The Cognitive Function of Music. Part II.

Abstract
In Part I (Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 37.2, June 2012), I advanced the hypothesis that
music performs a fundamental cognitive function, helping to maintain psychic balance
in the face of the diversity of the world, and I argued that its neural mechanisms
include mental representations which unify the entire life experience. In Part II I review
ancient and contemporary theories of the cognitive functions of music and compare
them with this hypothesis. Considering historical evidence of the evolution of cultures
and consciousness, I demonstrate a parallel evolution of music as a powerful and
unifying emotional mechanism and summarize recent cognitive experiments that have
confirmed my hypothesis. It follows that music is fundamental in making human
evolution possible. The human mind and our human cultures would not exist as they
do today without music. Future theoretical and experimental research directions are
outlined.

Can the mystery of music be understood?

In Part I of this paper I asked why music has such power for us and how its power
originated and evolved. I noted that it must be ranked amongst the most mysterious
(abilities) with which (man) is endowed, as Darwin wrote in 1871, and went on to
show that contemporary evolutionary psychologists and musicologists still cannot
explain its fundamental cognitive function (Perlovsky, 2012a). I suggested a hypothesis
that music helps to unify knowledge and maintain psychic balance despite the diversity
of the world. The emotions aroused by music help in the development of concepts of
meaning and purpose, that is, mental representations that unify diverse knowledge and
experience. This is necessary to concentrate the will and survive. Music helps us to
hold contradictory knowledge and not discard it. But since everything we know is
contradicted by something else, the capability of music to help us handle diverse
knowledge is necessary for the entirety of human cultural evolution.
If this strong claim for the cognitive function of music can be substantiated, it will
provide reasons for musics origins, evolution and power for us. It will solve the
mystery of music. So here I examine historical and experimental confirmations of my
hypothesis. After reviewing theories of musics cognitive function, I summarize recent
experimental data confirming the hypothesis. Then I present historical data on the
parallel evolution of cultures, consciousness and music. In this paper I emphasize that
every step in cultural evolution has been accompanied by differentiation of

consciousness. This differentiation in turn has demanded new more powerful unifying
cognitive mechanisms and new types of music. Looking at our history through the lens
of my theory reveals an intimate connection between the evolution of consciousness,
culture, and music.
Theories of emotions and musics origins
During the past two decades, the powers of music that previously seemed mysterious
have begun to be explained scientifically due to research in several fields (Sloboda and
Juslin 2001). But the function of music in cognition has been a continuing subject of
enquiry from ancient philosophers to contemporary research.
About 2,500 years ago, Pythagoras described the main harmonies as whole-number
ratios of sound frequencies. He saw this description as the connection between music
and the celestial spheres, which also seemed governed by whole numbers (James 1995).
The tremendous potency of music to affect consciousness, to move people, was seen as
a way to harmonize the human psyche with reason in the face of dangerous emotional
influences. Plato saw the idealized imagined music of the Golden Age of Greece as
something lost with the onset of poetry: (Musical) types werefixed. Afterwards
an unmusical license set in with the appearance of poets. So the next stagewill be
contempt for oaths and all religion. The spectacle of the Titanic nature is reenacted;
man returns to the old condition of a hell of unending misery. (Plato 4c. BCE).
We find a similar notion of the positive influence of music 800 years later in Boethius
(5c.): [W]hat unites the incorporeal existence of reason with the body except a certain
harmony, and, as it were, a careful tuning of low and high pitches in such a way that
they produce one consonance? (see Weiss and Taruskin 1984, henceforth W&T;
unreferenced quotes refer to this book). According to the foremost thinkers in the fourth
and fifth centuries (including St. Augustine), the mind was not strong enough to be
reliably in charge of the senses and unconscious urges. Differentiation of emotions was
perceived as dangerous.
Only with the beginning of the Renaissance (13-14th c.) did Europeans feel the power
of the rational mind separating from the collective consciousness. By the 13th century,
music was understood as being related to listeners, as opposed to celestial spheres. J
Groceo (14th c.) wrote: Songs for average peoplerelate the deeds of heroes,the life
and martyrdom of various saints, the battles; songs for kings and princes move
their souls to audacity and bravery, magnanimity and liberality.... Human emotions,
the fundamental content of music, were now appreciated theoretically. A new and
powerful development toward a stronger and more diverse sense of emotionality began
during the Renaissance. The tonal music that developed from the 15th to the 19th c. then
had the conscious aim of appealing to our emotions.
Yet the embodiment of emotions continued to be seen in terms of language.
Composers tried to imitate speech while increasing the conceptual content of texts; this

led to the birth of opera at the beginning of the 17th c. Monteverdi wrote the words
(are to be) the mistress of the harmony and not its servant. Then for the first time,
musical theory came close to the fundamental idea of our theory: the ability to unify
psychic conflicts was seen to be due to the combination of music with words, passions
with rationality. At the same time, the nature of emotions became a vital philosophical
issue. Descartes attempted a scientific explanation of the passions (1646). He
rationalized emotions, explaining them as objects, and related them to physiological
processes. Descartes descriptions of the physiological processes that underlay and
determined the passions were extremely suggestive to musicians in search of technical
means for analogizing passions in tones. [W&T] Based on Descartes theory, Johann
Mattheson (1739) formulated a theory of emotions in music called The Doctrine of the
Affections. Emotions are the true material of virtue, and virtue is naught but a wellordered and wisely moderate sentiment. By the 18th c. the object of musical imitation
was no longer speech, the exterior manifestation of emotions, but the emotions
themselves. Beginning from this time, musical theory did not just trail musical practice
but affected it to a significant extent. Descartes and Mattheson understood emotions as
monolithic objects. This simplified understanding of emotions soon led to the
deterioration of opera into a collection of airs, each expressing a particular emotion
(opera seria or serious opera); the Monteverdi vision of opera as integrated text,
music, and drama was lost. But in the middle of the 18th c. Calzabigi and Gluck returned
opera to the Monteverdi vision and laid a theoretical foundation for the next 150 years
of its development.
As I discussed in Part I, music is different from other arts in that it affects emotions
directly (not through concepts). A clear scientific understanding of the differences
between concepts and emotions did not exist during the Renaissance. Nevertheless, the
idea of music as a means of differentiating (creating new) emotions was consciously
formulated in the second half of the 18th c. (C. Avison 1753 and J. Beattie 1778). The
pleasures of musical sounds were related to the meaning of music. T. Twining (1789)
emphasized an aspect of music which today we would name conceptual indeterminacy,
the sense that musical contents cannot be adequately expressed in words and do not
imitate anything specific. The notion that painting, poetry and music are all Arts of
Imitation, certainly tends to produce, and has produced, much confusion and, instead
of producing order and method in our ideas, produces only embarrassment and
confusion. ( W&T, 293-294).
Yet an understanding of the nature of emotions remained utterly confused: As far
as (music) effect is merely physical, and confined to the ear, it gives a simple original
pleasure; it expresses nothing, it refers to nothing; it is no more imitative thanthe
flavour of pineapple. Twining expresses here a correct intuition (music is not an
imitation), but he confuses it with a typical error. Pleasure from musical sounds is not
merely physical and not confined to the ear. As discussed in Part I, pleasure from music

