of brain functions
- The limitations of experimental techniques
Ecological validity
Appendix 3.05 provides a survey of musical material NM I, which indicates synthesized material,
acoustic material, recorded music, and task-defined material applied in the studies.
Sources not indicated
16 out of 61 papers do not report information about the sound sources of applied stimuli.
Sinus tones and acoustic tones
11 papers report the use of sinus tones as stimuli. Only three papers (No. 11, 49, 55) report using
tones of acoustic instruments. The singing voice is completely absent in the selection of stimuli. It
appears that in many experiments, ecological validity is sacrificed in favor of experimental control. In
neuroscience, experimental control is considered an indispensable precondition. However, it remains
an unanswered question whether experiments based on very simple stimuli provide information
about the perception and cognition of real music.
8 Examples of biologically relevant sounds in animals are birdsong, the communication calls of monkeys, and the vocali-
zations of whales and seals. In humans, biologically relevant sounds include vocal and musical expression and communi-
cation.