The effects of music and alpha-theta-wave frequencies on
meditation

An explorative study„Masterarbeit zur Erlangung des Grades Master of Arts im interuniversitären
Masterstudium Musikologie“

Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz (KUG)

Vorgelegt von Florian Eckl

Institut für elektronische Musik und Akustik
Begutachter: Prof. Robert Höldrich

Graz
2016

1

Acknowledgment
First of all, I want to thank my dad, Prof. Mag. Dr. Peter Eckl, for all the help, thegood and inspiring discussions I had with him and the lifelong support. Next I wantto thank my sister, Judith Eckl, for all the positive energy she gave me. Also thanks
to my girlfriend, Andrea Schubert, for motivating me to finish this master thesis.
I am also very grateful to my mentor, Prof. Robert Höldrich, for providing thenecessary equipment, helping with professional support and the enthusiasm he isworking with.
Furthermore I have to thank Dr. Mathias Benedek for the help with the analyses of
the GSR-measurements and also thanks to Mona Schramke (head of Meditas)
who sponsored this master thesis with gift certificates for sound meditation.
Last but not least I want to thank my mum. She was my inspiration for the topic of
this master thesis and always gave, and still gives me selfless infinite love.

2

1.

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 82.

Current state of Research .............................................................................................. 12
2.1
2.1.1

Musicethnological point of view ............................................................................................... 12

2.1.2

Neurological point of view ........................................................................................................... 14

2.1.3

Musictherapeutical point of view ............................................................................................. 15

2.2

Activation of brain areas through music and mediation ........................................ 17

2.2.1

Music, meditation and active brain areas .............................................................................. 18

2.2.2Music, meditation and longterm-effects on brain areas.................................................. 28

2.3

Meditation and EEG studies ............................................................................................... 34

2.4

Effects of Infrasounds on humans ................................................................................... 44

2.4.1

Hearing and the inner ear ............................................................................................................ 45

2.4.2

What are Infrasounds? .................................................................................................................. 46

2.4.3

Infrasound and its effect on humans ....................................................................................... 49

2.4.4

Infrasounds and their effects on animals .............................................................................. 59

2.4.5

Binaural beats and their effects on humans ......................................................................... 61

2.5

3.

Music and altered states of consciousness................................................................... 12

Summary .................................................................................................................................. 64

Empirical Study ................................................................................................................. 74
3.1

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 75

3.2

Pretest ....................................................................................................................................... 76

3.2.1

Methods ............................................................................................................................................... 76

3.2.2

Results .................................................................................................................................................. 79

3.2.3

Discussion ........................................................................................................................................... 86

3.3

Main Study ............................................................................................................................... 88

3.3.1

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 88

3.3.2

Material................................................................................................................................................ 88

3.3.3

Methods ............................................................................................................................................... 89

3.3.4

Participants ........................................................................................................................................ 93

4.

Results .................................................................................................................................. 94

5.

Discussion .........................................................................................................................106

6.

Conclusion .........................................................................................................................114
3

4

Abstract
Meditation and music are usually performed together. In many cases music is the
background of meditation. Thus, the question arises whether music has a positiveeffect on meditation. This master thesis deals with the assumptions that 1) musicand 2) alpha-theta wave frequencies have an effect on meditation.
It is hypothesized that 1) relaxing music has a positive effect on meditationcompared to arousing music or no music, 2) arousing music has a negative effecton meditation compared to relaxing music or no music, and 3) alpha-theta wave
frequencies have a positive effect on meditation/ relaxation compared to no music.
Fast theta- and slow alpha- waves (6-10Hz) are representative for a meditative andrelaxed state. As a consequence, it was tested whether these frequencies played
via headphones are triggering a meditative or relaxed state. The assumption is thatfrequencies in the range of alpha and theta waves are able to provoke or intensify
the production of these brain waves via superposition of waves or resonancephenomena and therefore a meditative and relaxed state can be achieved.
A pretest evaluated the best music pieces for the conditions "relaxing music" and"arousing music" and tested the ability of the headphones to produce infrasounds
at a certain sound pressure level without any audible by-products.
In the main study GSR-measurements, standardized questionnaires (STAI-X,
STOMP-R, and d2-R) and rating scales have been used to obtain valid data.
The major findings are:arousing music has a significant negative effect on

meditation. Relaxing music showed no significant differences with the lack ofmusic, which might be due to background-noise on the audio-files. Alpha-thetawave frequencies led to conflicting results. It is possible that these conflicts are due
to two different states of relaxation, not separated in this study. Based on the
results it is assumed that alpha- theta wave frequencies have a positive effect on atired relaxed state and can trigger tiredness, whereas at the same time they have anegative effect on a meditatively relaxed state. Several explanations for thisobservation are discussed.
Therefore, it it reasonable to argue that alpha- theta wave frequencies could be
used against sleeping disorders as they appear to increase tiredness. However,5

further studies are needed, evaluating the proper effects of these frequencies onhumans and testing the effects of relaxing music without background noises.