is an aesthetic emotion in our mind unlike, for example, the flavour of a pineapple,
which is strictly physical. Even the founder of contemporary aesthetics, Kant (1790),
had no room for music in his theory of the mind. And today, the cognitive function of
music remains little known among musicologists; it continues to provoke disputes,
embarrassment and confusion.
Whence beauty in sound?
A scientific theory of music perception began to develop in the first half of the 19th
century in Helmholtzs (1863) research, summarized here. A pressed piano key or
plucked string produces a sound with many frequencies. In addition to the main
frequency F, the sound contains overtones or higher frequencies, 2F, 3F, 4F, 5F, 6F, 7F...
The main tone corresponds to the string oscillating as a whole, producing F; on top of
this, each part of a string (1/2, or 1/3 or 2/3...) can oscillate on its own. The interval
between F and 2F (double frequency) is called an octave.
Our ear barely notices an overtone exactly one octave higher, because the eardrum
oscillates like a string in concordance with itself. But two sounds with close frequencies
(say, F and 0.95F) produce eardrum oscillations not only with the same frequencies but
also with different frequencies (F - 0.95F = 0.05F). These are the mechanical reasons for
musical consonances and dissonances. Not all overtones can be made completely
concordant. Low frequency oscillations are perceived as physically unpleasant
(rough).
Musical instruments were improved over thousands of years, incorporating
traditions of design and compromises, though there are important differences among
cultures in making and tuning them. The Helmholtz theory explained the role of the
octave, tones making up the octave, the major scale (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti the white
piano keys), the minor scale, and the pentatonic scale that is used in Chinese music, and
in folk music in Scotland, Ireland, and Africa.
Notwithstanding the scientific accuracy of Helmholtzs acoustic theory, there is a
difference in principle between the mechanical agreeableness of concordant overtones
and the aesthetic beauty of music. For example, the minor scale is aesthetically
interesting precisely due to its slight discordance. Therefore, Helmholtzs theory could
not be accepted as a basis for musicology. The fundamental significance of Helmholtzs
theory remained unclear, because it was not connected to the aesthetic meaning of
music.
Recent laboratory experiments have confirmed that musical harmony is based on
inborn mechanisms. Babies begin at four months to like consonant sounds and dislike
dissonances (Masataka, 2006). Evolution, it seems, enabled the mechanical properties of
the ear to enhance the efficiency of the voice as a communication channel. A string
made of inhomogeneous material sounds discordant with itself, as can human vocal

chords, which in stress or fear sound discordant. This discordance was perceived as
unpleasant millions of years ago. Consonant combinations of sounds are therefore the
basis of human vocal communication. These sounds have evolved into the emotionfilled melodies. The connection of vocal sounds with psychic states was inherent in our
ancestors long before language began evolving toward conceptual content at the
expense of emotions. Evolution shaped our ability to create and perceive sound as
something fundamental, touching all of our being.
Another physical difficulty of Helmholtzs theory is that emotional perceptions of
consonances and dissonances extend from contemporaneously sounding frequencies to
temporal sequences of tones, and this effect cannot be explained by beats of the
eardrum. Possibly, over thousands (or millions) of years neural mechanisms enhanced
perceptions of the mechanical properties of the ear. Well add that Helmholtz did not
touch the main question of why music is so important psychologically - this remained a
mystery.
Current theories of musics role in emotions
Current theories of musics role in emotions attempt to uncover this mystery by
looking into its evolutionary origins. Justus and Hustler (2003) and McDermott and
Houser (2003) review evidence of this. The conclusions of both reviews are similar, i.e.,
humans have an innate drive to make and enjoy music. There is much suggestive
evidence supporting this biological predisposition for music. Still, it is unclear that these
predispositions are uniquely human. It is likely that many musical abilities are not
adaptations for music, but are based on more general-purpose mechanisms. In Natures
series of essays on music McDermott (2008) writes: Music is universal, a significant
feature of every known culture, and yet does not serve an obvious, uncontroversial
function.
Trainor (2004) argues that higher cognitive functions involve both genes and
experience. Therefore the verdict on whether music is an evolutionary adaptation
should be decided based on its role as a survival mechanism. Fitch (2004) comments
that the biological and cultural aspects of music are hopelessly entangled, and
concludes that the greatest value of an evolutionary perspective may be to provide a
theoretical framework.
Before reviewing other recent studies, allow me to observe that the hypothesis
advocated in Part I corresponds to many of their suggestions and ideas. Later I will in
addition discuss a fundamental function of musics role in emotions and in the
evolution of language, mind, and culture, notions which are missing in other theories
and which provide new directions in the search for the evolutionary mechanisms of
music. This paper focuses on the biological roots of music, on its origins in an earlier
system of affective communication (Livingstone and Thompson, 2006).

Huron (1999) emphasizes that in the search for the evolutionary origins of music it is
necessary to look for complex multistage adaptations, built on prior adaptations, which
might have evolved for several reasons. He lists several possible evolutionary
advantages of music: mate selection, social cohesion, the coordination of group work,
developing auditory skills, refined motor coordination, conflict reduction, and
preserving stories of tribal origins. However, this list by itself does not explain musics
power for the human psyche, nor does it explain why music and not some other, nonmusical activities serve this psychic purpose.
Cross (2008a,b) and Cross and Morley (2008) concentrate on evolutionary arguments
specific to music. Cross emphasizes that music should be considered in the context of its
uses for social structuring, forming bonds, and group identities. One strong argument
for the evolutionary origins of music is its universality; music exists in all scientifically
documented societies around the globe. And Cross emphasizes that music possesses
common attributes across cultures: it exploits the human capacity to entrain social
stimuli. Thus he argues that music is necessary for the very development of culture.
Cultural evolution is based on the ability to create and perceive the socio-intentional
aspect of meaning. This is unique to humans and is created by music, though according
to Cross, the evolution of music was based on biological and genetic mechanisms
already existing in the animal world.
The capacity for culture (Cross 2008b) requires not only the transmission of
information, but also a context for communication. Therefore, music and language
constitute complementary components of the human communicative toolkit. The
power of language lies in its ability to present semantically decomposable
propositions. Language, thus, on one hand enables the exchange of specific and
complicated knowledge, but on the other hand it can exacerbate oppositions between
individual goals and transform an uncertain encounter into a conflict. Music is a
communicative tool with the opposite properties. It is semantic, but in a different way
than language. Music is directed at increasing a sense of shared intentionality. Musics
major role is social; it serves as an honest signal (that is, it reveals qualities of a
signaller to a receiver) with nonspecific goals. Thus music promotes the alignment of
participants sense of goals. Therefore, Cross hypothesizes that the evolution of such a
communication system enabled successful social life.
Cross also suggests that music evolved together with language rather than as its
precursor. The evolution of language required a re-wiring of neural control over the
vocal tract, and this control had to become more voluntary for language. At the same
time a less voluntary control, originating in ancient emotional brain regions, had to be
maintained for music to continue playing its role as an honest signal.
As juvenile periods in hominid lineages lengthened (altricialization), music took on
a more important role in social life (Cross and Morley 2008). The reason is that juvenile
animals, especially social primates, engage in play, which prepares them for adult lives.

