Staff profile

Tuomas Eerola is a Professor in Music Cognition at Durham University. He obtained his MA degree in musicology at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) in 1997. His predoctoral work involved periods of study at Leicester University (UK) and Cornell University (USA). In 2003, he finished his PhD at the University of Jyväskylä in musicology (music cognition). In 2003-2006, he worked as postdoctoral researcher at the same institution, followed by a postdoctoral position at an EU project (Tuning the Brain for Music). Between 2007 and 2013, he held a professorship at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland), first associated with Music, Mind & Technology MA programme and later as a Chair of Musicology. Eerola was affiliated with the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research. At Music Department at Durham University, he has served as the Director of Research (2013-2015, 2021-) and the Head of Department (2018-2020). Eerola has been the President of Finnish Musicological Society and serves on several editorial boards including the journals Psychology of Music and Music Perception. 

Research themes

Eerola's research combines empirical music research, music psychology, and music and science. The topics of interest are music and emotions, and how we perceive music, especially the central elements such as melody, timbre, rhythm, metre, and dissonance. He approaches these topics with empirical experiments and often uses computational models to articulate the theories. He champions open science in his work. 

Professor Eerola has led several major research projects, Sweet Sorrow funded by the Academy of Finland (2013-2017). He has been the co-investigator in Interpersonal Entrainment in Music Performance, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC, 2016-18), led by Martin Clayton and the other co-investigators being Antonio Camurri (Genoa) and Peter Keller (Sydney). He has also been involved in two funded research projects (EnTimeMent, funded by EU FET programme led by Antonio Camurri, and Social cohesion and resilience through intercultural music engagement, which is funded by Australian Research Council and led by Jane Davidson and Bill Thompson). 

To read more about music psychology at Durham, see Music & Science Lab and MA in Music Psychology at Durham. 

• Music and emotions
• Music and movement
• Music perception

Authored book

• Music and Science: A Guide to Empirical Music Research
  
  Eerola, T. (2024). Music and Science: A Guide to Empirical Music Research. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003293804

Chapter in book

• Future Perspectives and Challenges
  
  Eerola, T. (2022). Future Perspectives and Challenges. In M. B. Küssner, L. Taruffi, & G. A. Floridou (Eds.), Music and Mental Imagery (pp. 281-288). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429330070-30
• Personality and Listeners
  
  Eerola, T., & Vuoskoski, J. K. (2021). Personality and Listeners. In W. F. Thompson & K. Olsen (Eds.), The Science and Psychology of Music: From Beethoven at the Office to Beyoncé at the Gym (pp. 141-145). Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Music and Emotion
  
  Eerola, T. (2018). Music and Emotion. In R. Bader (Ed.), Springer handbook of systematic musicology. (pp. 539-554). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55004-5_29

Journal Article

• Major-minorness in tonal music: Evaluation of relative mode estimation using expert ratings and audio-based key-finding principles
  
  Eerola, T., & Schutz, M. (2025). Major-minorness in tonal music: Evaluation of relative mode estimation using expert ratings and audio-based key-finding principles. Psychology of Music. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356251326065
• Actions and feelings in sync: exploring the relationship between synchrony and empathy in children’s dyadic musical interactions
  
  Tzanaki, P., Eerola, T., & Timmers, R. (2025). Actions and feelings in sync: exploring the relationship between synchrony and empathy in children’s dyadic musical interactions. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 1467767. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1467767
• Auditory affective priming: The role of trait anxiety and stimulus type
  
  Armitage, J., & Eerola, T. (2025). Auditory affective priming: The role of trait anxiety and stimulus type. Psychology of Music. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356241300603
• Music as social surrogate? A qualitative analysis of older adults’ choices of music to alleviate loneliness
  
  Ayyildiz, C., Geibel, O., Herff, S. A., Hashim, S., Eerola, T., & Küssner, M. B. (2025). Music as social surrogate? A qualitative analysis of older adults’ choices of music to alleviate loneliness. Musicae Scientiae. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10298649251319403
• Gender, emotion regulation, and cognitive flexibility as predictors of depression, anxiety, and affect in healthy adults
  
