The influence of unwanted entrainment with low frequencies in techno music on performance and mental exhaustion

Abstract

To better understand the characteristics and reported mental exhaustion of individuals who live near a festival terrain, we investigated how low frequencies in techno music influence performance and mental exhaustion. As techno music has become one of the most beloved forms of music for young individuals, sound pollution of this music is a prominent problem in society. This study elaborates upon the concept of entrainment and focused on both low-demand and high-demand cognitive tasks. We hypothesized that (a) listening to music would affect performance on cognitive tasks, (b) listening to a dominant pulse would affect performing on cognitive tasks more than listening to music without a dominant pulse, and (c) that trying to suppress entrainment to music with a dominant pulse would elicit more mental exhaustion than suppressing music without a dominant pulse. Cognitive performance was measured with the Stroop Task and Modular Arithmetic Task. Entrainment was measured with the Mental Entrainment Questionnaire (MEQ) and heart rate (HR). Mental exhaustion was measured with the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI). Participants (N=36) were each tested two times on the cognitive tasks, once without music and once while listening to techno music. The musical stimuli were manipulated to create three distinct musical conditions (I) Bass only (i.e., pulse condition), (II) Beat only (i.e., no pulse), (III) Normal (i.e., combined pulse and beat elements). RT and accuracy on the different tasks were compared for the different musical conditions. Strong effects of entrainment and mental exhaustion were found in the conditions with a dominant pulse. These findings indicate an effect of suppressing unwanted entrainment on both low-demand and high-demand cognitive performance and mental exhaustion. Implication of this study points to a need for a reduction of low-frequencies at techno festivals as individuals living in the vicinity of a festival, are negatively impacted by unwanted entrainment.