Play involves music-like features, thus proto-musical activity has ancient genetic roots.
Altricialization is therefore possibly fundamental for proto-musical activity and for the
origin of music. Infant directed speech (IDS) has special musical (or proto-musical)
qualities that are universal. Trehub (2003) shows how IDS exhibits many similar
features across different cultures. Young infants are sensitive to musical structures in
the human voice. Several researchers relate this sensitivity to the coregulation of affect
by parent and child (Dissanayake 2000), and consider IDS to be an important
evolutionary mechanism of musical origin. Yet arguments presented later suggest that
IDS cannot be the full story behind the evolution of music.
Dissanayake (2008) considers music primarily in terms of behavioural and
motivational capacity. Naturally evolving processes led to the ritualization of music
through formalization, repetition, exaggeration, and elaboration. Ritualization led to
arousal and the shaping of emotions. This occurred naturally in IDS through the
process of mother-infant interaction, which in addition to the specially altered voice
involved exaggerated facial expressions and body movements in intimate one-to-one
interactions. Infants eight weeks old already are sensitive to this type of behaviour,
which reinforces emotional bonding. This type of behaviour and infants sensitivity to it
are universal, which suggests an evolved inborn predisposition. Dissanayake further
emphasizes that such proto-musical behaviour has served as the basis for culturespecific inventions such as ritual ceremonies for uniting groups as well as mother-infant
pairs. The origins of music, she emphasizes, are multi-modal, involving aural, visual,
and kinesic activity. She describes structural and functional resemblances between
mother-infant interactions, ceremonial rituals, and adult courtship, and relates these to
the properties of music. All of these, she proposes, suggest an evolved amodal neural
propensity in the human species to respondcognitively and emotionallyto dynamic
temporal patterns produced by other humans in the context of affiliation.
This combination of related adaptations was biologically motivated by the cooccurrence of bipedalism, expanding brain size, and altricialization (Cross and Morley
2008; Dissanayake 2008), and was fundamental to human survival. This is why,
according to Dissanayake, proto-musical behaviour produces such strong emotions and
activates brain areas involved in ancient mechanisms of reward and motivation, the
same areas that are involved in the satisfaction of our most powerful instincts: hunger
and sex.
Mithen (2007) argues that Neanderthals may have had proto-musical ability and that
music and language have evolved through the differentiation of early proto-human
vocal sounds like Hmmmm and undifferentiated proto-musical language. These
developments were facilitated by vertical posture and walking, which required
sophisticated sensorimotor control, a sense of rhythm, and possibly the ability to dance.
The differentiation of Hmmmm Mithen dates to after 50,000 BP. Further evolution
toward music occurred for religious purposes, which he identifies with the

conceptualisation of supernatural beings. But according to this theory, currently music

is not needed; it has been replaced by language; it only exists through inertia, as a
difficult-to-get-rid-of remnant of the primordial Hmmmm. An exception could be
religious practice, where music is needed since we do not know how to communicate
with God. But clearly we have difficulty dismissing Bach, Beethoven, or Shostakovich in
this way as well as with the implied characterization of religion. I discuss issues later.
Mithen summarizes the state of knowledge about vocalization by apes and
monkeys. The emotional-behavioural meanings of their calls are not differentiated; this
is why primates cannot use vocalization separately from emotional-behavioural
situations (and therefore cannot develop language). But this area is still poorly
understood. While addressing language in detail, Mithen (and other scientists as well)
gives no explanation for why humans learn language by about the age of five, but the
corresponding mastery of cognition takes a lifetime. Steps toward explaining this are
undertaken in Perlovsky 2006a, 2007d, 2009a,b, 2010c, which are summarized in this
review.
Mithens view on religion contradicts the documented evidence for the relatively
late proliferation of supernatural beings in religious practice (Jaynes 1976) and the
mathematical and cognitive explanations for the role of the religiously sublime in the
workings of the mind (Perlovsky 2001b, 2010e, 2011a; Levine and Perlovsky 2008a).
Juslin and Vstfjll (2008) analyze the mechanisms of musics role in emotions. They
discuss a number of neural mechanisms involved with emotions and different
meanings implied by the word emotion. We should mention here just two of these.
First, consider the so-called basic emotions, which are most often discussed; we have
specific words for these emotions, such as fear, lust, and jealousy. The mechanisms
behind these emotions are related to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of basic
instinctual bodily needs such as survival and procreation. Second, consider the complex
or musical emotions (sometimes called continuous), which we hear in music and for
which we do not necessarily have special words. The mechanisms and the role of these
emotions in the mind and in cultural evolution are the subjects of this paper.
Levitin (2008) classifies music into six different types, fulfilling six fundamental
needs, and (as far as I understand him) eliciting six basic emotions. He suggests that
music originated from animal cries and that it functions today essentially in the same
way, communicating emotions. Emotions motivate us to act: emotions and motivation
are two sides of the same evolutionary coin. It is more difficult, he writes, to fake
sincerity in music than in spoken language. The reason that music evolved this way as
an honest signal was because it simply co-evolved with the brain precisely to
preserve this property. But given the fact that even birds can fake their cries (Lorenz
1981), I doubt that music simply co-evolved for this purpose; further doubts arise as
soon as we think about actors, singers, and poets, not only contemporary professionals,
but also those existing in traditional societies (Meyer, Palmer, and Mazo 1998) since