  García-Fernández, M., Fuentes-Sánchez, N., Escrig, M. A., Eerola, T., & Pastor, M. C. (2025). Gender, emotion regulation, and cognitive flexibility as predictors of depression, anxiety, and affect in healthy adults. Current Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-07240-6
• What emotions does music express? Structure of affect terms in music using iterative crowdsourcing paradigm
  
  Eerola, T., & Saari, P. (2025). What emotions does music express? Structure of affect terms in music using iterative crowdsourcing paradigm. PLOS ONE, 20(1), Article e0313502. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0313502
• Participant and Musical Diversity in Music Psychology Research
  
  Jakubowski, K., Ahmad, N., Armitage, J., Barrett, L., Edwards, A., Galbo, E., Gómez-Cañón, J. S., Graves, T. A., Jadzgevičiūtė A., Kirts, C., Lahdelma, I., Lennie, T. M., Ramatally, A., Schlichting, J. L., Steliou, C., Vishwanath, K., & Eerola, T. (2025). Participant and Musical Diversity in Music Psychology Research. Music & Science, 8, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043251317180
• Prevalence of transparency and reproducibility-related research practices in music psychology (2017–2022)
  
  Eerola, T. (2024). Prevalence of transparency and reproducibility-related research practices in music psychology (2017–2022). Musicae Scientiae. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10298649241300885
• Prevalence of Transparent Research Practices in Psychology: A Cross-Sectional Study of Empirical Articles Published in 2022
  
  Hardwicke, T. E., Thibault, R. T., Clarke, B., Moodie, N., Crüwell, S., Schiavone, S. R., Handcock, S. A., Nghiem, K. A., Mody, F., Eerola, T., & Vazire, S. (2024). Prevalence of Transparent Research Practices in Psychology: A Cross-Sectional Study of Empirical Articles Published in 2022. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/25152459241283477
• Episode model: The functional approach to emotional experiences of music
  
  Eerola, T., Kirts, C., & Saarikallio, S. (2024). Episode model: The functional approach to emotional experiences of music. Psychology of Music. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356241279763
• The role of gender in emotional reactions elicited by music: Autonomic reactivity, facial expression, and self-reports
  
  Fuentes-Sánchez, N., García-Fernández, M., Escrig, M. A., Eerola, T., & Pastor, M. C. (2024). The role of gender in emotional reactions elicited by music: Autonomic reactivity, facial expression, and self-reports. Musicae Scientiae. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10298649241286974
• Play it again, but more sadly: Influence of timbre, mode, and musical experience in melody processing.
  
  Armitage, J., Eerola, T., & Halpern, A. R. (2024). Play it again, but more sadly: Influence of timbre, mode, and musical experience in melody processing. Memory and Cognition. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-024-01614-8
• The Human Affectome
  
  Schiller, D., Yu, A. N., Alia-Klein, N., Becker, S., Cromwell, H. C., Dolcos, F., Eslinger, P. J., Frewen, P., Kemp, A. H., Pace-Schott, E. F., Raber, J., Silton, R. L., Stefanova, E., Williams, J. H., Abe, N., Aghajani, M., Albrecht, F., Alexander, R., Anders, S., … Lowe, L. (2024). The Human Affectome. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 158, Article 105450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105450
• Valenced Priming with Acquired Affective Concepts in Music: Automatic Reactions to Common Tonal Chords
  
  Lahdelma, I., & Eerola, T. (2024). Valenced Priming with Acquired Affective Concepts in Music: Automatic Reactions to Common Tonal Chords. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 41(3), 161-175. https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2024.41.3.161
• onsetsync: An R Package for Onset SynchronyAnalysis
  
  Eerola, T., & Clayton, M. (2024). onsetsync: An R Package for Onset SynchronyAnalysis. Journal of Open Source Software, 9(93), Article 5395. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.05395
• Culture influences conscious appraisal of, but not automatic aversion to, acoustically rough musical intervals
  
  Armitage, J., Lahdelma, I., Eerola, T., & Ambrazevičius, R. (2023). Culture influences conscious appraisal of, but not automatic aversion to, acoustically rough musical intervals. PLOS ONE, 18(12), Article e0294645. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294645
• Data-driven theory formulation or theory-driven data interpretation?
  
