MADRID, 11 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Music with very low-frequency bass makes people dance 12 percent longer, according to a new study published in the journal Current Biology.
To find out how different aspects of music affect the body, researchers at McMaster University in Canada turned a live electronic music concert into a laboratory studio.
By introducing bass levels through speakers that were too low to hear and monitor audience movements, the scientists found that people danced 11.8% more when very low-frequency bass was present.
“I trained as a drummer and most of my research career has focused on the rhythmic aspects of music and how they make us move,” says first author Daniel Cameron, a neuroscientist at McMaster University. “Music is a biological curiosity: it doesn’t reproduce us, it doesn’t feed us and it doesn’t give us shelter, so why do humans like it and why do they love to move with it?
Cameron does research at McMaster’s LIVELab, which connects science with live performances in a unique research theater. It features 3D motion capture, a Meyer sound system capable of replicating various concert environments and upgraded speakers capable of producing extremely low frequencies, so low that they are undetectable by the human ear.
For the study, Cameron and colleagues recruited participants who attended a LIVELab concert by electronic music duo Orphx. Participants in the concert were equipped with motion sensor bands to monitor their dance steps.
Additionally, they were asked to fill out survey forms before and after the event. These shapes were used to ensure that sound was undetectable, measure concert enjoyment, and examine the physical feel of the music.
During the 45-minute concert, the researchers manipulated the very low woofers, turning them on and off every two minutes. They found that the amount of movement was 12% higher when the speakers were on.
“The musicians were thrilled to participate because of their interest in this idea that bass can change the way music is experienced in a way that affects movement,” Cameron recalls. “The studio had a high ecological validity, as it was a real music and dance experience for people in a real live show.”
The sensation of vibration through touch and the interactions between the inner ear and the brain have close links with the motor system. Researchers speculate that these physical processes are involved in the neurological connection between music and movement. This anatomy can pick up low frequencies and influence the perception of the “groove”, the spontaneous movement and the perception of the rhythm.
“Very low frequencies can also affect vestibular sensitivity, which increases people’s experience of movement. To determine the brain mechanisms involved, it will be necessary to study the effects of low frequencies on vestibular, tactile and auditory pathways,” adds Cameron.