time immemorial. Trehub (2008) also opposes this argument, calling music a dishonest
signal.
Discussions of the mechanisms that allowed music to evolve from IDS to Bach and
the Beatles in previously proposed theories are lacking or unconvincing. Why do we
need the virtual infinity of musical emotions? Is it an aberration, or do they address
potentially universal human needs? Dissanayake (2008) suggests the importance of
ceremonial ritualisation, due to a basic motivation to achieve some level of control
over events. If for five or even ten centuriesmusic has been emancipated from its
two-million year historyits adaptive roots say more about the recency and aberrance
of modernity. Cross and Morley (2008) argue against this conclusion, saying, it would
be impossible to remove music without removing many of the abilities of social
cognition that are fundamental to being human. Cross concludes that there are
further facets to the evolutionary story (of the origins of music) requiring consideration.
Investigation of the origins, emergence and nature of musical behaviours in humans is
in its early stages, and has plenty more to reveal.
The theories of music cognition summarized in this section do not suggest a
fundamental function for music. Various aspects of the way music functions have been
addressed, and the origins of some abilities important for music have been identified in
pre-human animals. Still, the evolutionary origin of music remains uncertain. Music is
universal, a significant feature of every known culture, and yet does not serve an
obvious, uncontroversial function, says McDermott (2008). Musics origin and
evolution remain a mystery. But our hypothesis that music unifies contradictory
knowledge might clarify some of the remaining doubts, and provide bases for further
research in several directions. The following sections review experimental
confirmations of our proposed theory and provide historical empirical data that
indicate this hypothesis indeed identifies the fundamental cognitive function of music.
Laboratory experiments confirm that music helps unify the psyche
Holding contradictory cognitions is uncomfortable for most people. This
uncomfortable feeling is called cognitive dissonance, CD (Festinger, 1957; HarmonJones et al, 2009; Wikipedia, 2012a). It is known that this discomfort is often resolved by
devaluing and discarding contradictory knowledge without much thinking. CD could
be a useful adaptive reaction, promoting success and survival by enabling more
efficient and consistent actions, or maladaptive, leading to irrational decisions and the
devaluation of knowledge (Perlovsky, 2005; Harmon-Jones et al, 2009). Clearly, it is
essential to overcome CD, which leads to the devaluation of knowledge. My hypothesis
suggests that music might perform such a cognitive function (Perlovsky 2005, 2006,
2008, 2010a, 2012a-d, 2013a).
Recent experimental results tentatively confirm this hypothesis: it is possible that
music helps us tolerate contradictory cognitions without devaluing contradictory

knowledge. Masataka and Perlovsky (2012a,b) have described experiments similar to

classical studies of cognitive dissonance (Aronson & Carlsmith, 1963) but with the
difference of added background music. In the original experiment children devalued a
toy if they were told that they couldnt play with it. This experiment has been
reproduced thousands of times with children and adults (Cooper, 2007) in various
situations, confirming CD theory. The desire to have contradicts the inability to
attain; this CD is resolved by discarding the contradiction. However, when the above
experiment was reproduced with music playing in the background the toy was not
devalued (Masataka & Perlovsky, 2012a).
In this study, CD was experimentally created in four-year-old children. An
experimenter first elicited a ranking of toys. Later, the experimenter suggested to a child
not to play with the second-ranked toy and then left for a short time. According to
(Aronson & Carlsmith, 1963) this would create CD and result in devaluing the secondranked toy. This result was observed; the second-ranked toy became the last in rank. In
another group of children the only difference was that background music was turned
on when they were playing alone. In this group, toy devaluation did not occur. The
experiment was conducted twice to validate the finding. Therefore, it was concluded
that music can help us tolerate CD and hold in mind contradictory cognitions: one that
the toy was attractive, another that the child did not play with it.
The results of this experiment for the group without music are similar to a classical
case of CD described in Aesops fable The Fox and The Grape. When a fox sees highhanging grapes that it cannot reach, the desire to eat and the inability to get the grapes
creates CD in the foxs mind. The fox resolves the CD by devaluing the grapes (the
grapes are sour). The experiment also demonstrates that music can resolve CD without
devaluation and that contradictory cognitions can be held simultaneously.
Another experiment reproduced the so-called Mozart effect: students academic test
performance improved after listening to Mozart (Wikipedia 2012b; this was later
famously debunked, any improvement was proven to be short-lived, Thompson,
Schellenberg, & Husain, 2001). However, Perlovsky et al (2013) used the Mozart effect
to explore cognitive functions of music, the authors demonstrated (1) that students
allocate less time to more difficult and stressful tests (as expected from CD theory), and
(2) with music in the background students can tolerate stress, allocate more time to
stressful tests, and improve grades. Recent studies (Cabanac et al, 2013) demonstrated
that students taking musical classes outperform other students in all subjects, whereas
before musical classes grades were similar. Still another experiment (Masataka &
Perlovsky, 2013) demonstrated that cognitive interference (Stroop effect) can be
mitigated by consonant music.
I conclude that music helps us tolerate CD from contradictory cognitions without
devaluing contradictory knowledge. Thus our hypothesis about the cognitive function
of music is tentatively confirmed. Music has an important cognitive function

counterbalancing CD that leads to the devaluation of knowledge; music makes possible

accumulating contradictory knowledge and is essential for the entire human evolution
(Perlovsky, 2013a).
Historical Evidence from Cultural Evolution
This section considers historical evidence for the parallel evolution of culture,
consciousness, and musical styles. Significant evidence has been accumulated
concerning the previous 3000 years of cultural evolution, because we have written
records (Weiss and Taruskin 1984; Jaynes 1976; Perlovsky 2005 2006b, 2007a, 2008a,
2010a, 2011a). In presenting this evidence I emphasize that advances in consciousness
and cultures paralleled advances in emotional differentiation related to music. An
overview of our history demonstrates that evolution in culture, consciousness, and
musical styles follows what is expected from my hypothesis.
To begin, let us recollect our main theoretical ideas. The interaction between
differentiation and synthesis is a fundamental aspect of operations of the knowledge
instinct; it is characteristic of any epoch in human history. Cultural evolution and the
accumulation of knowledge accelerate differentiation in everyday life. This can cause
disorientation. It is difficult to keep the scissor blades together. (Brodsky, 1991/2000).
It is difficult indeed, because the condition of the creative process involves the
combination of opposites, differentiation and synthesis. Their complex dynamics
determine the development of culture. In synthesis, creative energy is directed at
exploring outer and inner worlds, at widening the sphere of consciousness, leading to
diversification and differentiation of everyday concepts and emotions.
Much of this conforms to what we know from history. Judeo-Christian synthesis
prepared the way for the understanding that man is the source of a creative spirit, and
this groundwork formed the conditions necessary for the emergence of scientific
thinking, although it took thousands of years for this to come to fruition. It was not
until the 17th c. that Descartes completed expelling spirit from matter and Newton,
following him, could think about a completely causal, that is scientific, explanation of
the material world. This process, moving from spiritualism to science, took
approximately 4,000 years and it consisted of many steps. Here I consider a few of these
steps, along with the evolution of music.
In the process of cultural evolution, the diversity of everyday material life increases
and overtakes concepts of higher purpose, which served as the foundation for
inspiration-synthesis (this seems characteristic of life today in the Western world). A lag
in synthesis leads to psychic discord concepts of higher purpose do not correspond to
everyday ways of life, to the variety of concepts and emotions, leading to cultural
disequilibrium, as when scientific thinking disrupted ancient religious synthesis.
Overcoming such crises and continuing the cultural process demands new concepts of
higher purpose, new syntheses, corresponding to a new level of differentiation in