  Lahdelma, I., & Eerola, T. (2023). Data-driven theory formulation or theory-driven data interpretation?. Physics of Life Reviews, 45, 56-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2023.04.005
• Individual differences in music reward sensitivity influence the perception of emotions represented by music
  
  Fuentes-Sánchez, N., Pastor, M., Eerola, T., & Pastor, R. (2023). Individual differences in music reward sensitivity influence the perception of emotions represented by music. Musicae Scientiae, 27(2), 313–331. https://doi.org/10.1177/10298649211060028
• Analysis and Classification of Music-Induced States of Sadness
  
  Herdson, O., Eerola, T., & Javadi, A.-H. (2023). Analysis and Classification of Music-Induced States of Sadness. Emotion Review, 15(2), 99-117. https://doi.org/10.1177/17540739221140472
• Vigilance and social chills with music: Evidence for two types of musical chills
  
  Bannister, S., & Eerola, T. (2023). Vigilance and social chills with music: Evidence for two types of musical chills. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 17(2), 242-258. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000421
• Musical preference but not familiarity influences subjective ratings and psychophysiological correlates of music-induced emotions
  
  Fuentes-Sánchez, N., Pastor, R., Eerola, T., Escrig, M. A., & Pastor, M. C. (2022). Musical preference but not familiarity influences subjective ratings and psychophysiological correlates of music-induced emotions. Personality and Individual Differences, 198, Article 111828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111828
• Register Impacts Perceptual Consonance through Roughness and Sharpness
  
  Eerola, T., & Lahdelma, I. (2022). Register Impacts Perceptual Consonance through Roughness and Sharpness. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 29(3), 800-808. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-021-02033-5
• The CODA Model: A Review and Skeptical Extension of the Constructionist Model of Emotional Episodes Induced by Music
  
  Lennie, T. M., & Eerola, T. (2022). The CODA Model: A Review and Skeptical Extension of the Constructionist Model of Emotional Episodes Induced by Music. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 82264. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.822264
• Affective priming with musical chords is influenced by pitch numerosity
  
  Lahdelma, I., Armitage, J., & Eerola, T. (2022). Affective priming with musical chords is influenced by pitch numerosity. Musicae Scientiae, 26(1), 208-217. https://doi.org/10.1177/1029864920911127
• Music evokes fewer but more positive autobiographical memories than emotionally matched sound and word cues
  
  Jakubowski, K., & Eerola, T. (2022). Music evokes fewer but more positive autobiographical memories than emotionally matched sound and word cues. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 11(2), 272-288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2021.09.002
• Emotional expression through musical cues: A comparison of production and perception approaches
  
  Micallef Grimaud, A., & Eerola, T. (2022). Emotional expression through musical cues: A comparison of production and perception approaches. PLoS ONE, 17(12), Article e0279605. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279605
• An interactive approach to emotional expression through musical cues
  
  Micallef Grimaud, A., & Eerola, T. (2022). An interactive approach to emotional expression through musical cues. Music & Science, 5, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043211061745
• Is Harmonicity a Misnomer for Cultural Familiarity in Consonance Preferences?
  
  Lahdelma, I., Eerola, T., & Armitage, J. (2022). Is Harmonicity a Misnomer for Cultural Familiarity in Consonance Preferences?. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 802385. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.802385
• The role of population size in folk tune complexity
  
  Street, S., Eerola, T., & Kendal, J. (2022). The role of population size in folk tune complexity. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9, Article 152. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01139-y
• Cross-modal Transfer of Valence or Arousal from Music to Word Targets in Affective Priming?
  
