ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of neuroscientific and behavioural research on music-evoked emotions with an eye towards evaluating their unique role in aesthetic experiences. In the first part of the chapter, we illustrate the neural underpinning of music-evoked affective experiences such as enjoyment or pleasure, as well as discrete and aesthetic emotions. We also discuss research investigating self-controlled and unintentional regulation of affective states via music and its relationship to health. In the second part, we deepen the discussion on how music-evoked affect can significantly contribute to maintaining and enhancing individuals’ well-being and health and to its potential use in therapy by highlighting relevant health domains and psychological mechanisms through which music can act. In the final part, we argue that ecological validity is the most pressing pitfall the neuroaesthetics and empirical aesthetics of music have come across, and we highlight current research trends that can overcome this issue.