mental life.
With increasing differentiation, synthesis requires ever increasing efforts from an
individual human being. Balancing these two aspects of consciousness is of course
difficult, and it entails trying to find the purpose of life; Jung (1921) called this the
highest aim of every human life. Similar was Schopenhauers idea of individuation
(1819). Even more radical was Kant (1790), who wrote that consciousness of
purposiveness coincides with the Christian ideal of sainthood. (If these ideas seem
outdated, it may be that contemporary Western culture is not ready for this synthesis.)
Consciousness and culture develop through the dynamics of differentiation and
synthesis. Too strong a synthesis fuses the conscious and the unconscious together into
a fuzzy undividedness, and then the need for the new and the ability to handle it
disappears, as in pre-historic consciousness. On the other hand, when differentiation
overtakes synthesis, the meaning of life disappears and creative potential is lost in
senselessness. Therefore, extremes on either side are deleterious; creative cultural
evolution requires a balance of differentiation and synthesis.
Let us explore the role of music in this complex process of keeping the scissor
blades together. Jaynes (1976) analyzed the evolution of consciousness over the past
11,000 years. Weiss and Taruskin (1984) analyzed the evolution of musical styles over
the past 3,000 years. I have previously conflated their research (Perlovsky 2005, 2006b,c,
2008a, 2010a, 2011a; also, I extended Jaynes 1976 analysis by adding the idea of
synthesis). This alignment of historical changes in consciousness and in music
demonstrates first that during states of strong synthesis advances in consciousness were
driven by differentiation, with music differentiating the lower emotions, and second
that differentiation violated synthesis. To restore synthesis, music differentiated the
highest emotions. This led to an understanding of the violation of synthesis by
bringing it from the unconscious into consciousness. This conscious understanding
helped in coping with violated synthesis, in restoring the idea of the meaning and
purpose, and in restoring synthesis. This allowed the process of the conceptual
differentiation of consciousness and cultural evolution to continue. And strikingly,
every step in conceptual differentiation has been paralleled by powerful advances in
music, first, by bringing a new level of emotional differentiation to everyday life
(lower emotions), and second, through the differentiation of the highest emotions,
which help restore synthesis.
Contemporary Western music originated from church and synagogal singing;
according to W&T Psalmody (the singing of psalms) is surely the oldest continuous
musical tradition in Western civilization. However, the first Biblical description
referring to King Davids time (3,000 years ago) mentions the clangourous noise of
instruments, reminding the modern reader of no Western form of divine service.
Possibly because there were no irresolvable contradictions in the minds of David and
his contemporaries; the monotheistic idea was a sufficient basis for synthesis. This

relatively undifferentiated type of consciousness we see in the book of the prophet

Amos, written in the eighth c. BCE, 250 years after David. In Amos there are no words
for mind or think or feel or understand or anything similar whatsoever; Amos never
ponders anything in his heart (Jaynes 1976). Here voice, words, emotional and
conceptual contents are fused; there are no deliberations, no arguments, no choices to be
made. In this period of vague consciousness, the music of the divine service, like all
creative forces, was directed at differentiation.
However, a new type of consciousness was already rising, consciousness with selfreflection and internal contradictions. Although the prophecies of Isaiah took place only
one generation after Amos, Isaiahs consciousness was distinctly different. The
impending catastrophe that he foresaw created psychic tensions between the conscious
and unconscious. This tension appeared in his visions as an antiphony of the voices of
Seraphim. The first time the principle of antiphony is mentioned in the Bible, with split
choirs answering back and forth, which was to become the foundation of psalmody in
Jewish and Christian divine service: among the Seraphim...one cried to another, and
said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. (Is. 6, 1-4.)
The development of consciousness in Ancient Greece, Israel, and China remarkably
coincides. In the 6th c. BCE the first Greek philosopher Thales repudiated myths,
demanded conscious thinking, which he formulated as know thyself. At the same
time in Israel, Zechariah (Zech. 3-4) forbade prophecy as an outdated and already
dangerous form of thinking; he also demanded conscious thinking. Confucius (5th c.
BCE) said, when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and
examine ourselves, and his contemporary Lao-tzu (6th B.C.E.) wrote, it is wisdom to
know others; it is enlightenment to know one's self. Conscious thinking created a
discord between the personal and the unconscious-universal, leading to a feeling of
separateness from the world; tensions appeared in the psyche, which were mirrored in
antiphonal singing. Forms of music appeared, which corresponded to the emerging
forms of consciousness. Split-choir singing symbolized the differentiated nature of the
highest principles, and brought closer to consciousness the feeling of the split in the
psyche. Antiphonal singing, appealing to the conscious and to the unconscious, linked
the feeling of the split with the conscious perception of self-world relationships, and
restored synthesis. Antiphon as a generally accepted form of divine service is
mentioned in the Bible for the first time in the book of Nehemiah (Neh. 12, 27-43) in 445
BCE, just a century after Zechariah and Thales.
Let us move forward two millennia, to the Renaissance (the 13th -16th c.). At the
beginning of the Renaissance (the 13th -14th c.), synthesis was strong, backed-up both by
new symbols of the greatness of human reason and by ancient religious mystical
symbols; the result was a creative explosion. Music moved toward differentiating
everyday human feelings. In the 14th c. the first musical avant-garde emerged; Ars
Nova (The New Art) used notes of variable durations to differentiate emotions.

Synthesis creates conditions for differentiation, which in turn destroys synthesis. Pope
John XXII (1323) criticized the new music: Bydividing beatsthe music of the Divine
Office is disturbed with these notes of quick duration. Moreover, they hinder the
melody with hockets (interruptions), they deprave it with discants (high-voice
ornamental melodies), andpad out the music with upper parts made out of secular
songs. The voices incessantly rock to and fro, intoxicating rather than soothing, [so]
devotionis neglected, and wantonnessincreases. The Pope foresaw a cultural crisis
due to lost beliefs and lost synthesis. Christian symbolism was losing its autonomous
psychic power. There were, accordingly, troubles all over Europe, strife among nations
and social classes, Papal exile, and schisms within the Church.
At this juncture, when the power of the mysterious was lost and the dominating
idea was humanism, the power of human reason, a musical system of tonality was
developed to differentiate emotions, and to connect the everyday to the sublime. This
emerged in the 15th c. John Dunstable, according to contemporary witnesses, changed
all music high and music low. Music became more consonant and euphonious.
Melody and rhythm were foregrounded, supported by chordal harmonies. Harmonies
exalted even heavenlike angelic and divine melodies (as if the) songs of angels and
of divine Paradise had been sent forth from the heavens to whisper in our ears an
unbelievable celestial sweetness. (W&T, 81-82).
Synthesis during the Renaissance was based on humanism, with musics true
purpose and content(its) power to move emotions (Glareanus, the 16th c.). This a
medieval thinker would have found incomprehensible.... The new Renaissance
attitude...valued the natural, spontaneous gift of the artist over the application of reason
and mastery of theoretical doctrine. After 3500 years of monotheism man was
becoming to some extent a master of the self. Untamed emotions were no longer
considered a morbid threat to society, self, or spiritual interests. The humanistic ideal
inspired the Renaissance man to look for increasingly stronger emotions and this
search continues today (albeit not without interruptions).
The highest ideal of Christianity, improvement of inner spiritual life, traditionally
demanded repudiation of the material world, perceived as a temptation and distraction
from the highest spiritual purpose. The best way to achieve the ideal of sainthood was
supposed to be a monastic way of life and a rejection of secular life. However, rejection
of the world acknowledged the absolute power of evil within the material world. By the
15th c. the development of rational thinking and the emerging capitalistic economy
came to contradict this ascetic ideal. By the time of the Reformation in the 16th c. the
highest human calling was in perfecting the outer material world and the material
conditions of ones life as well as the inner spiritual world. The religious ideal was
reconciled with this new consciousness. A new synthesis was created.
The Reformation reduced the absoluteness of the split between spiritual and
material, good and evil. The consequences were on one hand an inconceivable

