Music, Mind, Body and Brain - Music Battery (MMBB-MB): A Multidimensional and Mobile-Compatible Assessment of Music-Related Behavior

The measurement of music-related behavior has historically been fragmented, with existing instruments tending to isolate individual facets of music cognition, such as melodic perception, rhythmic processing, or emotional response. These instruments have also typically been restricted to narrow age ranges or specific clinical populations. We present the Music, Mind, Body and Brain Battery (MMBB-MB), a cross-sectional tool designed to assess auditory, motor, cognitive, emotional, and social aspects of music-related behavior concurrently and across the lifespan, in both healthy and clinical groups. The battery comprises six sub-batteries: Perception & Memory, Rhythm, Movement, Singing, Emotion, and Music Experience—of which four are original tasks and two are adapted from established instruments. By assessing multiple domains simultaneously, the MMBB-MB enables the investigation of relationships that have been difficult to examine previously, such as the covariation between rhythmic perception and motor synchronization, or between emotional responsiveness and social engagement with music. The battery was implemented using jsPsych, with a particular emphasis on mobile compatibility, leveraging smartphone accelerometer and gyroscope sensors to capture whole-body movement remotely. This online architecture increases accessibility and ecological validity and supports large-scale, cross-cultural data collection, while remaining compatible with controlled laboratory protocols.