People often listen to music to influence their emotional state. However, the specific musical characteristics which cause this process are not yet fully understood. We have investigated the influence of the musical characteristics of tempo, mode, and percussiveness on our emotions. In a quest towards ecologically valid results, 32 participants listened to 16 pop and 16 rock songs while conducting an office task. They rated experienced arousal, valence, and tension, while skin conductance and cardiovascular responses were recorded. An increase in tempo was found to lead to an increase in reported arousal and tension and a decrease in heart rate variability. More arousal was reported during minor than major mode songs. Level and frequency of skin conductance responses increased with an increase in percussiveness. Physiological responses revealed patterns that might not have been revealed by self-report. Interaction effects further suggest that musical characteristics interplay in modulating emotions. So, tempo, mode, and percussiveness indeed modulate our emotions and, consequently, can be used to direct emotions. Music presentation revealed subtly different results in a laboratory setting, where music was altered with breaks, from those in a more ecologically valid setting where continuous music was presented. All in all, this enhances our understanding of the influence of music on emotions and creates opportunities seamlessly to tap into listeners' emotional state through their physiological responses.

Mood can influence our everyday behaviour and people often seek to reinforce, or to alter their mood, for example by turning on music. Music listening while driving is a popular activity. However, little is known about the impact of music listening while driving on physiological state and driving performance. In the present experiment, it was investigated whether individually selected music can induce mood and maintain moods during a simulated drive. In addition, effects of positive, negative, and no music on driving behaviour and physiological measures were assessed for normal and high cognitive demanding rides. Subjective mood ratings indicated that music successfully maintained mood while driving. Narrow lane width drives increased task demand as shown in effort ratings and increased swerving. Furthermore, respiration rate was lower during music listening compared to rides without music, while no effects of music were found on heart rate. Overall, the current study demonstrates that music listening in car influences the experienced mood while driving, which in turn can impact driving behaviour. PRACTITIONERS SUMMARY: Even though it is a popular activity, little is known about the impact of music while driving on physiological state and performance. We examined whether music can induce moods during high and low simulated drives. The current study demonstrates that in car music listening influences mood which in turn can impact driving behaviour. The current study shows that listening to music can positively impact mood while driving, which can be used to affect state and safe behaviour. Additionally, driving performance in high demand situations is not negatively affected by music.

People often listen to music to influence their emotional state. However, the specific musical characteristics which cause this process are not yet fully understood. We have investigated the influence of the musical characteristics of tempo, mode, and percussiveness on our emotions. In a quest towards ecologically valid results, 32 participants listened to 16 pop and 16 rock songs while conducting an office task. They rated experienced arousal, valence, and tension, while skin conductance and cardiovascular responses were recorded. An increase in tempo was found to lead to an increase in reported arousal and tension and a decrease in heart rate variability. More arousal was reported during minor than major mode songs. Level and frequency of skin conductance responses increased with an increase in percussiveness. Physiological responses revealed patterns that might not have been revealed by self-report. Interaction effects further suggest that musical characteristics interplay in modulating emotions. So, tempo, mode, and percussiveness indeed modulate our emotions and, consequently, can be used to direct emotions. Music presentation revealed subtly different results in a laboratory setting, where music was altered with breaks, from those in a more ecologically valid setting where continuous music was presented. All in all, this enhances our understanding of the influence of music on emotions and creates opportunities seamlessly to tap into listeners' emotional state through their physiological responses.

Music is important in everyday life, as it provides entertainment and influences our moods. As music is widely available, it is becoming increasingly difficult to select songs to suit our mood. An affective music player can remove this obstacle by taking a desired mood as input and then selecting songs that direct toward that desired mood. In the present study, we validate the concept of an affective music player directing the energy dimension of mood. User models were trained for 10 participants based on skin conductance changes to songs from their own music database. Based on the resulting user models, the songs that most increased or decreased the skin conductance level of the participants were selected to induce either a relatively energized or a calm mood. Experiments were conducted in a real-world office setting. The results showed that a reliable prediction can be made of the impact of a song on skin conductance, that skin conductance and mood can be directed toward an energized or calm state and that skin conductance remains in these states for at least 30 minutes. All in all, this study shows that the concept and models of the affective music player worked in an ecologically valid setting, suggesting the feasibility of using physiological responses in real-life affective computing applications.

