  Song appreciation involves a broad range of mental processes, and different
neural networks may be activated by different song types. The aim of the
present study was to show differential functional connectivity of the
prefrontal cortices while listening to breakup and rebellious songs. Breakup
songs describe romance and longing, whereas rebellious songs convey criticism
of conventional ideas or socio-cultural norms. We hypothesized that the medial
and lateral prefrontal cortices may interact with different brain regions in
response to these two song types. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data of
fifteen participants were collected while they were listening to two complete
breakup songs and two complete rebellious songs currently popular in Taiwan.
The results showed that listening to the breakup songs, compared to the
rebellious songs, enhanced the coupling between the medial prefrontal cortex
and several emotion-related regions, including the thalamus, caudate, amygdala,
hippocampus, middle orbitofrontal cortex, and right inferior frontal gyrus.
This coupling may reflect the neural processes of pain empathy, reward
processing, compassion, and reappraisal in response to longing and sorrow
expressed by the breakup songs. Compared to the breakup songs, listening to the
rebellious songs was associated with enhanced coupling between subregions in
the prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices. These areas might work in concert to
support re-evaluation of conventional ideas or socio-cultural norms as
suggested by the rebellious songs. This study advanced our understanding of the
integration of brain functions while processing complex information.