acceleration in the development of capitalism and improvement in the material

conditions of life. On the other hand, the autonomy of religious symbols was lost; their
unconscious contents were to a large extent transferred into consciousness. The
fundamental contradiction of human nature between finite matter and infinite spirit,
which formed the mystical foundation of Christianity, was brought by the Reformation
into everyday culture and made a part of the collective consciousness. Tragic tensions
originally projected onto Christian symbols were assimilated by the human psyche and
reached a climax.
Luther (1538) saw in music the synthetic power that unifies the Word of God with
human passions: Thereforemessage and music join to move the listeners soul.... The
gift of language combined with the gift of song was only given to man (so that he
proclaims) the word through music. The naive humanism of the 15th c. barely glimpsed
the contradictions of human thoughts. Consciousness of the minds internal
contradictions was an achievement of the Reformation, and this consciousness required
new forms of synthesis to restore wholeness. In search of synthetic forms of art, creative
minds studied past epochs, when salvation from crises was found in art. From the
books of Aristotle (1995) and other authors of antiquity it was known that tragic musical
drama in Ancient Greece created catharsis, an intimate psychic bond, which
miraculously calmed discontent, soothed character and behaviour. Radical humanists
in the sixteenth century sought to recover the true music of antiquity, which according
to their ideas was closely connected with rhetoric, the art of orators and actors. A
literary expression of these ideas was given by Vincento Galilei (Florence 1588; see
W&T). A new form of music, musical speech, or recitative, quickly led to the opera
Orpheus by Claudio Monteverdi (1600) and had a profound influence on the
subsequent development of Baroque music.
The Baroque period was full of dualism and drama, expressing tensions imposed by
the Reformation. It was a world searching for differentiated synthesis. Dualism was
embodied in a new musical style, where opposition was emphasized: vocal against
instrumental, solo against ensemble, melody against bass. Dynamic levels were
contrasted, and opposition of the dominant and the tonic all expressed emotional
tension and resolution. The role of dissonances increased, and modulations became
commonplace, expressing more and more complex emotions in their continuous flow.
Creating emotions was becoming the primary aim of music; composers strove to imitate
speech, the embodiment of the passions. At the same time the conceptual content of
texts increased; the words (are to be) the mistress of the harmony and not its servant,
wrote Monteverdi. This became the main slogan of the new epoch of Baroque music.
Thus, Baroque music consciously aimed at the differentiation of emotions in parallel
with a synthesis of the conceptual and emotional.
The psychic tensions created by the Reformation continued to propel a search for
higher and higher forms of synthesis, requiring stronger differentiations of emotions

related to the highest ideals, corresponding to the consciousness of the split between the
finiteness of human material being and the infiniteness of spiritual aspirations. Until the
end of the 16th c. dissonances were used sparingly, for short pauses, and mainly in
secular music. Beginning in the 17th c., dissonances were used more often, emphasizing
dramatic effects. A dissonance was always followed by a resolution in a consonant
chord; later several dissonant chords were used in a row, increasing tension. The
heightened sense of drama in musical dissonances corresponded to the tension between
the conceptual and emotional, material and spiritual. Music became extremely
expressive, conveying passionate emotions; the theory of major and minor scales was
developed for this purpose, and the chromatic scale was used. Chorale was unified with
counterpoint, harmony with polyphony. These new musical forms were perfected in the
works of Buxtehude and then Bach.
The most complex and sublime form of polyphonic music appeared in fugues.
Fugues are conversations of several musical voices in which a topic flies from one
voice to another; voices can talk politely or argue, interrupting each other. In Bachs
fugues a man arguing with himself turns to God or to the highest within himself.
Whereas old psalms affirmed the existence of the objectively sublime as some collective
purpose far removed from individual experience, fugues expressed the emotions of
ones own contradictions in the quest for the highest spiritual purpose. Fugues were a
way for the individual consciousness to turn to the sublime, a combination of
differentiation and synthesis. The rational understanding of church services introduced
by the Reformation interacted in music with the highest spiritual values and mystical
feelings about the sublime, which had been created over thousands of years by religion.
However, the Reformation laid unbearable responsibility on the individual and
created too much psychic tension - humankind was not ready yet for individual
consciousness. The string connecting the conscious and the unconscious broke. The
period of rational consciousness that followed the Baroque rejected the mystery of the
sublime differentiated in the fugues. Music that was natural to Bach seemed too
intellectual and not natural to the next generation.
The differentiation of consciousness and the development of corresponding musical
forms tremendously accelerated in the centuries following Bach. To keep the content of
our discussion within the limits of this paper, however, I must skip through the
fascinating developments of Rococo, Classicism, and Romanticism and move to a few
examples from the 20th c.
In the 20th c. all areas of human spiritual endeavour became more entangled than
ever before. The attempts to create formalized mathematical logic in the second half of
the 19th c. were soon repeated in the idea of dodecaphonic music developed by
Schoenberg. As if foreseeing the horrors of the coming world wars, Schoenberg aspired
to move beyond the emotions that could be created by tonal music. Much of the music
of the 20th century evolved from Schoenbergs ideas. This music often cannot even be

