Aspects of tempo and perception of music in mania.

Ten patients with manic psychosis were compared with 20 normal subjects with respect to their ratings of emotional meaning in music. As stimulus two pieces of music for a small symphony orchestra were used. These were structurally identical but performed at two different tempos: slow and fast. The change in tempo was found to lead to dissimilar consequences in emotional experience in the two groups studied. In normal subjects an increased tempo led to the experience of more tension, while in manic psychotics this was associated with an experience of more gaiety. The pattern of ratings constitutes further evidence that temporal relations are of importance in the psychopathology of mania.