MANDI: WHY the 'gloomy tunes" of Music purge  our feelings of  sadness or  dark emotions?  'Tragedy Paradox' of Human emotions has baffled philosophers for ages. But IIT Mandi researchers have perhaps found  a scientific answer. 

Music has a powerful ability to affect human emotions. It is an open secret that people often turn to music to boost their mood or to help them through a tough time.

But why do we sometimes seek out sad music, even when we try to minimize sadness in our lives? 

This emanates from the so-called "tragedy paradox". It  has been a puzzle for philosophers for centuries. 

It has been postulated that the 'tragedy paradox' arises simply because of the aesthetic appeal of gloomy tunes. 

A recent study led by Prof. Laxmidhar Behera, now Director of IIT Mandi set out to answer the above question.

“We wanted to find out how the brain reacts when listening to sad music after having an adverse experience or memory,” said Prof. Laxmidhar Behera. 

For this, the researchers used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure the brain activity of twenty people under different conditions.

They focused on brain regions involved in emotion and memory processing: the cingulate cortex complex and the para-hippocampus.

These 20 participants had no musical training to avoid pre-programmed reactions to the selected music. 

EEG was measured under three states. 

In the first, EEG was recorded with no input – the baseline. 

In the second state, EEG was recorded as the participants recalled a sad experience and wrote about it – the Sad Autobiographical Recall or SAR condition. 

 In the third, EEG was measured when they were made to listen to an Indian Classical Raga, Mishra Jogiya Raga.

The music was selected by a panel of five music experts and is known for invoking Karuna Rasa (sad emotions).

 EEG measures the electrical activity of the brain, commonly known as the brain waves. 

The researchers say that it is known that brain waves are of five types – alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and theta, representing a different mood/state of mind. 

Within the current context Alpha is, for example, associated with cognitive information processing.

The  gamma is associated with episodic memory processing.

The researchers found that when recalling a sad experience (i.e. during SAR), there is enhanced gamma wave activity in brain.

When you listen to sad music, it  leads to increased alpha brain activity. 

Prof. Behera said, “Listening to Mishra Jogiya Raga (sad music) appears to promote processing of emotions and memories in the brain, through a three-channel framework involving the alpha brain wave”.

“These mechanisms include increased global and local connectivity in brain areas involved in emotion and memory processing, and increased alertness.”

The study shows that the brain's activity when listening to sad music is unique and distinct from both the SAR state and the baseline resting state.

The coping mechanism of sad music arises from better processing of emotions and memories under the alpha state.

“The coping effects are not simply due to the aesthetic appeal of the music, as previously believed, but an inherent property of sad music”, explains Mr. Ashish Gupta a Ph.D. scholar. 

 The scientists believe that more research is needed to understand the relationship between sad music and the brain entirely.

“The current study is a part of ongoing work investigating the effect of Indian Raga on Human cognitive functions.

“This work has significance for music therapy, music training, etc. where music is used or can be used as a therapeutic tool,” adds Prof. Braj Bhushan.

These interesting observations have been recently published in the open-access journal PLOS One, in a paper co-authored by Ashish Gupta, Prof Braj Bhushan, and Prof Behera.