Authors: Paul Oomen, Rona Geffen, Daniela Gentile, Nour Atassi, Bashar M. Farran, Nicolas Fellas, Christoph Braun, Veronica Cuevas, Luka Nadiradze, Ia Mgvdliashvili, Máté Csanád, Amira K. F. Val Baker.

Abstract: Music and sounds activate numerous physiological effects associated with the functioning of the autonomic nervous system and involved in the maintenance of homeostasis. As such, sound interventions can play an important role in supporting human wellbeing. Physiological responses are dependent on the sound type and frequency, as well as the spatial conditions and the presence of the subject in the acoustic environment. To arrive at a more articulate understanding of these dependencies, response of subjects (n=44) to sound reproduction of two different singing bowls with fundamental frequencies at 73 Hz and 110 Hz in spatial projection of nine different geometric shapes were monitored by acoustic and physiological measurement. Contrary to other studies, we find no discrete effects related to the sound type or frequency. Observed effects indicating focussed attention, relaxation and improved homeostasis were consistently dependent on the combination of sound frequency and spatial condition. Notably, we observe that the 73 Hz stimulus induced significant changes in the Gamma band of Electroencephalography (EEG) in projection of a Tetrahedron and Cube, while the 110 Hz stimulus induced significant changes in the Theta and Beta bands for the same shapes. Discrete effects of spatial shapes were observed in the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) of subjects. Arousal was significantly decreased during projection of a Cube, Icosahedron and Dodecahedron and significantly increased during Pyramid, Tetrahedron and Sphere, regardless of the frequency. Discrete effects of stimulus duration were observed in GSR and Electromyography (EMG) of subjects, regardless of the frequency and spatial condition. Arousal and muscle tension were significantly increased during the first 15 minutes and decreased until 40 minutes of exposure. We observe highly significant deviations in projected sound waves in the presence of a subject. The localized amplitude difference of sound waves was highly correlated to localization and power of significant changes in brain activity of subjects, while the phase shift of sound wave frequency was predictive of the frequency of brain activity. Significant expressions of Heart Rate (HR) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) of subjects were highly correlated to the mean, variability and standard deviation of amplitude difference and phase shift of the fundamental frequency and the average across frequencies. We present a model in the form of a transfer function that accurately predicts various physiological expressions in response to sound stimuli on the basis of observed sound wave deviations. We discuss the benefits of such a model and the future work necessary to develop the model to its full predictive capacity.

Disciplines: Psychology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Neuroscience and Neurobiology, Cognitive Psychology, Life Sciences, Behavioral Neurobiology.

Keywords: Acoustics, Autonomic Nervous system, Electroencephalography, Electromyography, Galvanic Skin Response, Homeostasis.

Citations:

APA: Oomen, P., Geffen R., Gentile, D., Atassi, N., Farran, B. M., Fellas, N., ... Val Baker, A. (2024, May 22). Resonant Phenomena of Sound Waves and their Expression in Physiology. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/x5tgn

MLA: Oomen, P, et al. “Resonant Phenomena of Sound Waves and their Expression in Physiology” OSF Preprints, 22 May 2024. Web.

Chicago: Oomen, Paul, Rona Geffen, Daniela Gentile, Nour Atassi, Bashar M. Farran, Nicolas Fellas, Christoph Braun, et al. 2024. “Resonant Phenomena of Sound Waves and their Expression in Physiology” OSF Preprints. May 22. doi: 10.31219/osf.io/x5tgn

IEEE: [1] P. Oomen, “Resonant Phenomena of Sound Waves and their Expression in Physiology”, 22-May-2024. [Online]. Available: 10.31219/osf.io/x5tgn

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