Music classification by low-rank semantic mappings

A challenging open question in music classification is which music representation (i.e., audio features) and which machine learning algorithm is appropriate for a specific music classification task. To address this challenge, given a number of audio feature vectors for each training music recording that capture the different aspects of music (i.e., timbre, harmony, etc.), the goal is to find a set of linear mappings from several feature spaces to the semantic space spanned by the class indicator vectors. These mappings should reveal the common latent variables, which characterize a given set of classes and simultaneously define a multi-class linear classifier that classifies the extracted latent common features. Such a set of mappings is obtained, building on the notion of the maximum margin matrix factorization, by minimizing a weighted sum of nuclear norms. Since the nuclear norm imposes rank constraints to the learnt mappings, the proposed method is referred to as low-rank semantic mappings (LRSMs). The performance of the LRSMs in music genre, mood, and multi-label classification is assessed by conducting extensive experiments on seven manually annotated benchmark datasets. The reported experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the LRSMs over the classifiers that are compared to. Furthermore, the best reported classification results are comparable with or slightly superior to those obtained by the state-of-the-art task-specific music classification methods

Music classification by low-rank semantic mappings

A challenging open question in music classification is which music representation (i.e., audio features) and which machine learning algorithm is appropriate for a specific music classification task. To address this challenge, given a number of audio feature vectors for each training music recording that capture the different aspects of music (i.e., timbre, harmony, etc.), the goal is to find a set of linear mappings from several feature spaces to the semantic space spanned by the class indicator vectors. These mappings should reveal the common latent variables, which characterize a given set of classes and simultaneously define a multi-class linear classifier that classifies the extracted latent common features. Such a set of mappings is obtained, building on the notion of the maximum margin matrix factorization, by minimizing a weighted sum of nuclear norms. Since the nuclear norm imposes rank constraints to the learnt mappings, the proposed method is referred to as low-rank semantic mappings (LRSMs). The performance of the LRSMs in music genre, mood, and multi-label classification is assessed by conducting extensive experiments on seven manually annotated benchmark datasets. The reported experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the LRSMs over the classifiers that are compared to. Furthermore, the best reported classification results are comparable with or slightly superior to those obtained by the state-of-the-art task-specific music classification methods

Music Therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Literature Review

Autism spectrum disorder is a complex neurobiological disorder that affects social interaction, communication, and behavior. While there is no cure, MT has emerged as one of the most effective ways to improve the quality of life for individuals with autism. Music can help with communication, emotional expression, and reducing anxiety, providing a structured and predictable environment. MT can be used as a tool for self-expression, learning new concepts, and improving motor control. However, more research is needed to develop disease-modifying therapies that target the core deficits of the disorder.A perturbação do espectro do autismo é uma condição neurobiológica complexa que afeta a comunicação, a interação social e o comportamento. As causas exatas desta condição não são totalmente compreendidas, mas está estabelecido que se baseiam numa combinação de fatores genéticos e ambientais. Nos últimos anos, a prevalência da perturbação do espetro do autismo aumentou, gerando mais atenção e pesquisas. Atualmente não há cura para o autismo, mas existem muitas maneiras de controlar e tratar os sintomas associados, por exemplo através da musicoterapia. Este tipo de abordagem surgiu como uma intervenção promissora que pode ajudar indivíduos com autismo a melhorar sua qualidade de vida, especialmente a desenvolver capacidades sociais a nível de comunicação e interação com outras pessoas, dentro ou fora do círculo familiar. Os musicoterapeutas usam uma variedade de instrumentos e ferramentas para ajudar estes indivíduos a expressar as suas emoções e comunicar os seus sentimentos. Além disso, a música fornece um ambiente organizado e previsível que pode ajudar a melhorar o foco e, consequentemente, reduzir a ansiedade. A musicoterapia também pode ser usada como meio de ensino ativo ou passivo, visando explorar e desenvolver a autoconsciência e a autoexpressão. Do ponto de vista neurofisiológico, a música pode também ser um caminho para desenvolver a plasticidade cortical em indivíduos autistas, ou seja, pode ajudar a reconectar os circuitos sensoriomotores cerebelares e cerebrais, melhorando o controle motor e reduzindo comportamentos repetitivos. Isto deve-se ao facto da música ter a capacidade de fortalecer as conexões sinápticas entre diferentes áreas corticais somatossensoriais do cérebro, destacando a importância do sistema de neurônios-espelho e da ínsula anterior. Embora os mecanismos do funcionamento da musicoterapia ainda não sejam totalmente compreendidos, a pesquisa sugere que pode influenciar positivamente a comunicação, a interação social e a expressão emocional em indivíduos com autismo, e isso deve motivar a novas investigações, mais precisas e direcionadas ao indivíduo em questão

