Musical agency reduces perceived exertion during strenuous physical performance

Abstract

Music is known to be capable of reducing perceived exertion during strenuous physical activity. The current interpretation of this modulating effect of music is that music may be perceived as a diversion from unpleasant proprioceptive sensations that go along with exhaustion. Here we investigated the effects of music on perceived exertion during a physically strenuous task, varying musical agency, a task that relies on the experience of body proprioception, rather than simply diverting from it. For this we measured psychologically indicated exertion during physical workout with and without musical agency while simultaneously acquiring metabolic values with spirometry. Results showed that musical agency significantly decreased perceived exertion during workout, indicating that musical agency may actually facilitate physically strenuous activities. This indicates that the positive effect of music on perceived exertion cannot always be explained by an effect of diversion from proprioceptive feedback. Furthermore, this finding suggests that the down-modulating effect of musical agency on perceived exertion may be a previously unacknowledged driving force for the development of music in humans: making music makes strenuous physical activities less exhausting.sport | civilization | emotional motor control | jymmin' | aesthetics A thletes often use music in fitness studios and during preparation for sport competitions (1). The reason for this is probably that music can have positive effects on sports performance. The musical parameters tempo and rhythm, for example, have been shown to have a motivating and ergogenic influence on performance in sports (2, 3). Also, the perceived exertion during strenuous physical tasks can be diminished by music listening (4, 5), at least in a specific range of aerobic metabolism (6). The modulating influence of music on perceived exertion is thought to be due to a distracting effect of the music, such that the athlete pays less attention to (partly unpleasant) proprioceptive sensations that go along with bodily exhaustion (6, 7). Here, we question whether the diminishing effect of music on perceived exertion is due only to distraction from proprioceptive feedback. For this, we varied musical agency during a sports activity with fitness machines. In the present study, among a number of control tasks, the participants either created musical sounds while working out or just listened to similar music produced by others during their workout.Importantly, during the musical agency condition the participants are not simply distracted from the proprioceptive feedback. On the contrary, the proprioceptive feedback is essential to the source of agency that we introduce.In the current study, we adapt a definition of agency as a performance of bodily movement guided by an agent and governed by a goal or intention. We use the term "musical agency" because the goal/intention in the agency condition is a modulation of musical sounds. Musical agency is an essential aspect of many (if not most) rituals i...

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