Keywords: meditation, music, alpha- theta waves, GSR, CDA.SCR

Kurzzusammenfassung
Meditation und Musik werden oft zusammen ausgeübt. In vielen Fällen fungiert
Musik dabei als Hintergrund. Daher stellt sich die Frage, ob Musik einen positiven
Effekt auf Meditation hat. Die zugrundeliegende Masterarbeit beschäftigt sich mit
den Annahmen, dass 1) Musik und 2) Alpha- Thetawellen Frequenzen einen
Einfluss auf Musik haben. Die folgenden Thesen wurden daher formuliert: 1)
Entspannende Musik hat einen positiven Effekt auf Meditation im Vergleich zu
aufreibender Musik oder keiner Musik, 2) Aufreibende Musik hat einen negativen
Effekt auf Meditation im Vergleich zu entspannender Musik oder keiner Musik, und
3) Alpha- Theta Wellen Frequenzen haben einen positiven Effekt auf Meditationoder Entspannung im Vergleich zu keiner Musik. Schnelle Theta- und langsame
Alphawellen (6-10Hz) sind repräsentativ für einen meditativen und entspannten
Zustand. Daher wurde getestet, ob derartige Frequenzen, wenn diese überKopfhörer abgespielt werden, einen meditativen oder entspannten Zustandhervorrufen können. Die Annahme ist dabei, dass Frequenzen im Bereich vonAlpha- und Thetawellen die Produktion gleichlautender Gehirnwellen anregen oderverstärken können und so ein meditativer oder entspannter Zustand erreicht
werden kann. Dies geschieht dabei entweder durch Überlagerung von Wellen oderdurch Resonanzphänomene.
Ein Pretest diente zur Evaluation der besten Musikstücke für die Konditionen"entspannende Musik" und "aufreibende Musik" und testete darüber hinaus die
Fähigkeit der verwendeten Kopfhörer, Infrasounds bei einem bestimmten
Schalldruckpegel wiederzugeben, ohne dabei hörbare Artefakte/ Nebenproduktezu produzieren.
Um valide Daten zu erfassen wurden in der Hauptstudie Hautleitwertmessungen,standardisierte Fragebögen (STAI-X, STOMP-R und d2-R) sowie Ratingskalen
6herangezogen. Es zeigte sich, dass aufreibende Musik einen signifikant negativen
Effekt auf Meditation hat. Entspannende Musik hingegen zeigte keine signifikanten
Differenzen zu keiner Musik, was möglicherweise auf Hintergrundgeräusche der
Audiodatei zurückzuführen ist. Alpha- Thetawellen zeigten indes widersprüchliche
Ergebnisse. Es wird angenommen, dass diese Ergebnisse auf zwei verschiedene
Zustände von Entspannung zurückzuführen sind, die in dieser Studie nicht
getrennt erhoben wurden.

Weiters ist davon auszugehen, dass Alpha-

Thetawellen Frequenzen einen positiven Effekt auf einen müde-entspannten
Zustand haben und Müdigkeit anregen können, während diese gleichzeitig einen
negativen Effekt auf einen meditativ-entspannten Zustand haben.
Es erscheint möglich, dass Alpha- Thetawellen gegen Schlafprobleme eingesetzt
werden könnten. Um den Effekt dieser Frequenzen auf Menschen genauer zu
untersuchen und um die Effekte entspannender Musik ohne Hintergrundgeräusche
zu studieren, werden weiterführende Studien benötigt.

Keywords: Meditation, Musik, Alpha- Thetawellen, Hautleitwert, CDA.SCR

List of abbreviations
Abbreviation

Meaning

GSR

Galvanic Skin Response

STAI-X

State Trait Anxiety Inventory -original form X

STOMP-R

Short Test Of Music Preferences - Revision

d2-R

Concentration ability test

CDA.SCR

Average phasic driver within a given response window - concerning GSR

IHC

Inner Hair Cells

OHC

Outer Hair Cells

HRV

Heart Rate Variability

nuLF

normalized units of Low Frequency

nuHF

normalized units of High Frequency

LF/HF

Estimate of the LF/HF ratio

EEG

Electroencephalogram

ANOVA

Analysis of Variance71. Introduction
Meditation and music are usually performed together. In many cases music is the
background of meditation. Both, meditation and music can lead to an altered stateof consciousness, which is said to be healing and relaxing. In combination, theyshould lead to an easier access and a more intense altered state ofconsciousness. Proofing this assumption is one part of this thesis.
Sometimes when we are longer engaged in different activities we reach and ofcourse experience an altered state of consciousness. This feeling is very common
for activities such as meditation or constantly repeated music. Most of the time it isvery difficult to explain or express such an experience. The following citation ofKjaer and his co-authors (2002) explains the feeling of an altered state ofconsciousness in relation to meditation in a good way:
There are two main, complementary aspects of consciousness: consciousnessof our sensory world and the equally important consciousness of action. Yoga
Nidra is a relaxed meditative state in the meditation tradition where these
aspects are subjectively dissociated: the mind withdraws from wishing to act.
This state is not associated with a change in emotional state of willpower. The
mediator becomes a neutral observer. He experiences loss of conscious controlof his actions and experiences an enhancement of sensory stimulations or
imagination.
(Kjaer et al., 2002, p. 255)

There is a long tradition of using music and meditation together. When we lookback in history, we realize that for example around 850 years ago our ancestors
already used music to reach altered states of consciousness. In the Notre-Dameage for example modalrhythmics were used to reach states of trance (Mittwede,2002). When we further look at different cultures and religions, it becomes also
evident that one goal of reaching such an altered state of consciousness is to getcloser to god or devine entities. One very interesting example is John of God, whopractices spiritual healing ceremonies in Brasilia. People who go there in order tobe healed have to meditate, because meditation helps them to reach a higher level8

of being, which in turn gives entities the possibility to heal them (RavenWing,
2002). It is interesting that also in this case music is used as background.
As we can see, experiencing an altered state of consciousness has a very longlasting important meaning for mankind. But why is music and meditation such apreferred tool to reach such a state? Often music acts as background for
meditation. Does this have a deeper sense? Have music and meditation somethingin common, what we never thought of before? Possible answers to these questions
will be discussed in this thesis on the effects of music and alpha-theta-wave
frequencies on meditation.
Different disciplines like ethnology, psychology, neuropsychology, ethnomusicology
and systematic musicology deal with parts of this topic. While psychology andneuropsychology try to find ways to describe altered states of consciousness in thebrain,

ethnology,

systematic musicology

or ethnomusicology try tofindexplanations why reaching such a state is of benefit.