BackgroundDepression during pregnancy is a common and high impact disease. Generally, 5–10 % of pregnant women suffer from depression. Children who have been exposed to maternal depression during pregnancy have a higher risk of adverse birth outcomes and more often show cognitive, emotional and behavioural problems. Therefore, early detection and treatment of antepartum depression is necessary. Both psychotherapy and antidepressant medication, first choice treatments in a non-pregnant population, have limitations in treating depression during pregnancy. Therefore, it is urgent and relevant to investigate alternative treatments for antepartum depression. Bright light therapy (BLT) is a promising treatment for pregnant women with depressive disorder, for it combines direct availability, sufficient efficacy, low costs and high safety, taking the safety for the unborn child into account as well.MethodsIn this study, 150 pregnant women (12–18 weeks pregnant) with a DSM-V diagnosis of depressive disorder will be randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to one of the two treatment arms: treatment with BLT (9.000 lux) or treatment with dim red light therapy (100 lux). Both groups will be treated for 6 weeks at home on a daily basis for 30 min, within 30 min of habitual wake-up time. Follow-up will take place after 6 weeks of therapy, 3 and 10 weeks after end of therapy, at birth and 2, 6 and 18 months postpartum. Primary outcome will be the average change in depressive symptoms between the two groups, as measured by the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Depression Scale – Seasonal Affective Disorder version and the Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale. Changes in rating scale scores of these questionnaires over time will be analysed using generalized linear mixed models. Secondary outcomes will be the changes in maternal cortisol and melatonin levels, in maternal sleep quality and gestational age, birth weight, infant behaviour, infant cortisol exposure and infant cortisol stress response.DiscussionIf BLT reduces depressive symptoms in pregnant women, it will provide a safe, cheap, non-pharmacological and efficacious alternative treatment for psychotherapy and antidepressant medication in treating antepartum depression, without any expected adverse reactions for the unborn child.Trial registrationNetherlands Trial Register NTR5476. Registered 5 November 2015.

The current study shows that during high-demand drives, drivers are calmed more effectively using abrupt music changes compared to gradual music changes. This is illustrated by reductions in physiological arousal and improved driving behaviour. Hence, in-car music presentation can be used as a tool to improve driver's mood and behaviour.

Abstract. While studying body postures in relation to mood is not a new concept, the majority of these studies rely on actors interpretations. This project investigated the temporal aspects of naturalistic body postures while users listened to mood inducing music. Video data was collected while participants listened to eight minutes of music during two sessions (happy and sad) in a within-subjects design. Subjectively reported mood scores validated that mood did differ significantly for valence and energy. Video analysis consisted of postural ratings for the head, shoulders, trunk, arms, and head & hand tapping. Results showed significant differences for the majority of these dimensions by mood. This study showed that certain body postures are indicative of certain mood states in a naturalistic setting. Automatic recognition of body postures can thus lead to one of the first unobtrusive mood recognition systems, which will help in the development of emotionally smart technology.

Abstract. Driver anger could be potentially harmful for road safety and longterm health. Because of its mood inducing properties, music is assumed to be a potential medium that could prevent anger induction during driving. In the current study the influence of music on anger, mood, skin conductance, and systolic blood pressure was investigated during anger inducing scenarios in a driving simulator. 100 participants were split into five groups: four listened to different types of music (high/ low energy in combination with both positive/ negative valence) or a no music control. Results showed that anger inducement was highest during high energy negative music compared to positive music irrespective of energy level. Systolic blood pressure and skin conductance levels were higher during high energy negative music and no music compared to low energy music. Music was demonstrated to mediate the state of anger and therefore can have positive health benefits in the long run.