Exploring Interactions between Physiological Mechanisms and Music Riffs: Power beyond Music

Abstract

This study aims to discuss whether the baroreflex is regulated by the music with 0.1 Hz oscillations and determine which musical component most elicits the baroreflex control. We had the subjects listen to the music with 0.1 Hz oscillation (in either chords or rhythm) and the same music without 0.1 Hz oscillation. The power of the extracted components up to 0.1 Hz significantly increased blood pressure (BP) at p < 0.05regardless of which music they listened to. However, the coherence between BP and heart rate fluctuations up to 0.1 Hz increased significantly (p < 0.01) only when listening to the music with continuous riffs up to 0.1 Hz. The results implied that properly applied repetitive riffs of music improve the baroreflex regulation.