Before going into detail and starting to argue, it is important to explain the mostimportant terms of this masters thesis.
Meditation means the act of going deeply into ones inner self, and which should
lead to an altered state of consciousness. According to Lazar and his coworkers(2000) meditation is a form of mental exercise which leads to relaxation. In thefollowing also the term meditative state will be used. This is just another word foran altered state of consciousness reached through meditation.
Another term to be defined is consciousness. Consciousness is a complex system
which changes itself frequently. In general it is differentiated into awake state andsleeping state. According to Ludwig (1966) the characteristics of an altered state ofconsciousness is the change/alteration of thinking, of the sense of time, of control,of emotionality, of the body image and of the perception of meaning andimportance. As mentioned in the previous citation it refers further to the loss of
conscious control of action and an enhancement of sensory stimulation andimagination (Kjaer et al., 2002, p. 255). The most common deviations from anormal conscious state in relation to music are trance and ecsctasy (Fachner,
92009). Rouget (1985) divides trance into three different forms, which are theemotional, collective and shamanic forms of trance. According to Rouget (1985)
trance is associated with a bigger or smaller amount of sensory over-stimulation in
relation to noises, music, smells or arousal. Furthermore Fachner (2006) points outthat there is a lot of different definitions of trance which are in some cases evencontradictory.
The next frequently occurring term is music. Music here is meant both in the active
and the passive sense. Active music means that someone plays a piece of musicwith his or her instrument or sings. In contrast, passive music means listening tomusic. Therefore, when the term music is not further differentiated into active or
passive it means both
Since the topic of meditation is difficult to deal with, because of it’s “esoterique”
nature, it is important to look at it from different positions. Thus this thesis tries tofind answers from current research in enthnomusicological, anthropological,
musicpsychological and biological perspectives. Furthermore, the empirical study
designed for this thesis should strengthen the different hypotheses.

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11

2. Current state of Research
2.1 Music and altered states of consciousness
As written above meditation leads to an altered state of consciousness. If music isable to facilitate meditation and reaching a meditative state, music should be also
related to changed states of consciousness. A lot of literature can be foundconcerning the relation of music and altered states of consciousness. They reachfrom ethnological to neurological perspectives and differ a lot in their points of view.
Thus it is important to summarize the most important findings in this chapter and tosee whether music can lead to changed states of consciousness and if yes, what
the reasons could be.
2.1.1 Musicethnological point of view
Sundar (2007) reports about Indian traditional systems of health and healing. She(Sundar, 2007) explains the important role of music in different treatments. For theFire-Walk, which has a long-lasting tradition, music and sounds are used to reachan altered state of consciousness, which in turn reduces the perception of pain.
Such a state of consciousness is reached through loud beats of drums and loudreligious shouts and religious songs. (Sundar, 2007)
Furthermore the Vedic tradition, which reaches back around 5000 years, usedmusic to heal and for up-liftment. The music is characterized by a lot of sounds andrhythmns, and the present Indian music therapy uses some of the Vedic verses(with single, two and three notes) „to enhance focused attention [...], to improveconcentration and to help get into meditative and relaxed states. (Sundar, 2007, p.
399) As demonstrated by these two examples the use of music to enter an alteredstate of consiousness has a long tradition. Thus it seems to be likely that music isable to induce altered states of consciousnes. Also eyecatching is the fact that in
the Fire-Walk and the Vedic tradition the music to enter a changed state ofconsciuosness is characterized by a repetitive rhythmn and a high loudness.
According to Rouget (1985) there is no universal property of music in inducing
trance, because every trance music varies from culture to culture. This counts forthe melody, for the chants for different ghosts or spirits and for the rhythmn.
12Rouget (1985) further argues that music has no direct effect on trance and thatmusic is just one of many components necessary to produce a state of trance. As
an example he mentions that in one society soft music can favor trance, whereas
in another society loud sounds lead to this altered state of consciousness. This isalso the same with fast versus slow rhythmns (Pilch, 2006). These arguments arecontradictory to the before mentioned, because here it seems that the loudness ofmusic must not be high to induce trance. But they do not negotiate repetitive
rhythmns in inducing trance. Therefore the possible trance inducing effect of music
could be due to a repetitive rhythmn, equally if fast or slow and loud or calm.
According to Kartomi (1973) music must have a mesmeric effect to induce trance.
Music is best to provoke trance, if it is made of regular pulsation and repetitive
tonal patterns based on a restricted number of pitch levels (Kartomi 1973). At thesame time music should not be boring. This finding also supports the assumptionthat repetitive rhythmns are important for music to induce changed states ofconsciousness. But Pilch (2006) believes that every kind of music can have a
trance-inducing effect. According to him (Pilch, 2006) it just depends on thesubjective interpretation of music. In relation to this opinion Meyer (1967, p. 126)
writes, "What we know and believe has a profound effect upon what we perceiveand how we respond." This point of view strongly relates to constructivism. It is
possible that constructivist theories are best in explaining the effect of music in
inducing altered states of consciousness. But if we really believed inconstructivism, we would not have to explain anything anymore. Thus
constructivism will not be taken into account in this thesis.
Rouget (1985) discusses the possibility that music has a universal characteristic in
inducing trance. But his arguments are sometimes misleading. He states forexample that music cannot be universal in inducing a state of trance, because in
Ghana people were found who just fall into trance without music. Clearly no one
ever thougt that music is universal in inducing altered states of consciousness. Of
course there are a lot of other things which can lead to a changed state ofconsciousness (e.g. drugs, sports, being tired). This argument does notcounterargue the possibility that music can induce an altered state of13

consciousness or has at least one characteristic in it, which is universal in its
trance-inducing effect. Therefore, Rougets (1985) argumentation cannot be
considered to precisely enough address the issue.
According to the discussed literature the following important characteristics ofmusic in inducing an altered state of consciousness can be summarized (see table
1).
Table 1: Important characteristics of music in inducing altered states ofconsciousness
Characteristic of music

