معرفی
Dr. Imre Lahdelma is a post-doctoral researcher at Durham University specializing in the intersection of music psychology, psychoacoustics, and cross-cultural studies. His work investigates how cultural background shapes the perception of musical consonance and dissonance, employing experimental methods to disentangle universal biological responses from culturally learned interpretations.
His educational background includes:
- PhD in Musicology from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland (2017)
Lahdelma's research demonstrates that while automatic aversion to acoustically rough intervals appears universal across cultures, conscious emotional appraisal of consonance/dissonance is significantly influenced by cultural familiarity. His doctoral work established that single chords convey distinct emotional qualities independent of tonal context, and his current projects examine cross-cultural comparisons between Western and South Asian listeners to map the boundaries between innate and learned musical responses.
Analysis of his 14 most recent publications (2015-2025) reveals a methodological progression from isolated chord studies to cross-cultural experimental designs, consistently highlighting the dual influence of acoustic properties (roughness, harmonicity) and cultural exposure on musical emotion perception. His work frequently employs affective priming paradigms and cross-population comparisons to isolate cultural variables.
His scientific recognition includes:
- Fulbright pre-doctoral fellowship at the University of Washington
Lahdelma maintains active collaborations with the UW Laboratory for Music Cognition, Culture & Learning and international researchers like Tuomas Eerola. His current projects continue to explore the biological and cultural determinants of musical emotion, with emphasis on non-Western listener populations and the emotional semantics of harmonic structures.