  Armitage, J., & Eerola, T. (2022). Cross-modal Transfer of Valence or Arousal from Music to Word Targets in Affective Priming?. Auditory Perception & Cognition, 5, 192-210. https://doi.org/10.1080/25742442.2022.2087451
• Music Emotion Recognition: Toward new, robust standards in personalized and context-sensitive applications
  
  Gómez, J., Cano, C., Eerola, T., Gomez, E., Herrera, P., Yang, Y., & Hu, X. (2021). Music Emotion Recognition: Toward new, robust standards in personalized and context-sensitive applications. IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, 38(6), 106-114. https://doi.org/10.1109/msp.2021.3106232
• Being moved by listening to unfamiliar sad music induces reward-related hormonal changes in empathic listeners
  
  Eerola, T., Vuoskoski, J., Kautiainen, H., Peltola, H.-R., Putkinen, V., & Schäfer, K. (2021). Being moved by listening to unfamiliar sad music induces reward-related hormonal changes in empathic listeners. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1502(1), 121-131. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14660
• Sweetness is in the ear of the beholder: chord preference across United Kingdom and Pakistani listeners
  
  Lahdelma, I., Athanasopoulos, G., & Eerola, T. (2021). Sweetness is in the ear of the beholder: chord preference across United Kingdom and Pakistani listeners. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1502(1), 72-84. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14655
• Spanish adaptation of a film music stimulus set (FMSS): Cultural and gender differences in the perception of emotions prompted by music excerpts
  
  Fuentes-Sánchez, N., Pastor, R., Eerola, T., & Pastor, M. (2021). Spanish adaptation of a film music stimulus set (FMSS): Cultural and gender differences in the perception of emotions prompted by music excerpts. Psychology of Music, 49(5), 1242-1260. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735620958464
• EmoteControl: An interactive system for real-time control of emotional expression in music
  
  Micallef Grimaud, A., & Eerola, T. (2021). EmoteControl: An interactive system for real-time control of emotional expression in music. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 25(4), 677-689. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-020-01390-7
• Phenomenological Differences in Music- and Television-Evoked Autobiographical Memories
  
  Jakubowski, K., Belfi, A., & Eerola, T. (2021). Phenomenological Differences in Music- and Television-Evoked Autobiographical Memories. Music Perception, 38(5), 435-455. https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2021.38.5.435
• Automatic responses to musical intervals: Contrasts in acoustic roughness predict affective priming in Western listeners
  
  Armitage, J., Lahdelma, I., & Eerola, T. (2021). Automatic responses to musical intervals: Contrasts in acoustic roughness predict affective priming in Western listeners. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 150(1), Article 551. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0005623
• The Anatomy of Consonance/Dissonance: Evaluating Acoustic and Cultural Predictors Across Multiple Datasets with Chords
  
  Eerola, T., & Lahdelma, I. (2021). The Anatomy of Consonance/Dissonance: Evaluating Acoustic and Cultural Predictors Across Multiple Datasets with Chords. Music & Science, 4. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043211030471
• The Interpersonal Entrainment in Music Performance Data Collection
  
  Clayton, M., Tarsitani, S., Jankowsky, R., Jure, L., Leante, L., Polak, R., Poole, A., Rocamora, M., Alborno, P., Camurri, A., Eerola, T., Jacoby, N., & Jakubowski, K. (2021). The Interpersonal Entrainment in Music Performance Data Collection. Empirical Musicology Review, 16(1), 65-84. https://doi.org/10.18061/emr.v16i1.7555
• Online Data Collection in Auditory Perception and Cognition Research: Recruitment, Testing, Data Quality and Ethical Considerations
  
  Eerola, T., Armitage, J., Lavan, N., & Knight, S. (2021). Online Data Collection in Auditory Perception and Cognition Research: Recruitment, Testing, Data Quality and Ethical Considerations. Auditory Perception & Cognition, 4(3-4), 251-280. https://doi.org/10.1080/25742442.2021.2007718
• Harmonic organisation conveys both universal and culture-specific cues for emotional expression in music
  
  Athanasopoulos, G., Eerola, T., Lahdelma, I., & Kaliakatsos-Papakostas, M. (2021). Harmonic organisation conveys both universal and culture-specific cues for emotional expression in music. PLoS ONE, 16(1), Article e0244964. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244964
• Interpersonal entrainment in music performance: Theory, method and model
  
  Clayton, M., Jakubowski, K., Eerola, T., Keller, P., Camurri, A., Volpe, G., & Alborno, P. (2020). Interpersonal entrainment in music performance: Theory, method and model. Music Perception, 38(2), 136-194. https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2020.38.2.136
• Music may reduce loneliness and act as social surrogate for a friend: Evidence from an experimental listening study
  
