Collaborative Playlist-Making: Musical Interaction via Digitally Mediated Co-Curation

Collaborative playlist-making (CPM), a form of music co-curation where two or more people select and order recordedmusic together, is a form of group musical engagement that has recently risen to prominence among musicians and nonmusicians in the general population. This paper presents CPM as a form of technologically mediated group musical engagement and informs researchers as to how CPM and its constituent behaviors may be studied in relation to other forms of musical engagement, particularly group music-making. In addition, specific psychological processes expected to be elicited by CPM - self-other merging, cognitive perspective-taking, and shared intentionality - are explicated in an effort to evince how CPM may give rise to socio-cognitive transfer effects in line with Goldman’s reconstructive route to empathy. The main purpose of this paper is to promote music psychologists’ study of CPM to probe how musical interaction occurring within everyday contexts can harness music’s potential to facilitate communication and bring about social benefits

Investigating Everyday Musical Interaction During COVID-19: An Experimental Procedure for Exploring Collaborative Playlist Engagement.

Musical Group Interaction (MGI) has been found to promote prosocial tendencies, including empathy, across various populations. However, experimental study is lacking in respect of effects of everyday forms of musical engagement on prosocial tendencies, as well as whether key aspects-such as physical co-presence of MGI participants-are necessary to enhance prosocial tendencies. We developed an experimental procedure in order to study online engagement with collaborative playlists and to investigate socio-cognitive components of prosocial tendencies expected to increase as a consequence of engagement. We aimed to determine whether mere perceived presence of a partner during playlist-making could elicit observable correlates of social processing implicated in both MGI and prosocial behaviors more generally and identify the potential roles of demographic, musical, and inter-individual differences. Preliminary results suggest that for younger individuals, some of the social processes involved in joint music-making and implicated in empathic processes are likely to be elicited even by an assumption of virtual co-presence. In addition, individual differences in styles of listening behavior may mediate the effects of mere perceived partner presence on recognition memory

Come on Baby, Light My Fire

Peer Reviewe

Investigating Everyday Musical Interaction During COVID-19: An Experimental Procedure for Exploring Collaborative Playlist Engagement.

Musical Group Interaction (MGI) has been found to promote prosocial tendencies, including empathy, across various populations. However, experimental study is lacking in respect of effects of everyday forms of musical engagement on prosocial tendencies, as well as whether key aspects-such as physical co-presence of MGI participants-are necessary to enhance prosocial tendencies. We developed an experimental procedure in order to study online engagement with collaborative playlists and to investigate socio-cognitive components of prosocial tendencies expected to increase as a consequence of engagement. We aimed to determine whether mere perceived presence of a partner during playlist-making could elicit observable correlates of social processing implicated in both MGI and prosocial behaviors more generally and identify the potential roles of demographic, musical, and inter-individual differences. Preliminary results suggest that for younger individuals, some of the social processes involved in joint music-making and implicated in empathic processes are likely to be elicited even by an assumption of virtual co-presence. In addition, individual differences in styles of listening behavior may mediate the effects of mere perceived partner presence on recognition memory

Is song processing distinct and special in the auditory cortex?

Is the singing voice processed distinctively in the human brain? In this Perspective, we discuss what might distinguish song processing from speech processing in light of recent work suggesting that some cortical neuronal populations respond selectively to song and we outline the implications for our understanding of auditory processing. We review the literature regarding the neural and physiological mechanisms of song production and perception and show that this provides evidence for key differences between song and speech processing. We conclude by discussing the significance of the notion that song processing is special in terms of how this might contribute to theories of the neurobiological origins of vocal communication and to our understanding of the neural circuitry underlying sound processing in the human cortex

miRNA contributions to pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis inferred from GWAS.