References

High loudness(Sundar, 2007)

Repetitive rhythmn(Sundar, 2007),(Kartomi, 1973)

2.1.2 Neurological point of view
Neher (1962) tries to find a neurological explanation for the trance-inducing effectof music. He thinks that rhythmn is the most important element for such an
induction. Equal to photo-driving, a mechanism where rhythmical flashing lightstimulates the brain, Neher (1962) believes that there also exists an auditorydriving effect. Rhythmical stimulation via photo-driving in laboratory situations isfurther able to provoke an altered state of consciousness. For the reason thatrhythmical sounds, according to Neher (1962) are most important in ceremonies to
induce trance, he draws a parallel between the well known and empiricallyreviewed photo-driving and the suggested auditory-driving. Through the rhythmical
stimulation of the brain with light (photo-driving), the brain oscillations move to the
new frequency of the light. In comparing different ethnological studies Neher(1962) further found out that trance-inducing music often uses rhythmns which aresimilar to the frequencies of alpha waves in the brain. Such rhythmns are found to
be used in the music from Haiti and in different parts of Africa (Neher, 1962). Since
not every culture uses these rhythmns to induce trance with music, it is not clear
whether this argumentation is acceptable. Moreover many scientists (i.e. Rouget)
critisize Nehers studies, especially because his already cited study does not show
14

his methods nor the exact results for the so-called auditory-driving. Fachner (2006)
further argues that the possible frequencies of the drums played are rather locatedin the frequency range of theta-waves than of alpha-waves. This is because such
fast rhythmns in the range of 8Hz to 12Hz cannot be realized with drums.
In relation to Nehers study another study of Hutson (2000) concerning raves has tobe mentioned.
According to Hutson (2000) changed states of consciousness while being on arave-party are due to an interaction of light, music and dance. The dynamic lighteffects, especially the flashlight can lead to photo-driving, whereas the fast bass
rhythmns can lead to an auditory-driving, thus evoking a trance-state. Moreoverlong rhythmic dancing leads to exhaustion which can end up in trance.
2.1.3 Musictherapeutical point of view
Hutson (2000) was able to show that the altered states of consciousness induced
through rave have therapeuthical effects. According to Hutson (2000) these effects
are a raise of self-esteem, the healing of fears and anxiety disorders, the feeling of
inner peace and an improved consciousness for other things. All these effects canalso be found with meditation. Thus this is another argument for music in inducing
a meditative state, and also that frequencies are important for such an induction,
as it is the case at rave-parties.
Music is most often used in music therapy to induce changed states ofconsciousness to gain positive effects with the clients. Referring to Haerlin (1998)
sound- and pulsation-instruments, especially for rattles, are one of the oldest tools
to enter a healing changed state of consciousness.
The pulsations of the drums affect electrical activities of the brain which are usually
not affected (Haerlin, 1998). Hereby Haerlin (1998) refers amongst others to Arrien(1996) who mentions:direkte Beziehung zwischen dem Trommelrhythmus ausgedrückt in Schlägen
pro Sekunde und den daraus resultierenden, vorübergehenden VeränderungenderGehirnwellenfrequenz(Zyklenpro

Sekunde)und/odersubjektiven

Erfahrungen [...] vorausgesetzt, derselbe Trommelrhythmus wurde mindestens
13-15 Minuten lang beibehalten (Arrien, 1996 S.233f).

15

Moreovere according to Haerlin (1998), 45 minutes of being in trance can giveclients the feeling of eight hours of restorative sleep.

As discussed, there are frequencies which can have an effect on the activity of thebrain. Furthermore it was found that these frequencies (especially rhythmic flashinglight) are able to affect the frequenices (brain waves) of the brain.
For the main topic of music and its effects on meditation it is important to clarify
whether these two actions have something in common. It is clear that one of theircommon factors is relaxation. It is also well known, that both, music and meditation
lead to relaxation. Relaxation is thus also one important factor for the possible
effect of music on meditation, as it helps to relaxe. Furthermore, as previously
discussed, music is connected to altered states of consciousness. Thus music may
facilitate getting into a changed state of consciousness with meditation, as both,music and mediation, are used to enter such a mental state. To argue for a
profound connection of music and meditation it is necessary to see whether theyalso activate the brain in a similar way or whether they activate similar brain areas.
The following chapter will focus on this point.

16

2.2 Activation of brain areas through music and mediation
To make this chapter clear for everyone it is important to explain some terms,
which will occur in the following pages. Imagination is one aspect of a changed
state of consciousness. Here imagination is differentiated into uncontrolled orcontrolled imagination. Uncontrolled imagination would be watching yourself fromabove or seeing things which come spontaneousely into your mind. Controlled
imagination is consciously i.e. visualizing love in form of a light or somethingsimiliar to it.
The main question of this chapter is: Do music and meditation activate similiar
brain areas? If yes, it can be further argued that the altered states ofconsciousness produced by music or meditation are similar, and thus music may
help to meditate because it helps activating important brain areas for meditation.
To answer the previously stated question this chapter is divided into two subtopics,
which are music, meditation and active brain areas, and music, meditation andlongterm-effects on particular brain areas. Provided that both topics lead to similiar
results for music and meditation, it is pretty possible that altered states ofconsciousness, which are produced by music or meditation, are similar. This could
shed first light to the question, whether music could have an effect on meditation.
What else could be relavant concerning this topic? In case the same brain areas
are active while practicing music and while meditating, it would not only provide
evidence that music and meditation could induce the same altered states ofconsciousness. Moreover it would indicate which brain areas are generally the key
to an altered state of consciousness. If same brain areas are active while being inan altered state of consciousness reached by different ways (music andmeditation), there must be important and relevant brain areas for reaching such astate. Once we identify them, we can also identify ways to enable an easier accessto such a state. Changed states of consciousness are often related to healing,enhancing power or relaxing (Lazar et al., 2000). Thus such a finding could be
used to help people in many ways.
The first part of the main section tries to argue that music and meditation activate
the same brain areas.
172.2.1 Music, meditation and active brain areas
First some terms have to be defined. The first important term occurring in thischapter is the midbrain.
The midbrain is shown in Fig. 1 with the red arrow and the green circle around it. It
is a part of the central nervous system.

