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Open research questions in Neuroscience and Music Perception

359 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,489 Neuroscience and Music Perception papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • The complexity and location of cortico-basal ganglia pathways complicates direct measurement, - EMG signatures are not wholly consistent with pause-then-cancel predictions, - A tractable cognitive model of the pause-then-cancel framework has yet to be proposed

    Separating Pause from Cancel? Evaluating the Pause-then-Cancel Model in Complex Stopping Tasks · 2026 · DOI

  • Leveraging cognitive models to reconcile purported neural mechanisms with action stopping, - Integrating EMG and EEG with cognitive models, - Mapping neural signatures onto model-derived parameters

    Separating Pause from Cancel? Evaluating the Pause-then-Cancel Model in Complex Stopping Tasks · 2026 · DOI

  • Investigating the causal dynamics of creative cognition, - Using TMS-EEG to study other complex behaviors

    TMS–EEG Reveals Causal Dynamics of the Premotor Cortex during Musical Improvisation · 2026 · DOI

  • No socio-demographic information (e.g., age, sex, education level, cultural background) was collected, - The study had a limited sample size, - The findings should be interpreted as pertaining to the specific sample tested rather than to the general population

    Colored tones of emotions: the relationship between music, emotions and color · 2026 · DOI

  • Investigate the relationship between music, emotions, and color in different cultures and age groups, - Examine the effect of musical training on the association between tonality, tempo, and emotional responses, - Explore the application of the findings in music therapy and color design

    Colored tones of emotions: the relationship between music, emotions and color · 2026 · DOI

  • The study only included participants who did not speak Mandarin or Tagalog. The study had a limited sample size of 104 participants. The study relied on self-report measures for demographic information and musical background.

    Trusting self-evaluation: predicting music and language performance from subjective ratings · 2026 · DOI

  • Investigating the relationship between music and language in different populations. Examining the effects of musical training on language processing. Developing more comprehensive measures of musical and linguistic ability.

    Trusting self-evaluation: predicting music and language performance from subjective ratings · 2026 · DOI

  • The study only included 42 university students, which may not be representative of the general population - The study only used a within-subjects design, which may have limitations in terms of external validity - The study did not control for individual differences in music preferences or emotional responses to music - The study only used a limited range of music stimuli, which may not be generalizable to other types of music - The study relied on self-reported measures of emotional state and willingness to help, which may be subject to biases

    Tunes that move us: the impact of music-induced emotions on prosocial decision-making · 2025 · DOI

  • Investigate the effects of music on prosocial behavior in different cultural contexts - Examine the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of music on prosocial decision-making - Develop and test interventions that use music to promote prosocial behavior in real-world settings - Explore the potential therapeutic applications of music in promoting social bonding and cooperation

    Tunes that move us: the impact of music-induced emotions on prosocial decision-making · 2025 · DOI

  • There is a lack of comprehensive contemporary literature reviews on improvisation in North Indian classical music. The paper identifies a paucity of research on learning, practice, memorisation, and performance beyond the Western Classical tradition. There is a need for further research on the cognitive processes involved in improvisation and composition in non-Western musical traditions.

    Pedagogical strategies for the development of improvisation and composition in North Indian classical music · 2025 · DOI

  • Further research is needed to clarify the associations between EAP and cognition, - Studies could investigate the use of Gaussian graphical models and Bayesian networks in other populations, - Research could explore the potential of EAP and cognition as early-stage targets or surrogate endpoints in schizophrenia

    Clarifying directional dependence among measures of early auditory processing and cognition in schizophrenia: leveraging Gaussian graphical models and Bayesian networks · 2024 · DOI

  • The gap identified by the paper is the limitation of latent variable models in accounting for relationships among individual measures of cognition and EAP. There is a need for a data-driven approach to identify directional relationships among neurophysiologic and cognitive variables.

    Clarifying directional dependence among measures of early auditory processing and cognition in schizophrenia: leveraging Gaussian graphical models and Bayesian networks · 2024 · DOI

  • The causal mechanisms underlying musical improvisation remain poorly understood. The functional role of premotor regions in orchestrating improvised versus externally cued motor performance is not well understood. There is a need for a more direct and causal understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying musical improvisation.

    TMS–EEG Reveals Causal Dynamics of the Premotor Cortex during Musical Improvisation · 2026 · DOI

  • further interdisciplinary research on learning and memory in non-notated musical systems

    Pedagogical strategies for the development of improvisation and composition in North Indian classical music · 2025 · DOI

  • A review of the developmental aspect of episodic memory is needed to elucidate how the events organize themselves to support memory function

    Event as the central construal of psychological time in humans · 2024 · DOI

  • However, the attentional mechanisms underlying age-related speech comprehension difficulties in multitalker situations remain unclear.

    Linguistic information may compensate for age-related decline in attentional filtering · 2026 · DOI

  • Both music and language are found in all known human societies, yet no studies have compared similarities and differences between song, speech, and instrumental music on a global scale.

    Globally, songs and instrumental melodies are slower and higher and use more stable pitches than speech: A Registered Report · 2024 · DOI

  • How the brain represents these dimensions and whether their encoding is specialized for music remains unknown.

    Encoding of melody in the human auditory cortex · 2024 · DOI

  • Yet, it remains unknown i) whether emotional connotations and structural features of music elicit discrete bodily sensations and ii) whether these sensations are culturally consistent.

    Bodily maps of musical sensations across cultures · 2024 · DOI

  • A corollary discharge signal supports this function in animals; however, in humans, its exact origin and temporal dynamics remain unknown.

    A corollary discharge circuit in human speech · 2024 · DOI

  • Nonetheless, how temporal processing evolves across the lifetime as well as the links with the underlying neural substrates remains unclear.

    Towards a neurodevelopmental cognitive perspective of temporal processing · 2024 · DOI

  • However, the neural mechanisms of this improvement remain unclear due to insufficient neuroimaging evidence.

    Five-week music therapy improves overall symptoms in schizophrenia by modulating theta and gamma oscillations · 2024 · DOI

  • Future studies can use this dataset to investigate the neural mechanisms of auditory attention in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The dataset can also be used to study the effects of auditory training on cognitive flexibility in older adults.

    A human EEG dataset to study cognitive flexibility during auditory discrimination under real-world distractors · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a scarcity of EEG datasets that capture the transient neural mechanisms of attention reorientation in the presence of real-world auditory distractors. The ability to discriminate between competing sounds is compromised in conditions like tinnitus and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

    A human EEG dataset to study cognitive flexibility during auditory discrimination under real-world distractors · 2026 · DOI

  • Exploring the applications of cBCIs in various fields, including music, art, and neuroscience. Developing new algorithms and methods for extracting and tracking bioharmonic structure and transitional harmony.

    The harmonicity of brain dynamics: A neurophenomenological approach to creative biofeedback · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Neuroscience and Music Perception

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359 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 1,489 Neuroscience and Music Perception papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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