Abstract
Music is a potent mood regulator that can induce relaxation and reduce anxiety in different situations. While several studies demonstrate that certain types of music have a subjective anxiolytic effect, the reported results from physiological responses are less conclusive. Virtual reality allows us to study diverse scenarios of real life under strict experimental control while preserving high ecological validity. We aimed to study the modulating effect of music on the anxiety responses triggered by an immersive virtual reality scenario designed to induce fear of heights. Subjects experienced a virtual scenario depicting an exterior elevator platform ascending and descending the total height of its 350 meters tall supporting structure. Participants were allocated to either a group that experienced the elevator ride with background music or without, in a between-groups design. Furthermore, each group included participants with different degrees of fear of heights, ranging from low to high fear. Recordings of heart rate, galvanic skin response, body balance, and head movements were obtained during the experiments. Subjective anxiety was measured by means of three questionnaires. The scenario produced significant changes in subjective and physiological measures, confirming its efficacy as a stressor. A significant increase in state anxiety was found between pre and post-assessment in the silence group, but not in the music group, indicating that post-stress recovery was faster in the musical group. Results suggest that music can ameliorate the subjective anxiety produced by fear of heights.
Highlights
Anxiety is an adaptive and complex emotion consisting of physiological, cognitive, and behavioral components
The results obtained in this experiment indicate that music can to some extent facilitate post-stress recovery in subjects with different degrees of fear of heights
This was true in an immersive virtual reality experience that depicted a virtual platform moving up and down a building of 350 m
Summary
Anxiety is an adaptive and complex emotion consisting of physiological, cognitive, and behavioral components (for a review see, Spielberger and Reheiser, 2009). It is mainly characterized by feelings of tension, apprehension, nervousness and worry about potential negative outcomes or events (Spielberger et al, 1983). Prolonged anxiety and stress reactions can have severe consequences for health, i.e. distortion of human homeostatic levels that might lead to both physical and mental impairments (for reviews see Shekhar et al, 2005; Katon et al, 2007; Lupien et al, 2009)
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