Cross-modal and synaesthetic perception in music and vision

This thesis is concerned with the cross-modal and synaesthetic perception of musical and visual stimuli. Each of these types of perception has been researched separately, and a hypothesis is presented here that accounts for both cross-modal matching and the development of synaesthesia. This hypothesis claims that sensory information can be evaluated in another modality by using a scale of comparison in that modality. The first set of experiments examines normal subjects performing cross-modal matching with coloured circles and auditory stimuli that vary in complexity. It is shown that subjects use a variety of scales of comparison from both visual and auditory modalities to form matches. As the stimuli increase in complexity, the individual variation in cross-modal matching also increases. The second set of experiments examines matching performance using higher order stimuli, by having subjects evaluate fragments of melodies and complete melodies on affective and descriptive adjective scales. Melodies were also matched with landscape scenes to examine if subjects could form matches between two highly complex sets of stimuli. The final experiments examine synaesthetic associations with colour, evoked from music, letters, numbers, and other categorical information. Common features of synaesthesia from a population of synaesthetes are identified, and experiments performed to test the interference of the synaesthetic associations. Additional experiments are presented that explore the superior short-term memory of one synaesthete, and the role of his associations as a mnemonic device

READING NEUROSCIENCE: VENTRILOQUISM AS A METAPHOR FOR MULTIPLE READINGS OF SELF

This thesis argues that the consensus models of self forwarded and upheld in the fields of discourse most concerned with its description, indicate a process of ventriloquism where agency slips between dual poles of body and mind and cannot be tracked to a hiding place. Just as with ventriloquism, in these models of self it is unclear who is doing the 'talking', and the skill of performance would seem to make the distinction almost redundant. The self seems a complicity of often conflicting agents when analysed as its constituent parts, and not there at all when viewed as a whole. This thesis takes as its starting point the confusion of Edgar Bergen when struggling to justify his philosophical conversations with his dummy: who is at work here, and where would agency reside in such a dialogue? That it serves us to assume the 'theory of mind' explanation for the behaviours of others, and by extension place ourselves within a scaffold of causal motives, says more for the use value of such a theory than for the presence of 'mind'. Why this 'theory of mind' rather than any other? Because that is how mind and motive are presented to us during our acquisition of a spoken language. Mediation, transformation and referral: this thesis argues that these are qualities which characterize ventriloquism, and also the human means of perception and self-perception. There are a number of unfulfilled potentialities that reach their heaven in the unified self. The 'drive' to unity culls these lost futures and condemns us to another fulfilment, that of'oneness'. Most of these resolutions regarding self are predicated on what is 'in' and what is 'out'; how does the discriminatory self establish grounds for inclusivity or exclusivity? This thesis means to provide a lexicon of other possibilities regarding the conceptualization of self

Network science and the effects of music on the human brain

Most people choose to listen to music that they prefer or like such as classical, country or rock. Previous research has focused on how different characteristics of music (i.e., classical versus country) affect the brain. Yet, when listening to preferred music regardless of the type--people report they often experience personal thoughts and memories. To date, understanding how this occurs in the brain has remained elusive. Using network science methods, I evaluated differences in functional brain connectivity when individuals listened to complete songs. Here the results reveal that a circuit important for internally focused thoughts, known as the default mode network, was most connected when listening to preferred music. The results also reveal that listening to a favorite song alters the connectivity between auditory brain areas and the hippocampus, a region responsible for memory and social emotion consolidation. Given that musical preferences are uniquely individualized phenomena and that music can vary in acoustic complexity and the presence or absence of lyrics, the consistency of these results was contrary to previous neuroscientific understanding. These findings may explain why comparable emotional and mental states can be experienced by people listening to music that differs as widely as Beethoven and Eminem. The neurobiological and neurorehabilitation implications of these results are discussed

Temporally scattered brain: neural mechanism apprehending the paradox of the discrete and continuous flow of consciousness

