Low-Frequency Bass Increases Activity
The relationship between tunes, mood and movement.
Fitness professionals use the power of the playlist to affect mood and complement movement. Is it all about the bass? Maybe. A new study shows that bass levels in music can influence people to move more. McMaster University researchers in Ontario, Canada, studied concert goers who listened to live music and found that movement increased by up to 11.8% when they heard low-frequency bass music. Study authors note that low pitches elicit a stronger neural response and increase the pleasurable urge to move.
“Very low frequencies may also affect vestibular sensitivity, adding to people’s experience of movement,” said lead study author Daniel J. Cameron, PhD, post-doctoral fellow in the LIVELab at McMaster University. “Nailing down the brain mechanisms involved will require looking at the effects of low frequencies on the vestibular, tactile and auditory pathways.”
The study is published in Current Biology (2022; doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.09.035).
See also: Groove Music Benefits
Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA
Shirley Archer, JD, MA, is an internationally acknowledged integrative health and mindfulness specialist, best-selling author of 16 fitness and wellness books translated into multiple languages and sold worldwide, award-winning health journalist, contributing editor to Fitness Journal, media spokesperson, and IDEA's 2008 Fitness Instructor of the Year. She's a 25-year industry veteran and former health and fitness educator at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, who has served on multiple industry committees and co-authored trade books and manuals for ACE, ACSM and YMCA of the USA. She has appeared on TV worldwide and was a featured trainer on America's Next Top Model.