Fig. 1: Sagittal section of the human brain (URL:
http://streetanatomy.com/2009/01/30/anatomic-fashion-friday-bird-brain/) abgerufen
am 28.3.201218

Another term is the anterior cingulate cortex. Anterior explains the position in the
cingulate cortex. Its location is shown in Fig. 2 in the yellow area.

Fig. 2: Sagittal section of the human brain with the different gyri (URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray727_anterior_cingulate_cortex.png) abgerufen
am 9.3.2012

Moreover the hippocampus is another important brain area mentioned in thischapter. The location of the hippocampus in the human brain is shown in Fig. 3
with the red arrow.

Fig. 3: Sagittal section of the human brain (URL: http://www.shockmd.com/wpcontent/berger_embed_brain.jpg) abgerufen am 25.3.2012

19

The last term to be explained is the precentral gyrus. Gyrus is the name for awinding in the brain. The location of the precentral gyrus in the brain is shown in
Fig. 4 with the red arrow and the red area.

Fig. 4: Outside view of the human brain (URL:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Precentral_gyrus_3d.png)
abgerufen am 25.3.2012

The question to this topic is: Are the same brain areas active while listening tomusic and while meditating, and are they related to a changed state ofconsciousness?
The possible answers are:Listening to music and meditation does not activate the same brain areas.
Listening to music and meditation does not activate the same brain areasand is not related to an altered state of consciousness.
Listening to music and meditation activates the same brain areas, but is not
related to a similarly altered state of consciousness.
Listening to music and meditation activates the same brain areas and isrelated to a similarly altered state of consciousness.

20

To come to a conclusion on the most likely answer the relevant literature isdiscussed. In this chapter the results concerning brain areas activated duringlistening to music and while meditating were compared to see whether there aresimilarities in brain activation.
The following table presents the findings of this exploration.
Table 2: Active brain areas while listening to music compared with active brain
areas while meditating
Active brain areas
listening to music

meditation

Left inferior frontal gyrus (Platel et al., 1997)
Left superior temporal gyrus (Platel et al.,
1997)
Right superior temporal gyrus (Platel et al.,1997)
Left middle occipital gyrus (Platel et al.,1997)
Left anterior cingulate gyrus (Platel et al.,
1997)
Right internal pallidum (Platel et al., 1997)
Right superior frontal gyrus (Platel et al.,1997)
Left superior frontal gyrus (Platel et al., 1997)
Right middle frontal gyrus (Platel et al., 1997)
Precentral gyrus (Platel et al., 1997)

Precentral gyrus (Lazar et al., 2000)

Left precuneus (Platel et al., 1997)
Left middle occipital gyrus (Platel et al.,1997)
Left insula (Platel et al., 1997)
Left inferior Broca’s area (Platel et al., 1997)
Primary auditory cortex (Brown et al., 2004)
Auditory association cortex (Brown et al. ,
2004)
21

Superior temporal sulcus (Brown et al. ,2004)
Middle temporal gyrus (Brown et al. , 2004)
Right superior temporal pole (Brown et al. ,2004)
Insula (Brown et al. , 2004)
Left subcallosal cingulate cortex (Brown et al.
, 2004)
Left anterior cingulate cortex (Brown et al. , Pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (Lazar
2004)

et al., 2000)

Left retrospenial cortex (Brown et al. , 2004)
Right hippocampus (Brown et al. , 2004)

Hippocampal formation (Lazar et al., 2000)

Left ventral striatum (Blood & Zatorre, 2001)
Dorsomedial midbrain (Blood & Zatorre, Midbrain (Lazar et al., 2000)
2001)
Bilateral insula (Blood & Zatorre, 2001)
Thalamus (Blood & Zatorre, 2001)
Anterior cingulate cortex (Blood & Zatorre, Pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (Lazar
2001)
Supplementary

et al., 2000)
motor

areas

(Blood&Zatorre, 2001)
Bilateral cerebellum (Blood & Zatorre, 2001)
Putamen (Lazar et al., 2000)
Parahippocampal formation (Lazar et al.,2000)
Septum (Lazar et al., 2000)
Caudate (Lazar et al., 2000)
Amygdale (Lazar et al., 2000)
Prefrontal cortex (Lazar et al., 2000)
Parietal cortex (Lazar et al., 2000)
Temporal cortex (Lazar et al., 2000)
postcentral gyrus (Lazar et al., 2000)

