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(CNS) and should be included. This topic, however, will be discussed in a separate
section of this chapter (see Sect.
6.6
).
Physiological responses to music are important in many aspects. From the
theoretical perspective, a key issue is to demonstrate whether basic emotions
induced by music are related to speci
c physiological patterns (Nyklicek et al.
1997
; Lundqvist et al.
2009
; Krumhansl
1997
; Khalfa et al.
2008
). The relation
between discrete emotions and emotion-speci
c physiological response patterns
predicted by theorists, however, still remains an open problem (Scherer
2004
). As
far as practical applications concerns, physiological responses are important for
many applications including emotion recognition, health care, and human
com-
puter interfaces. They can be continuously monitored and used as robust measures
(descriptors) of emotional states. In what follows, the main physiological responses
to music listening will be brie
-
y discussed and their application to emotion rec-
ognition and consequently to emotion intelligence in human
machine interaction
-
will be described.
6.6.1 Effect of Music on Different Physiological Processes
6.6.1.1 Heart Rate
Most of the existing studies on the effect of music on heart rate indicate that music
listening can cause changes in heart rate (Nyklicek et al.
1997
; Lundqvist et al.
2000; Krumhansl
1997
; Baumgartner et al.
2006
; Samler et al.
2007
; Blood and
Zatorre
2001
; Bernardi et al.
2006
). These changes can be easily measured through
ECG (Electrocardiogram). It was shown that high arousal music tends to increase
the heart rate, whereas sedative music tends to decrease it. There are also studies
reported that music caused no changes in heart rate (Iganawa et al.
1996
; Gomez
and Danuser 2004). The style of music used in existing studies was not system-
atically investigated and could be one cause of the existing inconsistencies, the
other being the methodology employed. Recent studies provide evidence that tempo
is the most in
uential factor on heart rate. This is due to the fact that rhythm
entrainment between tempo and heartbeat seems to be the mechanism through
which the changes are caused.
6.6.1.2 Respiration
Breathing rate is the second physiological response linked to musical emotion.
Most of the existing studies show an increase in respiration or breathing rate during
music listening (Krumhansl
1997
; Gomez and Danuser 2004; Nyklicek et al.
1997
;
Thayer and Faith
2001
). Few studies reported no substantial changes in respiration
during music listening (Davis
1992
; Davis-Rollan and Cunningham
1987
; Iganawa
et al.
1996
). Breathing rate is closely related to heart rate changes during music
listening. The two systems are considered as two weakly coupled oscillators and
through this coupling respiration regulates heart rate. Recent experiments provide
evidence that both respiration rate and heart rate entrain musical rhythm.