Psychophysiological Effects

The Psychophysiological Effects of Music and Vibroacoustic Stimulation

Professor Eha Rüütel of Tallinn University, Estonia conducted a study in two series of trials performed according to a repeated measure, within-group design counterbalancing three main conditions – music, vibroacoustic therapy (the same music combined with pulsed low frequency sound), and silence (no stimulation). Following analysis of physiological measurements the results showed significant decreases in blood pressure, pulse rate, muscle oscillation frequency (m. tibialis anterior and m. trapezius) independent of the conditions and sound intensity levels. Clear differences occurred in the case of subjective feeling of health and comfort, measured by bipolar scales of adjectives constructed for the current experiment according to a semantic differential method, when conditions with music and vibroacoustics were compared to silence. There is also some evidence that vibroacoustics may have a wider influence on feelings of health and comfort when compared with music alone. The current study also demonstrated that women can perceive a wider spectrum of change in their subjective status of health and comfort than men in the vibroacoustic therapy condition.

Source: Justiits Ministeerium, Annual Report 2005, Estonia