Complex Consciousness in Musical Experiencing
A TMS-EEG investigation of brain complexity during music listening and musical performance
The presence of consciousness depends on the brain’s capacity to support complex activity patterns, with complexity being high when consciousness is present (e.g., wakefulness) and low when consciousness is absent (coma). However, within wakefulness, little is known about how phenomenologically complex and neurophysiologically distinct conscious states – like mind wandering, aesthetic absorption or creative thinking – modulate brain complexity, and ultimately, heighten our capacity for conscious experience. Here, by combining transcranial magnetic stimulation with electroencephalography (TMS-EEG), we will directly probe both local and widespread changes in brain complexity during such “complex consciousness” states. Thus, through music’s extraordinary capacity to induce profound changes in the structure and configuration of consciousness, we will apply TMS-EEG during two musical contexts: music listening (healthy adults); solo musical improvisation (professional musicians). In the end, we expect to deliver valuable insights about daily mental states and the brain processes that underlie music cognition, performance, and creativity.
