Music genre preference and tempo alter alpha and beta waves in human non-musicians

• Main Authors: Hunter Gentry, Ethan Humphries, Sebastian Pena, Aldijana Mekic, Nicole Hurless, David. F. Nichols
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Appalachian State University Honors College 2013-10-01
• Series: Impulse: The Premier Undergraduate Neuroscience Journal
• Subjects: brain waves; EEG; FFT
• Online Access: http://impulse.appstate.edu/articles/2013/music-genre-preference-and-tempo-alter-alpha-and-beta-waves-human-non-musicians
• ISSN: 1934-3361

This study examined the effects of music genre and tempo on brain activation patterns in 10 nonmusicians.Two genres (rock and jazz) and three tempos (slowed, medium/normal, andquickened) were examined using EEG recording and analyzed through Fast Fourier Transform(FFT) analysis. When participants listened to their preferred genre, an increase in alpha waveamplitude was observed. Alpha waves were not significantly affected by tempo. Beta waveamplitude increased significantly as the tempo increased. Genre had no effect on beta waves. Thefindings of this study indicate that genre preference and artificially modified tempo do affectalpha and beta wave activation in non-musicians listening to preselected songs.