written in traditional musical notation. In all areas of art, the modern looked to the
differentiation of the unconscious. An opposing tendency to restore synthesis at all
costs began at the same time, but only later, in the 1970s, was it recognized as such and
called the postmodern.
Differentiation and synthesis evolved in parallel, often intersecting in the lives of
individual artists. This contradiction can be seen in the art of Schoenberg. He
formulated the atonal idea (dodecaphony) as a formal rule, but attempted to express it
in music as the unverbalisable nature of God. For more than sixteen years he worked on
Jacobs Ladder and Moses and Aron, yet both works remained unfinished. The
formal dodecaphonic rule did not fit human psychic needs. We should also mention
that a similar fate befell the mathematical formalism which inspired Schoenberg; in the
1930s Gdel proved its inconsistency.
The very idea of objective formal art contained antinomy, which manifested itself
in the most unexpected ways. Malevich developed Suprematism to free art from any
symbolic content but his Black Square was interpreted as a symbol of impenetrable
unconscious content. In Ulysses Joyce created a form of language to express the stream
of consciousness, but an almost complete absence of consciousness was the outcome.
Jung uses Ulysses to characterize a significant part of 20th c. art and collective
consciousness as follows: A passive, merely perceiving consciousness, a mere eye, ear,
nose, and mouth, a sensory nerve exposed without choice or check to...a stream of
physical happenings.... The stream...not only begins and ends in nothingness, it consists
in nothingness. It is all infernally nugatory.... Today it still bores me as it did then (in
1922). Then, why do I write about it? (It) is a collective manifestation of our time..., the
collective unconscious of the modern culture.... [T]he modern artist immerses into
destructive processes, to affirm in destructiveness the unity of his artistic personality....
We still belong to the Middle Ages.... For that alone would explain...why there should
be books or works of art...(like) Ulysses. They are drastic purgatives...for the soul..., of
use only where the hardest and toughest material must be dealt with. (Jung 1934).
Those agreeing with Jung about the roots of Joyces art would find many similar
examples in music.
In music, as in visual art and philosophy, two historically contrary tendencies in the
evolution of consciousness collided once again, differentiation and synthesis (Perlovsky
2002, 2010b). Its not surprising that changes in musical forms paralleled those in visual
arts, philosophy, and science. Differentiation of self, as a penetration into the depths of
the unconscious, was manifest in the psychology of Freud, in the paintings of Pollock,
and in the music of Scriabin and Shostakovich, just to name a few. As differentiation
destroyed the wholeness of world perception, a contrary tendency emerged,
postmodernism, with a striving for synthesis based on the simplest notions, as in the
music of Cage. Whereas in past centuries differentiation may have dominated one
epoch and synthesis another, in the 20th c. they were entangled. While Modernism

sought the depths of self, the Postmodern with equal force rushed to simplicity as the
basis of the aesthetic. The opposing tendencies of differentiation and synthesis were
present in the conscious and unconscious of individual composers.
Mass culture is a logical step in the evolution of consciousness, in the interaction
between differentiation and synthesis. There is a chasm between differentiated concepts
existing in culture and the capacity of a single person to assimilate this culture, while
preserving psychic synthesis. Is this chasm unprecedented and unique for our times?
Was this chasm smaller for Aristotle and the Ancient Greeks? The animalistic and
satanistic styles of some rockers and rappers suggest otherwise; they can be better
understood if compared to Ancient Greek dithyrambs. The dithyramb was an ancient
way of creating synthesis, connecting the sublime with the bestial unconscious bases of
the psyche. The rift between the conscious and unconscious threatens culture and
demands restoratory sacrifices (Nietzsche 1876). Rap is a contemporary dithyramb,
very similar in musical and performance style, restoring the connection between the
conscious and unconscious. In both dithyramb and rap regular thoughts are cried out
at the edge of frenzy. As in Greece 2,500 years ago, so today in a complex multiform
culture, people, especially young people, are losing their bearings. Words no longer call
forth emotional reactions; their prime emotional meaning is lost. By shouting words
alongside a primitive melody and rhythm, a human being limits his or her conscious
world, but restores synthesis, connecting the conscious and unconscious. The internal
world becomes whole, reuniting with a part of the surrounding culture.
Postmodern art and music returned to the pre-Aeschylean, Apollonian
consciousness of pure notions. So rap is a natural continuation of the postmodern, the
Dionysian breaking forth into Apollonian consciousness. While these types of
consciousness became antiquated about 2,500 years ago, consciousness itself does not
whirl around in a closed circle. The conceptual and emotional contents of contemporary
culture have become much richer, with previously unseen poles of differentiation being
unified by syntheses yet to be experienced.
I leaned upon scientific analysis of cognitive mechanisms in Part I, while this paper
has reviewed changes of forms of consciousness parallel to changes of musical forms.
Summarizing, I would emphasize that music is the most mysterious ability of the
human psyche; it contains differentiating and synthesizing powers. Necessity governs
the relationships between these powers: when moving toward differentiation, concepts
lose their meaning and culture is threatened, but when moving toward synthesis,
strong emotions nail down thoughts to traditional values. Both lead to a slowdown of
cultural evolution. Like no other art, music can forestall this cultural slowdown. Music
transports reality into the hearts of listeners and restores the possibility of the
continuation of culture. But will the unity of differentiation and synthesis prevail over
this life? Or will our entire culture be torn to shreds? Answering this question leads us
in the direction of further development of the ideas discussed in this paper.

Future laboratory experiments

Laboratory experimentation should be directed at the operational definition and
measurement of emotions connected to music. In parallel emotions of cognitive
dissonances should be instrumentalized (Bonniot-Cabanac, et al. 2012). Then, the two
types of emotions could be connected. Neuroimaging techniques can be used to identify
the brain regions involved. Dimensionality and the structure of musical-emotional
space can be investigated through mathematical methods. Existing mathematical
techniques of multidimensional scaling can be used.
Experimental psychologists, however, should expect difficulties. Whereas basic
emotions are hundreds of millions years old, musical emotions could be as new as
language. A musical emotion of a single musical phrase is subjective and may change
even for a single individual depending on internal and external states. Therefore,
standard techniques averaging over experiment participants may not be sensitive to
fine variations of musical emotions and measure only basic emotions (Petrov et al,
2012). Similar difficulties are sure to be met in attempting to explore emotions of
cognitive dissonances (Bonniot-Cabanac, et al. 2012).
Brain imaging offers a direct way of observing emotions connected to music.
Images of the emotional regions of brains as they process music can be further analyzed
mathematically. Eigenanalysis of these images could lead to identifying emotions
connected to music, determining their number, and ultimately connecting these
emotions to psychological states (Perlovsky, Deming, & Ilin 2011). If musical emotions
could be measured, it would be interesting to compare the emotional spaces elicited by
Busta Rhymes and Beethoven to confirm or disprove various expectations.
Brain modules and neural connections involved in the dual model and in
knowledge instinct where identified in (Levine and Perlovsky 2008a,b; Levine 2012;
Perlovsky et al 2010). Emotions of cognitive dissonance were studied in (Perlovsky et al
2010, Bonniot-Cabanac et al 2012). These studies should be continued. Experimental
results (Franklin et al, 2008) support the dual model hypothesis (Perlovsky 2007a, 2009a,
Perlovsky & Ilin 2010a,b). This model suggests that emotions of speech prosody, the
evolutionary origin of music, are necessary for connecting language and cognition, and
influence the evolution of cultures to this very day (Perlovsky, 2009b, 2013b). This could
be another direction for experimental psychology.
Timbre in music and language might be related to this discussion. Levitin (2006)
writes that timbre characterizes individual performers more than any other aspect of
music. Patel (2008) suggests that language uses timbre systematically more than music
does. Has timbre evolved as semantic, melody as emotional? Is harmony related to
psychic hierarchy? Are these intuitions just shallow metaphors or meaningful,
experimentally testable hypotheses?