22

As can be derived from Table 1, there are lots of different brain areas active while
listening to music and also while meditating. Table 1 also presents those brain
areas which are active in both cases. These are the precentral gyrus, parts of theanterior cingulate cortex, hippocampal formations (or hippocampus) and the
midbrain. This is an important initial point to argue, because without similar brain
areas activated while listening to music and while meditating, it would be
impossible to further argue that these brain areas are important for the induction ofan altered state of consciousness. But is it possible to argue that these active brain
areas are indeed related to a changed state of consciousness? As you can see
from Table 1, there are a lot of other brain areas which are not active in bothcases. Furthermore listening to music and meditation are not identical actions,moreover they are pretty different. These facts lead to the assumption that thesimilarities of both activities in the four mentioned brain areas must eventuallyrelate to similar functions in inducing a changed state of consciousness. The
question arising now is, whether these areas identified are really related to achanged state of consciousness. Again previous research results will help toidentify the functions of the brain areas found to be active under both situations.
The first area of interest is the precentral gyrus. According to Cooke and Graziano(2003, p. 4) the precentral gyrus might contribute to the sensory guidance of
movement. This function not really seems to contribute to an altered state ofconsciousness. But maybe there is a relation to one important aspect of a changed
state of consciousness, namely the enhancement of sensory stimulation. Thus thisarea is eventually activated because of an induced altered state of consciousness,
which enhances the sensory guidance of movements such as heartbeat or the
movement of the lung. This is maybe the case when someone starts to intensely
feel and concentrate on his/her heartbeat or breathing, while experiencing achanged state of consciousness.
Moreover they identified the precentral gyrus as a key for unconscious defensive
movements. They obtained this result in a study with monkeys, when theyelectrically stimulated their precentral gyri. The stimulation of this area lead to
defensive movements. A very interesting finding was that even anesthetized23monkeys showed defensive movements such as “shifting the head away from thesensory receptive fields, shrugging the shoulder and rapidly lifting the hand into thespace near the side of the head as if to block an impending impact.” (Cooke &Graziano, 2003, p. 4). This brought Cooke and Graziano (2003) to the conclusionthat these defensive movements must be from unconscious nature. But is thisfunction important for an altered state of consciousness induced by music or
meditation?
This function does not explain the feeling, that someone experiences while being inan altered state of consciousness, but it must be an important backgroundfunction, essential for survival. An altered state of consciousness or trance state issomehow comparable to anesthesia. While staying in such a state it is ofenormous importance for persons that they have efficient defense systems, suchas the one implemented by the precentral gyrus. An activation of this brain area
while listening to music or meditating could thus be due to being dependent on
unconscious defensive actions while staying in an altered state of consciousness.
The second brain area which was active in both cases was the anterior cingulate
cortex. The anterior cingulate cortex is related to different functions, which are now
discussed. First, according to Critchley and his co-workers (2003, p. 2140), theanterior cingulate cortex is related to cognitive processes involving attentional
demand and executive control. In the context of an altered state of consciousness,these findings are very interesting, because a changed state of consciousness isrelated to loss of conscious control of action and thus the executive control in sucha state is not anymore important. But the function of the anterior cingulate cortex inattentional demand has more in common with a changed state of consciousness.
This is because one’s attention while listening to music or while meditating is veryhigh. You focuse yourself extremely on one thing, for example on a frequently
occurring rhythmical pattern in music or on your imagination while meditating,which in turn should help to experience a changed state of consciousness.
Second, the anterior cingulate cortex is related to response inhibition andattentional selection (Critchley et al. 2003, p. 2140). Attentional selection goes
hand in hand with the further discussed attentional demand. It means that24

someone selects one thing on which he/she focuses his/her attention as previously
discussed to be important for music and meditation. The function of response
inhibition in the context of an altered state of consciousness is pretty relevant here.
This is due to the fact that a changed state of consciousness is related to loss of
conscious control of actions and thus in such a state one`s response mechanisms
are inhibited. This clearly shows that listening to music and of course meditating
can lead to an altered state of consciousness.
The last function found to be related to the anterior cingulate cortex and important
for this topic are bioregulatory processes, including amongst others respiration,
blood pressure and heart-rate (Critchley et al., 2003, p. 2140). This leads to the
explanation that while meditating or listening to music one’s respiration, bloodpressure and heart-rate decreases, because of relaxation and thus reaching analtered state of consciousness is facilitated.
Referring to Table 1 also the hippocampus was active in both cases - listening tomusic and meditation. According to Gerrig and Zimbardo (2008, p. 92), thehippocampus plays an important role in the acquirement of explicit memory. Thisfunction seems not to be important for the explanation of an altered state ofconsciousness via music or meditation. But a very interesting finding in relation to
the hippocampus is that the majority of the cannabinoide receptors carrying cells
are in the hippocampus (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008, p. 185). When smoking
marihuana, cannabinoids, which are psychoactive substances binding to thereceptors and leading to an altered state of consciousness, enter the human brain(Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008, p. 185). The hippocampus is thus essential toexperience an altered state of consciousness when smoking marihuana. Maybe
the activity in this brain area has thus an important function for the possibility toexperience an altered state of consciousness via listening to music or meditation.
The last brain area found to be activated by both music and meditation is the
midbrain. According to Sahraie and his co-authors (1997, p. 9408) the midbrain isamongst others related to unconscious processing of visual stimuli. This meansthat people can process things which they do not consciously observe. With
respect to an altered state of consciousness this could be related to uncontrolled25

imagination which eventually indicates that something that spontaneously comes toyour mind, like different pictures or a landscape, is due to an activation of this brain
area while listening to music or meditation, which in turn processes an unconscious
visual stimulus. This could further explain the phenomenon of seeing oneself fromabove while experiencing a changed state of consciousness. This uncontrolled
imagination is an important aspect of such a changed state of consciousness andthus provides evidence for similarly activated brain areas.
In summary, it has been shown that there are four different brain areas active inboth cases, namely listening to music and meditating. These areas are theprecentral gyrus, parts of the anterior cingulate cortex, hippocampal formations (orhippocampus) and the midbrain.
The precentral gyrus is connected to different actions such as sensory guidance of
movement and unconscious defensive movements. Unconscious defensive
movements are of interest here, because they are important for survival while
experiencing an altered state of consciousness. Furthermore the function of
sensory guidance of movement can be related to enhancement of sensory
stimulation, which is an important aspect of an altered state of consciousness.
The anterior cingulate cortex is also related to different functions such as cognitive
processes involving attentional demand and executive control, response inhibition
and attentional selection. Attentional demand and attentional selection are related
to an altered state of consciousness, because while experiencing such a state
one’s attention is very high and often focused on one thing, which in turn raises thepossibility to reach an altered state of consciousness. The second function strongly
related to an altered state of consciousness is response inhibition. This is due tothe fact that such a state is related to loss of conscious control of actions and thus
ones response mechanisms are inhibited.
The third brain area is the hippocampus. The hippocampus is most probably very
important for experiencing an altered state of consciousness because of its
importance for the induction of such a state under the influence of marihuana. This
importance is due to the fact that the hippocampus is the area in the brain with the26majority of cannabinoide receptor cells, to which the psychoactive substances ofmarihuana – cannabinoids – bind.
The last brain area, active in both cases, is the midbrain. The midbrain can be
related to a changed state of consciousness because of its function in unconscious
processing of visual stimuli, and thus could explain the phenomenon of
uncontrolled imagination.
With respect to the sub-question it has been shown that there are similar brain
areas active while listening to music and while meditating. According to thefunctions of these brain areas, music listening and meditating should really
produce similar changed states of consciousness. Moreover it seems that all the
discussed brain areas have an important meaning and contribution to an alteredstate of consciousness and of course, without activating these areas via passive
music or meditation, it would not be possible to experience such a changed state ofconsciousness. All the discussed findings lead to the hypothesis that there aresimilar brain areas activated via passive music or meditation, which are important
to experience a changed state of consciousness.

