Activating and Relaxing Music Entrains the Speed of Beat Synchronized Walking

Abstract

Inspired by a theory of embodied music cognition, we investigate whether music can entrain the speed of beat synchronized walking. If human walking is in synchrony with the beat and all musical stimuli have the same duration and the same tempo, then differences in walking speed can only be the result of music-induced differences in stride length, thus reflecting the vigor or physical strength of the movement. Participants walked in an open field in synchrony with the beat of 52 different musical stimuli all having a tempo of 130 beats per minute and a meter of 4 beats. The walking speed was measured as the walked distance during a time interval of 30 seconds. The results reveal that some music is ‘activating’ in the sense that it increases the speed, and some music is ‘relaxing’ in the sense that it decreases the speed, compared to the spontaneous walked speed in response to metronome stimuli. Participants are consistent in their observation of qualitative differences between the relaxing and activating musical stimuli. Using regression analysis, it was possible to set up a predictive model using only four sonic features that explain 60% of the variance. The sonic features capture variation in loudness and pitch patterns at periods of three, four and six beats, suggesting that expressive patterns in music are responsible for the effect. The mechanism may be attributed to an attentional shift, a subliminal audio-motor entrainment mechanism, or an arousal effect, but further study is needed to figure this out. Overall, the study supports the hypothesis that recurrent patterns of fluctuation affecting the binary meter strength of the music may entrain the vigor of the movement. The study opens up new perspectives for understanding the relationship between entrainment and expressiveness, with the possibility to develop applications that can be used in domains such as sports and physical rehabilitation.

Body, Sound and Space in Music and Beyond: Multimodal Explorations

“…In a study by Leman et al (2013), participants were instructed to walk in synchrony with music at 130 beats per minute (bpm). This tempo, slightly above the resonance frequency of human movement (MacDougall & Moore, 2005;van Noorden & Moelants, 1999), was chosen as a result of findings by Styns et al (2007).…”

“…In this study, it was revealed that when participants were asked to synchronise their steps while walking to music at different tempi, the biggest differences in step length occurred at a walking cadence of approximately 130 steps per minute. In the study by Leman et al (2013), participants were instructed to walk to 52 different songs. Furthermore, six metronome sequences at 130 bpm were presented at fixed, uniformly spread positions during the experiment.…”

“…Both the studies by Leman et al (2013) and Buhmann et al (2016) demonstrate that 'being locked into the beat of music' is more than just a matter of synchronisation. While being synchronised and 'locked into the beat', differences in step size or walking velocity were the result of differences in sound characteristics in the music.…”

“…Such danceable rhythms often present themselves as syncopations by a disturbance in the regular flow of the rhythm, placing accents where they would normally not occur. However, according to the results obtained in Leman et al (2013) and Buhmann et al (2016), such disturbances in the regular flow of the rhythm will distract attention from the binary emphasis in the music while walking, thus having a relaxing effect on step length. A similar explanation is put forward in a study by Witek, Clarke, Wallentin, Kringelbach and Vuust (2014).…”

Effects of Listening to Music versus Environmental Sounds in Passive and Active Situations on Levels of Pain and Fatigue in Fibromyalgia

“…It can improve the body's tonicity and posture (Forti, Filipponi, Di Berardino, Barozzi, & Cesarina, 2010), extend stride when walking compared to metronomic rhythm in healthy subjects (Leman et al, 2013;Styns, van Doorden, Moelants, & Leman, 2007), and improve muscular endurance in people with Parkinson's disease (Bernatzky, Bernatzky, Hesse, Staffen, & Ladurner, 2004). Music thus may play a modulating role in body image and motor disorders (Styns et al, 2007) by activating cortical motor maps (Koelsch, 2009;Koelsch & Siebel, 2005;Koelsch, Fritz, von Cramon, Muller, & Friederici, 2006;Koelsch et al, 2002).…”