Effect of Music on Emotions and Respiration

Abstract

In the present study we investigated whether the emotional state induced by music can change respiratory rate RR , tidal volume V T , minute ventilation V E , and end-tidal CO 2 concentration ETCO 2. In a pioneering study investigating the effect of music on respiration, the music of Stockhausen and Chopin was used. In the present study, we examined the effects of the same musical stimuli used in that study on respiration. Each stimulus Stock-hausen, Chopin, and silence was delivered for 30 s and each stimulus was presented ve times in random order. Subjects reported feeling uncomfortable listening to Stockhausens music, but comfortable during Chopins music and silence. The respiratory response during exposure to Stockhausens music was rapid and shallow breathing, resulting in an increase in RR. Although the RR was decreased during silence and Chopins music by Chopin compared with that during Stockhausens music, there was no signiicant difference in RR in response to Chopins music and Stockhausens music. Although subjects reported feeling comfortable while listening to Chopins music, the decrease in RR was not signiicant. The lack of a signiicant decrease in RR in response to Chopins music may be due to a mixture of various emotions that may be interconnected to physiological responses, and this higher processing may be peculiar to humans.