27

2.2.2 Music, meditation and longterm-effects on brain areas
Again, some important terms for this chapter have to be defined. The first relevant
not previously explained term in this chapter is the inferior temporal gyrus. Its
location in the brain is shown in Fig. 5 with the violet circle around it.

Fig. 5: Human brain with its different gyri (URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray1197.png) abgerufen am 25.3.2012

Next is the term grey matter. Grey matter is a major component of the central
nervous system, which consists of cell bodies, dendrites and arteries. The word
grey is due to the fact that these areas look grey in a formalin fixed preparation.
The question to this topic is: Does long-term practice of active music andmeditation have the same effects on the brain because of their function in inducing
an altered state of consciousness?

28

Possible answers are:
Long-term practice of active music and meditation does not have the same
effects on the brain.
Long-term practice of active music and meditation have similar but slightly
different effects on the brain
Long-term practice of active music and meditation have the same effects on
the brain by inducing an altered state of consciousness.
The following pages try to elaborate whether long-term practice of active music andmeditation have the same effects on the brain. In this chapter, previous research
results concerning the effects of long-term practice of both actions on different
brain areas were compared to find out whether there are similar changes in thebrain structure. In the following, changes in the brain structure are understood aschanges in grey matter volume in certain brain areas. Table 2 represents thefindings of this exploration.
Table 3: Comparison of the effects of active music and meditation on changes ingrey matter volume in different brain areas
Changes in grey matter volume
Active music

meditation

Primary motor area (Gaser and Schlaug,
2003, p. 9242)
Somatosensory area (Gaser and Schlaug,
2003, p. 9242)
Premotor area (Gaser and Schlaug, 2003, p.
9242)
Anterior, superior, parietal areas(Gaser and Schlaug, 2003, p. 9242)
Inferior temporal gyrus bilaterally (Gaser and Left inferior temporal gyrus (Luders et al.,Schlaug, 2003, p. 9242)

2009, p. 674-675)

Left cerebellum (Gaser and Schlaug, 2003, p.
9242)
Left Heschl’s gyrus (Gaser and Schlaug, 2003,
p. 9242)29

Left inferior frontal gyrus (Gaser and Schlaug,
2003, p. 9242)
Right thalamus (Luders et al., 2009, p.
674-675)R.

orbito-frontal cortex (Luders et al.,2009, p. 675)

As shown in Table 3 there is only one brain area which profits from both music
making and meditation with a change in its grey matter volume. This brain area isthe inferior temporal gyrus. According to Gaser and Schlaug (2003) and Luders
and his co-workers (2009), in both cases long-term practice leads to an increase ofgrey matter volume in the inferior temporal gyrus. As argued previously in chapter
2.1. this brain area can eventually be related to an altered state of consciousness,because practicing music and meditation are different activities and thus the only
possibility to explain the same effect of two different activities on the same brain
area, is that these two activities have an altered state of consciousness incommon. This leads to the further assumption that active music and meditation
have the same effect on the brain structure because of a similarly changed state ofconsciousness. Moreover it shows us that music and meditation do not only have
immediate but also long-term effects on the brain.
The question arises, whether the identified brain area is in fact related to an alteredstate of consciousness?
According to Onitsuka and his co-authors (2004, p. 1603) the inferior temporalgyrus is related to visual perception. Therefore, there is a connection to thepreviously (chapter 2.1.) mentioned function of the midbrain - unconscious
processing of visual stimuli. Visual perception can be related to imagination, an
important aspect of an altered state of consciousness. As explained before,
imagination can be divided into controlled and uncontrolled imagination. The only
relevant way to explain imagination while playing music is when someone gets as
deeply into music making that the „real world“ around her/him disappears andshe/he starts to repeat melodic phrases or rhythmical patterns. This person
experiences uncontrolled things like walking in the wood or on the sea-side. Due to30

the fact that such a state of imagination is part of an altered state of consciousness
it becomes obvious that this brain area is related to it. To reinforce this point,
imagination is extremely important for meditation. Mostly you start meditating with
controlled imagination. This means that you consciously for example visualize lovein form of a light to enter a higher meditative state. At one point of meditation you
loose the conscious control of your actions and experience a changed state inwhich it is pretty possible to experience uncontrolled imagination. In accordance tothe discussed findings the increase of grey matter in the inferior temporal gyrus,
brought about by both music and meditation, must also have a common underlying
mechanism, namely the repeated induction of an altered state of consciousness
and thus the training of the respective brain area, which responds by an increaseof mass, similar to training in different sport disciplines.
In summary, long-term practice of active music making and meditation leads to anincrease of grey matter volume in the same brain area. This brain area is theinferior temporal gyrus, an area related to visual perception. Visual perception canalso be understood as imagination, wich is an important aspect of an altered stateof consciousness. Thus music and meditation could have an impact on the brain
structure in the inferior temporal gyrus by activating an altered state ofconsciousness with uncontrolled imagination.
With respect to the sub-question, it has been shown that long-term practice ofactive music making and meditation has the same effects on the brain. Moreover it
has been demonstrated that these effects result from the power of music andmeditation to activate an altered state of consciousness. In turn, this leads to the
hypothesis that long-term practice of both active music and meditation leads to anincrease of grey matter in the inferior temporal gyrus as a response to thecontinuous induction of an altered state of consciousness.

