Nothing feels quite like the shared experience of hearinglive musicin a room full of other people . But raw research is demonstrating how that experience may go far beyond how we feel , by showing how physiologic processes can sync up across hearing extremity at a classical music concert .
The sketch , guide by Wolfgang Tschacher from the University of Bern in Switzerland , analyzed 132 audience member across threeconcertsgiven by string quintets in Berlin , Germany . The repertoire was the same across all the concerts : Beethoven’sOp . 104 in C minor , a piece calledEpitaphsby contemporary Australian composer Brett Dean , and Johannes Brahms’Op . 111 in G major . Each slice represent a dissimilar melodious style .
Before and after each concert , the player were asked to complete questionnaires about their personality traits and mood . During the performance , they wear wearable sensors to measure their heart rate , breathing , and the electric conductivity of their skin , which is a touchstone of excitement .
Audience members get prepped for the concert by having wearable sensors attached to them.Image credit: © Foto Phil Dera
As well as this , the researchers had cameras condition on the audience from above to supervise the participants’movements .
The hypothesis was that all of these physiological parameter would synchronize across the participants as they experience themusic , and that there would be some tie with the attender ’ personality traits . This sort of synchronicity has been observed in humans during societal fundamental interaction , and premature enquiry had hinted that listen to music would have the same essence , but this was one of the first projects to examine this upshot specifically in concert hearing .
In their paper , the author drop a line that “ substantial evidence of physiologic and movement synchronicity between audience members was found . ” The great tier of synchronization was in breathing charge per unit , although all of the physiologic parameters were touch apart from approach pattern of inhaling and exhaling . eubstance movements were also synchronized , despite the fact that the audience members were seated in dimmed lighting and distanced from each other due toCOVIDprotocols in place at the time .
When they looked at the personality questionnaire date , the squad found that those who scored more highly for agreeability or openness were more probable to become synchronized with their fellow consultation members , while the opposite was true for those with moreneuroticor extroverted trait . This make sentience when you consider that trait of agreeableness and receptiveness are often associated with people who are sociable and entrust of others .
The authors suggested that extroverted people could be placing more stress on the societal experience of being with people , rather than the music itself , maybe explain why they were less likely to sync .
There were some limitations to the data point collection because the investigator prioritise comfort over the quality of the information gathered – a fair trade - off since the participant had to model through an integral concert wearing a selection of detector . However , the authors do mention that this compromise some of the data point , specially that of heart charge per unit . They suggest that future inquiry could partially castigate these take with more heedful placement of the wearable .
Music haslong beenan essential feature of manhood . It evokesmemories ; it can change thephysical structureof our brains ; and although tales of itleading to madnessare apocryphal , it can for sure transport us to another time and billet . When we live music alongside other people , its burden are exaggerate and share – as this enquiry demonstrates , at least for some of us , in a very real path .
The study is published in the journalScientific Reports .
