Re: unpleasant sounds

[Robert Zatorre <robert.zatorre@xxxxxxxxx>]

Regarding neuroimaging of unpleasant sounds, you can take a look at the
following:

Frey S. Kostopoulos P. Petrides M.
Orbitofrontal involvement in the
processing of unpleasant auditory information.
European Journal of Neuroscience. 12(10):3709-12, 2000 

I believe they used recordings of car crashes and the like.

You might also look at a paper from our own lab, which used dissonant
chords accompanying a melody as a means of inducing unpleasantness (you
can find it on my web site, too)

Blood, A.J., Zatorre, R.J., Bermudez, P., and Evans, A.C. (1999)
Emotional responses to pleasant and unpleasant music correlate with
activity in paralimbic brain regions. Nature Neuroscience, 2,
382-387.

Regards

Robert


At 22:32 31/03/03 +0200, you wrote:
> Dear Dr Kearnbach,
>
> I still remember a demonstration of combination tones
> by Prof Plomp in one of the famous conferences on Music
> Perception in Ossiach in the 80ties. While the stimulus
> was generated about 12 meters away from me I felt that
> the combination tones were generated in my ear. It gave me
> the reaction of goose pimples. Ever since then I have been
> wondering whether these unpleasant sounds like scratching
> nails on a blackboard may have to do with combination tones.
>
> On the other hand the sound of scratching fingernails on
> a blackboard may remember you of the unpleasant feeling
> you get when you do it yourself on the blackboard.
>
> Hope this gives you some leads.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Leon van Noorden
>
> > -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> > Van: AUDITORY Research in Auditory Perception
> >
> [mailto:AUDITORY@LISTS.MCGILL.CA]namens
> Christian Kaernbach
> > Verzonden: 31 mrt 03 11:02
> > Aan: AUDITORY@LISTS.MCGILL.CA
> > Onderwerp: unpleasant sounds
> >
> >
> > Dear List,
> >
> > I am interested in psychophysiological responses to unpleasant
> sounds.
> > In 2001 we had a discussion on this list on finger nails scraping on
> a
> > blackboard. (Were there other threads of relevance to
> "unpleasant
> > sounds"?)
> >
> > My present question is: Have there ever been studied the
> > psychophysiological effects of these sounds, be it peripheral (from
> hear
> > beat rate to startle reflex) or central (fMRI or the like)?
> >
> > Would you guess that the effects elicited by such sounds are the
> same or
> > different from other "emotion inducing techniques", such
> as the
> > "International Affective Picture System"?
> >
> > From the previous thread I have compiled the following reference
> list:
> >
> >         Vitz (1973).
> >         Preference for tones
> as a function
> >         of frequency and
> intensity.
> >         P&P, 11,
> 84-88
> >
> >         Halpern, Blake &
> Hillenbrand (1986).
> >         Psychoacoustics of a
> chilling sound.
> >         P&P, 39,
> 77-80.
> >
> >         Todd (2001).
> >         Evidence for a
> behavioral significance of
> >         saccular acoustic
> sensitivity in humans
> >         JASA 110(1),
> 380-390.
> >
> > I would be grateful for any hint, be it directly to the question of
> the
> > psychophysiological effects of such sounds, or to more papers trying
> to
> > get at the physical properties of unpleasant sounds.
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Christian
> >
> > --
> > PD Dr. Christian Kaernbach
> > Institut fuer Allgemeine Psychologie
> > Universitaet Leipzig
> >

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Robert J. Zatorre, Ph.D.

Montreal Neurological Institute

3801 University St.

Montreal, QC Canada H3A 2B4

phone: 1-514-398-8903

fax: 1-514-398-1338

web site: www.zlab.mcgill.ca