Background

The ability to create a life in the mind is one of the most fascinating human capacities, and of interest to scholars in the cognitive sciences and humanities alike. Mind wandering is a very frequent mental activity that is defined as a shift of our attention away from the external perceptual environment towards internally-oriented, self-generated thoughts. These thoughts naturally flow over time and vary in their content dimensions (e.g., temporal focus, valence, intentionality) and form (images, music, speech, words). Mental images can create vivid experiences as our minds start to wander, and play a major role in creative processes as well as the perception of art. While researchers have investigated the significance and nature of visual mental imagery in connection with literature or visual arts, relatively little is known about the mechanisms and functions underlying mind wandering and visual mental imagery in music, even though recent evidence suggests that this is a common phenomenon.

Main Theme

The central research question of the KOSMOS Workshop 2018 thus focused on the cognitive, affective, aesthetic, neural and phenomenological dimensions of the link between mind wandering, visual mental imagery and music. The following list illustrates some of the issues that were discussed at the workshop:

• What is the nature of the link between music listening and visual mental imagery?
• What are the functional uses of mind wandering and visual mental imagery in music (e.g., evocation of emotion, enhancing creativity/creative problem solving)?
• How do structural properties of the music relate to contents of mind wandering during music listening?
• To what extent does music-elicited mental visual imagery overlap with perceptual processes in our brain (e.g., in the primary visual cortex)?
• How do mind wandering and visual mental imagery affect emotional responses to music (and vice versa)? What is the nature of these mechanisms?
• To what extent do inter-individual differences in personality traits play a role for mind wandering and visual mental imagery during music listening?
• How does basic research on mind wandering and visual mental imagery in music inform applications of music in health and wellbeing?

Organisation and Further Information

The event took place at Humboldt University Berlin from 16-19th of May, 2018. It was organised by Mats Küssner, (HU Berlin), Georgina Floridou (University of Sheffield), Liila Taruffi (FU Berlin), and Tuomas Eerola (Durham University).

KOSMOS Presentations [videos]

KOSMOS Posters [pdfs]