In dieser Dissertation werden offene Fragen über „Bewußtsein“ aus neurowissenschaftlicher, psychologischer und auch philosophischer Sicht erörtert. Es geht insbesondere darum, wie in traditionellen und modernen Ansätzen die Beziehung von zeitlicher Informations-Verarbeitung und Repräsentationen im Bewußtsein konzipiert werden. In einer historischen Aufarbeitung wird gezeigt, dass Zeit als mentale Kategorie in der psychologischen und neurowissenschaftlichen Forschung lange eher vernachlässigt worden ist, was sich erst jetzt zu ändern scheint. Wie wichtig Informations-Verarbeitung im Zeitbereich für ein besseres Verständnis von Bewußtseinsprozessen ist, wird herausgearbeitet, denn alle Verhaltensweisen und alles bewußte Erleben haben notwendigerweise eine zeitliche Charakteristik. Die grundsätzliche aber bisher nicht hinreichend beantwortete Frage ist, ob diese Charakteristik, die Informations-Verarbeitung in der Zeit, als kontinuierlich oder als diskret zu verstehen ist. Neue Befunde legen nahe, dass so genannte „Zeitfenster“ bestimmter Dauer notwendig sind, um neuronale Informations-Verarbeitung zu ermöglichen, damit Bewußtseinsprozesse überhaupt entstehen können. Wenn aber diskrete Zeitfenster notwendig sind, dann stellt sich die weitere Frage, wie es paradoxerweise zum subjektiven Eindruck einer zeitlichen Kontinuität zum Beispiel in der Wahrnehmung kommen kann. Das Erleben zeitlicher Kontinuität bezieht sich nicht nur auf Prozesse der Wahrnehmng und des Erlebens, sondern auch auf den viel weiteren Rahmen der Kontinuität personaler Identität. Es wird darauf hingewiesen, dass diese Kontinuität bei bestimmten Erkrankungen oder veränderten Bewußtseinszuständen verloren gehen kann. Ein derartiger Verlust legt nahe, dass es aktive Mechanismen auf neuronaler Ebene geben sollte, die personale Identität über die Zeit hinweg erzeugen. Es mußt gleichsam ein „Klebstoff“ vermutet werden, der zeitlich Diskretes in anschauliche Kontinuität verwandelt. Mechanismen, die hierfür in Frage kommen könnten, sind bisher nicht bekannt. Ein erster Versuch zur Aufklärung dieser Frage wird mit einem fMRT-Experiment gemacht, in dem visuelle und auditive Vorstellungen untersucht werden. Hier zeigt sich, dass in beiden Modalitäten gemeinsame neuronale Aktivierungen in bestimmten Hirnstrukturen zu beobachten sind, was möglicherweise einen ersten Hinweis auf die Erzeugung von anschaulicher Kontinuität geben könnte. Des weiteren wird am Ende der Arbeit auf die Bedeutung des Reafferenzprinzips hingewiesen, das vielleicht einen neuen Ansatz zum besseren Verständnis mancher Phänomene wie des Déjà Vu geben könnte, wenn man in dieses klassische Prinzip einen Zeitfaktor integriert, was bisher theoretisch nicht geschehen ist. Während der Fokus der Arbeit auf theoretischen Konzepten zu Zeit und Bewußtsein im psychologischen, neurowissenschaftlichen und philosophischen Kontext liegt, werden auch Bezüge zu den Künsten, der Dichtkunst und der Musik, offen gelegt. Dies soll darauf hinweisen, dass die Beziehung zwischen der „Zeit des Menschen“ und dem bewußten Erleben ein Menschheitsthema ist, das über den wissenschhaftlichen Rahmen hinaus weist.In this dissertation open questions about “consciousness” are discussed from a psychological, neuroscientific and also philosophical perspective. In particular, it is described how the relationship between temporal information processing and conscious representations is conceived in traditional and modern approaches. In a historical review it is shown that time as a mental category has been neglected for a long time in psychological and neuroscientific research, although this is changing recently. The importance of temporal information processing for a better understanding of conscious processes is analyzed because any behavior and all subjective experiences necessarily have a temporal characteristic. There is, however, a basic and still open question whether this characteristic, i.e., temporal information processing, is continuous or discrete. New research suggests that “time windows” of specific durations are necessary in neural information processing being the basis for conscious representations. If, however, discrete time windows are necessary the question arises how paradoxically the subjective impression of temporal continuity for instance in perception is possible. The impression of temporal continuity refers, however, not only to processes of perception and experience, but in a broader context also to the continuity of personal identity. It is indicated that this continuity can break down in certain diseases or in altered states of consciousness. Such losses suggest the existence of active mechanisms on the neural level which allow for the creation of personal identity across time. Some kind of “glue” has to be suspected that transforms what is temporally discrete into apparent continuity. Potential mechanisms for this transformation are still not known. A first attempt is made to answer this question with an fMRI-experiment in which visual and auditory images are analyzed. For both modalities’ common activations in certain brain regions are observed which possibly might be a first indication about a mechanism creating apparent continuity. At the end of the dissertation the importance of the reafference principle is stressed as it may provide a new perspective towards a better understanding of some phenomena like Déja Vu, if one includes in this classical principle a temporal factor which theoretically has not been done yet. Although the focus of the dissertation lies on theoretical concepts of time and consciousness within a psychological, neuroscientific and philosophical context, some links to the arts like poetry and music are made transparent. This shall indicate that the relationship between the “time of humans” and conscious experiences is a topic of humankind that goes beyond the scientific frame