Role of music tempo in choosing from large and small choice sets: insights from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Previous research has concluded that music tempo either increases the total amount of momentary mental resources to benefit decision-making or compulsively employs working memory and impairs decision-making. Two experiments, including a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment and a laboratory experiment, converged on the conclusion that the role of music tempo when making a decision varies with the size of choice set. At the neural level, under a larger choice set, slower music resulted in stronger activation in the superior frontal gyrus (SFG), which has stronger neural coactivation with the hippocampus. In contrast, under the smaller choice set, faster music resulted in stronger activation in the middle frontal gyrus (MFG), which has stronger neural coactivation with the SFG, paracingulate gyrus (PCG), and lateral occipital cortex (LOC). Behaviorally, participants had more positive internal states under slower music than under faster music in a larger choice set. In comparison, faster music resulted in more positive internal states in a smaller choice set. This study is among the first to examine the joint effect of music tempo and choice set size by offering neural imaging evidence with fMRI techniques.