Summary and Further Research

Musics power for the human psyche has remained mysterious from Aristotle to 20th
century cognitive science. Contemporary evolutionary psychologists have recognized
music as a cultural universal of tremendous power; still, its fundamental function in
cognition, its role in the evolution of consciousness and culture has remained hidden.
Here we have reviewed historical and contemporary scientific hypotheses of the role
and function of music and have concentrated on one hypothesis. It explains emotional
mechanisms connected to music by relating them to primordial connections between
the voice and emotions. It explains the function of music in differentiating emotions for
the purpose of restoring the unity of self. Emotions connected to music help maintain a
sense of purpose of ones life in the face of a multiplicity of contradictory knowledge, or
what is called the synthesis of differentiated consciousness.
This hypothesis ties the origins of music to the origins of language. Language
differentiated the original unity of the primordial self. Original psychic states of unified
concept-emotion-behaviour-vocalization were differentiated, so that concepts shed their
inextricable connections to emotions and motivation, and deliberate thinkingconversations became possible - language was emerging. The price of this
differentiation was the loss of the unity of self, loss of the concentration of will. Our
ancestors, the ones who could maintain the concentration of will while differentiating
knowledge about the world, received an evolutionary advantage. Therefore the
emotional part of primordial vocalization evolved into music.
As language and culture were evolving into a powerful system with a tremendous
differentiation of knowledge about the world and self, the number of contradictions
grew combinatorially. Every combination of conceptual formulations of knowledge led
to new contradictions. Therefore, maintaining motivation to handle this diversified
knowledge required a virtually infinite number of emotional shades of motivations.
Emotions connected to music are called continuous by psychologists who study
them. All of these emotions and motivations are related to knowledge, and therefore,
since Kant, have been called aesthetic emotions.
Can this hypothesis be verified by scientific methods? One direction is to relate
changes in musical styles to changes in cultures and consciousness, as I have done here.
This connects the evolution of music, consciousness, and cultures. I have made other
steps in this direction (Perlovsky 2006b,c, 2008a, 2010a, 2011a), as summarized in
previous sections. I have suggested, for example, that antiphonal music was culturally
accepted about 2500 years ago along with contemporary consciousness, when
fundamental contradictions in the psyche began penetrating into consciousness and
creating tensions. Tonality was developed beginning in the Renaissance when
instinctual and emotional human nature was consciously accepted, creating tensions in
the psyche with the received ideas of the spiritually high. Buxtehude and Bach

developed music that could reconcile the new contradictions brought into
consciousness by the Reformation. The popular songs of today restore synthesis by
connecting the conceptual contents of the lyrics with the emotional contents of the
music. Contemporary rap music seems to be similar in style and function to Ancient
Greek dithyrambs, namely in its ability to reconcile instinctual needs with some basic
concepts in culture and language. Further research in this direction is virtually
unlimited. It should include global differences in consciousness and culture as well as
changes in the lives of individual composers. In this regard, it is interesting to mention
what musicologists call the swan song phenomenon (see Simonton 1997). Many
composers have created their most profound music in the later years of their lives. Is
this because synthesis becomes psychologically more important in later years? The
examples of musical evolution mentioned in this paper should be extended to other
cultures. A special challenge is presented by tonal languages (e.g. Mandarin), in which
melody might play both a conceptual and an emotional role.
Most of the laboratory experimental studies discussed in the previous section still
need development. Among these, the first conceptual step would be to operationally
define and model emotions connected to music. This step has been related to the welldeveloped methods of studying cognitive dissonance, an unpleasant feeling
experienced when becoming conscious of contradictions in ones own system of
knowledge and beliefs (in other words, threats to synthesis due to differentiation).
Cognitive dissonance has been an important psychological tool in developing the
theory of human irrationality put forth by Tversky and Kahneman (1974).
Laboratory experimental tests should be used to study the emotional (melodic)
contents of various languages versus the emotional contents of music developed in
various cultures. However, these studies can be difficult due to perceived prejudices.
For example, the differences in emotionality between English and Italian people have
often been explained by differences in climate. But these explanations do not explain
the emotionality of Russians. More fundamental studies are needed: for example, which
parts of emotionality are related to behaviour, cognition, and cultural traditions, and
which parts to language alone? Does the increase in the popularity of songs in Englishspeaking cultures compensate for reduced melodic content in the English language?
Mathematical methods should be developed to study the spaces of emotions connected
to music and to find ways to estimate large dimensional spaces and their structures
from a finite number of measurements.
Classical psychological tests as well as brain imaging should be used to test the dual
model, the inborn connections between cognitive and language brain modules. Tests
and modelling should be used to understand how the neural mechanisms of hearing
enhance or suppress Helmholtzs dissonances originating in the eardrum; is there
scientific evidence for Helmholtzs hypothesis? Why do various species have different
sensitivities to dissonances or lack them. Which parts of our musical ability are genetic

and which are culturally developed? How can music be used to reduce global tensions?
The reviewed hypothesis suggests that language reduced the direct connections
between vocalization and ancient emotional centres. Neural imaging tests could reveal
if music is connected to ancient emotional centres; is this connection direct? Is it
different for music and language? How and to what extent does music involve the
emotional centres in the cortex?
The reviewed hypothesis of the origins and functions of music in relation to
emotions addresses numerous questions, many of which have remained open for
millennia. Therefore, steps revealing the neural mechanisms as well as studies of the
suggested hypothesis about the function of music are necessary, along with
experimental laboratory tests, empirical ethnomusicological, anthropological, and
historical studies. This paper reviews the first steps identifying the fundamental role of
music in relation to emotions in cognition and cultural evolution. Possibly it will
contribute to a foundation for a unified field of multidisciplinary study. In conclusion,
we would like to repeat that music is the most mysterious of human abilities, appealing
directly to our primordial emotions, while connecting them to language and cognition.

Acknowledgements
It is my pleasure to acknowledge the contributions of my colleagues and co-authors M.
Aranovsky, M. Bar, L. Barsalou, M. Bonfeld, R. Brockett, M. Cabanac, A. Cangelosi, T.
Chernigovskaya, E. Coutinho, R. Deming, T. Dudochkin, F. Fontanari, M. FrankKamenetskii, J. Gleason, A. Goldwag, M. Houser, D. Huron, R. Ilin, N. Katonova, M.
Karpovsky, R. Kozma, L. Leibman, D. Levine, D. Levitin, L. Levitin, R. Linnehan, T.
Lyons, N. Masataka, M. Mazo, Y. Neuman, A. Ovsich, R. Parncutt, A. Patel, V.
Rosenbaum, J. Sloboda, V. Smolensky, D. Sontag, W. Thompson, Y. Vinkovetsky, and B.
Weijers for discussions, help, and advice. This work was supported in part by AFOSR
PM Dr. Jon Sjogren, PM Dr. Doug Cochran, and PM Dr. Jun Zhang. Especial
acknowledgements are due to Y. Dimitrin, who has inspired me to think about the role
of musical emotions in human cognition, and to D. Vinkovetsky, who inspires me to
think profoundly.
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