Body Maps for Feeling of Creativity in Musical Chord Progression

TL;DR

This study explores how bodily sensations, especially heart signals, influence feelings of creativity evoked by musical chord progressions, highlighting the embodied and predictive nature of creative emotional experiences.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework linking interoceptive bodily sensations with feelings of creativity in music, emphasizing the role of heart sensations and predictive processing.

Findings

Heart sensations positively correlate with feelings of creativity.

High uncertainty and surprise in chords increase perceived creativity.

Predictable progressions influence feelings of beauty and valence.

Abstract

This study investigates how musical stimuli evoke feelings of creativity through predictive mechanisms, while also examining the role of interoceptive bodily sensations, particularly those linked to the heart and stomach regions. Furthermore, we investigate the relationship between interoceptive sensibility and the intensity of the feeling of creativity. By employing body-mapping assessments and emotional evaluations on 353 participants exposed to various chord progressions, we revealed the critical role of heart sensations in eliciting feelings of creativity. Our findings indicate that musical chord progressions characterized by high uncertainty and surprise generated heightened feelings of creativity alongside increased arousal. Notably, heart sensations correlated positively with the feeling of creativity, suggesting the crucial role of interoceptive bodily sensations in the experience of creativity. In contrast, the feelings of beauty and valence were more strongly influenced by predictable, low-uncertainty progressions, suggesting that the feelings of creativity may operate through a somewhat different cognitive mechanism than that of beauty and valence. This study highlights the complex interplay between bodily sensations and feelings of creativity based on predictive processing. By framing creativity within the framework of interoception, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of the emotional and embodied processes that shape the experience of creativity. Future research should explore these relationships to enrich our comprehension of creativity in both artistic endeavors and everyday life.