  Schäfer, K., Saarikallio, S., & Eerola, T. (2020). Music may reduce loneliness and act as social surrogate for a friend: Evidence from an experimental listening study. Music & Science, 3, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/2059204320935709
• How listening to music and engagement with other media provide a sense of belonging: an exploratory study of social surrogacy
  
  Schäfer, K., & Eerola, T. (2020). How listening to music and engagement with other media provide a sense of belonging: an exploratory study of social surrogacy. Psychology of Music, 48(2), 232-251. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735618795036
• Reaction Time Data in Music Cognition: Comparison of Pilot Data From Lab, Crowdsourced, and Convenience Web Samples
  
  Armitage, J., & Eerola, T. (2020). Reaction Time Data in Music Cognition: Comparison of Pilot Data From Lab, Crowdsourced, and Convenience Web Samples. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 2883. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02883
• Cultural familiarity and musical expertise impact the pleasantness of consonance/dissonance but not its perceived tension
  
  Lahdelma, I., & Eerola, T. (2020). Cultural familiarity and musical expertise impact the pleasantness of consonance/dissonance but not its perceived tension. Scientific Reports, 10, Article 8693. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65615-8
• Multimodal perception of interpersonal synchrony: Evidence from global and continuous ratings of improvised musical duo performances
  
  Jakubowski, K., Eerola, T., Blackwood Ximenes, A., Ma, W., Clayton, M., & Keller, P. (2020). Multimodal perception of interpersonal synchrony: Evidence from global and continuous ratings of improvised musical duo performances. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind and Brain, 30(4), 159-177. https://doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000264
• Coupled whole-body rhythmic entrainment between two chimpanzees
  
  Lameira, A., Eerola, T., & Ravignani, A. (2019). Coupled whole-body rhythmic entrainment between two chimpanzees. Scientific Reports, 9, Article 18914. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55360-y
• Interpersonal entrainment in Indian instrumental music performance: Synchronization and movement coordination relate to tempo, dynamics, metrical and cadential structure
  
  Clayton, M., Jakubowski, K., & Eerola, T. (2019). Interpersonal entrainment in Indian instrumental music performance: Synchronization and movement coordination relate to tempo, dynamics, metrical and cadential structure. Musicae Scientiae, 23(3), 304-331. https://doi.org/10.1177/1029864919844809
• Ambivalent Emotional Experiences of Everyday Visual and Musical Objects
  
  Maksimainen, J. P., Eerola, T., & Saarikallio, S. H. (2019). Ambivalent Emotional Experiences of Everyday Visual and Musical Objects. SAGE Open, 9(3), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019876319
• The role of hedonics in the Human Affectome
  
  Becker, S., Bräscher, A.-K., Bannister, S., Bensafi, M., Calma-Birling, D., Chan, R., Eerola, T., Ellingsen, D.-M., Ferdenzi, C., Hanson, J., Joffily, M., Lidhar, N., Lowe, L., Martin, L., Musser, E., Noll-Hussong, M., Olino, T. M., Pintos Lobo, R., & Wang, Y. (2019). The role of hedonics in the Human Affectome. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 102, 221-241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.05.003
• The Content and Functions of Vivid and Soothing Visual Imagery during Music Listening: Findings from a Survey Study
  
  Küssner, M., & Eerola, T. (2019). The Content and Functions of Vivid and Soothing Visual Imagery during Music Listening: Findings from a Survey Study. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind and Brain, 29(2-3), 90-99. https://doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000238
• Music, Emotion, and Visual Imagery: Where Are We now?
  
  Küssner, M., Eerola, T., & Fujioka, T. (2019). Music, Emotion, and Visual Imagery: Where Are We now?. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind and Brain, 29(2-3), 59-61. https://doi.org/10.1037/pmu0000245

Other (Print)

• movementsync: Analysis and Visualisation of Musical Audio and Video Movement Synchrony Data
  
  Eerola, T., Clayton, M., & Emms, P. (2023). movementsync: Analysis and Visualisation of Musical Audio and Video Movement Synchrony Data. The R Foundation.