ObjectiveOnset of multiple sclerosis (MS) occurs in childhood for approximately 5% of cases (pediatric MS, or ped-MS). Epigenetic influences are strongly implicated in MS pathogenesis in adults, including the contribution from microRNAs (miRNAs), small noncoding RNAs that affect gene expression by binding target gene mRNAs. Few studies have specifically examined miRNAs in ped-MS, but individuals developing MS at an early age may carry a relatively high burden of genetic risk factors, and miRNA dysregulation may therefore play a larger role in the development of ped-MS than in adult-onset MS. This study aimed to look for evidence of miRNA involvement in ped-MS pathogenesis.MethodsGWAS results from 486 ped-MS cases and 1362 controls from the U.S. Pediatric MS Network and Kaiser Permanente Northern California membership were investigated for miRNA-specific signals. First, enrichment of miRNA-target gene network signals was evaluated using MIGWAS software. Second, SNPs in miRNA genes and in target gene binding sites (miR-SNPs) were tested for association with ped-MS, and pathway analysis was performed on associated target genes.ResultsMIGWAS analysis showed that miRNA-target gene signals were enriched in GWAS (P = 0.038) and identified 39 candidate biomarker miRNA-target gene pairs, including immune and neuronal signaling genes. The miR-SNP analysis implicated dysregulation of miRNA binding to target genes in five pathways, mainly involved in immune signaling.InterpretationEvidence from GWAS suggests that miRNAs play a role in ped-MS pathogenesis by affecting immune signaling and other pathways. Candidate biomarker miRNA-target gene pairs should be further studied for diagnostic, prognostic, and/or therapeutic utility

Half a Century of Wilson & Jungner: Reflections on the Governance of Population Screening.

Background: In their landmark report on the "Principles and Practice of Screening for Disease" (1968), Wilson and Jungner noted that the practice of screening is just as important for securing beneficial outcomes and avoiding harms as the formulation of principles. Many jurisdictions have since established various kinds of "screening governance organizations" to provide oversight of screening practice. Yet to date there has been relatively little reflection on the nature and organization of screening governance itself, or on how different governance arrangements affect the way screening is implemented and perceived and the balance of benefits and harms it delivers. Methods: An international expert policy workshop convened by Sturdy, Miller and Hogarth. Results: While effective governance is essential to promote beneficial screening practices and avoid attendant harms, screening governance organizations face enduring challenges. These challenges are social and ethical as much as technical. Evidence-based adjudication of the benefits and harms of population screening must take account of factors that inform the production and interpretation of evidence, including the divergent professional, financial and personal commitments of stakeholders. Similarly, when planning and overseeing organized screening programs, screening governance organizations must persuade or compel multiple stakeholders to work together to a common end. Screening governance organizations in different jurisdictions vary widely in how they are constituted, how they relate to other interested organizations and actors, and what powers and authority they wield. Yet we know little about how these differences affect the way screening is implemented, and with what consequences. Conclusions: Systematic research into how screening governance is organized in different jurisdictions would facilitate policy learning to address enduring challenges. Even without such research, informal exchange and sharing of experiences between screening governance organizations can deliver invaluable insights into the social as well as the technical aspects of governance

Identification of Circulating Proteins associated With General Cognitive Function among Middle-Aged and Older adults

Identifying circulating proteins associated with cognitive function may point to biomarkers and molecular process of cognitive impairment. Few studies have investigated the association between circulating proteins and cognitive function. We identify 246 protein measures quantified by the SomaScan assay as associated with cognitive function (p \u3c 4.9E-5, n up to 7289). Of these, 45 were replicated using SomaScan data, and three were replicated using Olink data at Bonferroni-corrected significance. Enrichment analysis linked the proteins associated with general cognitive function to cell signaling pathways and synapse architecture. Mendelian randomization analysis implicated higher levels of NECTIN2, a protein mediating viral entry into neuronal cells, with higher Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) risk (p = 2.5E-26). Levels of 14 other protein measures were implicated as consequences of AD susceptibility (p \u3c 2.0E-4). Proteins implicated as causes or consequences of AD susceptibility may provide new insight into the potential relationship between immunity and AD susceptibility as well as potential therapeutic targets