Until now, it has been shown that music has an effect on altered states ofconsciousness and that the same brain areas are activated by music andmeditation. These two findings support the experimental investigations of thismaster thesis. Related to the main topic of this master thesis it is further important31

to see whether there exist brain waves which are related to a meditative or deeply
relaxed state. If there are such brain waves, it could be possible to affect themthrough external frequencies (like musical rhythmn or pitches) and thus be able toprovoke a meditative or relaxed state in a person.

32

33

2.3 Meditation and EEG studies
As discussed above it is important to evaluate whether there are certain brain
waves which can be related to a meditative state. In case of the existence ofspecific brain waves it should be possible to affect the brain at these frequencies
with external frequencies like flashing light or further musical rhythmns or pitches(as discussed in chapter 4.1). Two types of brain waves, namely alpha- and theta
waves appear to be related to a meditative state. Thus it is hypothesized that theactivity of alpha- and theta waves is increased via meditation.
To obtain the most likely answer, this chapter will discuss relevant results ofstudies concerning meditation and EEG-measures.
It is important again to explain some terms, which will occur in the following
chapter. EEG means Electroencephalogramm and refers to the recording ofelectrical activity of the brain (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008).
Alpha waves are specific neural oscillations of the brain which can be measured by
EEG. Their frequency ranges from 8 to 12 Hz. Other specific neural oscillations of
the brain are theta waves. Their frequency ranges from 4 to 7 Hz. This chapter will
discuss different EEG activities in different areas of the brain. Thus it is importantto summarize the most important areas of the brain.

34

Fig. 6 shows the different areas and directions of the brain, highlighted by different
colours. As can be seen there are four different main areas called lobes. These are
the frontal lobe (in red), the parietal lobe (in purple), the temporal lobe (in green)
and the occipital lobe (in blue).

Fig. 6: Different areas of the brain
URL: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/BrainLobesLabelled.jpg

35

The different directions of the brain can be seen in Fig. 7. These specific terms
help to understand the proper position.

Fig. 7: Directions of the human brain
URL:http://homepage.smc.edu/russell_richard/Psych2/Graphics/Brain_directions__
planes_-_small.gif

There is a large body of literature on EEG and meditation. The differences in theirresults are also somehow large. While some find alpha-activation, other find moretheta, both, or even a higher betha activation. The reason for this appears to be
simple and is due to the large number of different meditation styles used for theparticular studies (Cahn & Polich, 2006). Therefore it is important to reclaim again
meditation and its subdisciplines. According to Cahn and Polich (2006) there aremain types of meditation. These are mindfulness and concentrative meditation.
„Mindfulness practices involve allowing any thoughts, feelings or sensations toarise while maintaining a specific attentional stance” (Cahn & Polich, 2006).
Instead „concentrative meditational techniques involve focusing on specific bodysensations such as breath.“ (Cahn & Polich, 2006). It is important to mention thatboth types overlap in their approach toward similar goals, which is attention. In the36

first case attention to open perceptivity and in the concentrative case, attention to a
specific object (Cahn & Polich, 2006). Although there are lots of different practices,
the results similarly result in reported changes in self-experience (i.e. experience ofself not centered on the individual's body scheme and mental contents) (Cahn &Polich, 2006). Moreover, according to Cahn and Polich (2006) there are also
different states and traits of consciousness, which are induced via the meditation
practice.
State refers to the altered sensory, cognitive, and self-referential awareness that
can arise during meditation practice, whereas trait refers to the lasting changes
in these dimensions that persist in the meditator irrespective of being actively
engaged in meditation. (Cahn & Polich, 2006, p. 181)

Furthermore, scientists agree that it is sometimes difficult to assign one specificmediation technique to exact one of the two types, concentrative, or mindfulness
meditation (Ivanovski & Malhi, 2007). Therefore scientists talk about a continuum
from concentrative to mindfulness (Ivanovski & Malhi, 2007). Because of thepresence of many different meditation techniques it is difficult to obtain a universal
finding on EEG and meditation.
In addition the difference in EEG studies on meditation may be due to lab
situations

that

impairrelaxation,

methodologicaldifferences,

participant-experimenter interactions and expectation influences (Cahn & Polich, 2006).
According to Cahn and Polich (2006) it is not well studied how EEG measurements
might be affected by the age of the meditator and by his/her personality (aspects
like introversion versus extroversion, or anxiety level). This further explains thediversity of findings on meditation and EEG.

Since the large difference of the particular meditation techniques and themethodological differences in EEG studies on meditation should be clearer now,
the most important studies concerning EEG and meditation will be discussed and it
will be shown which brain waves or frequencies could be the most important for
meditation.

37

Ahani et al (2014) carried out a study on EEG and mindfulness meditation with 34
novice meditators. Mindfulness meditation was based on Mindfulness- BasedStress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (Ahani et al, 2014).
While the experimental condition comprised 15 minutes of a sitting mindfulness
meditation they learned, the control condition consisted of listening to a 15 minute
National Public Radio podcast. It turned out that different frequency bands showed
differences in experimental and control conditions (Ahani et al, 2014). In detail,EEG spectral analysis showed an overall significant increase in power during
meditation in beta and theta bands and a smaller but also significant increase inalpha bands (Ahani et al, 2014).
Moreover they mention that the systematic review is consistent with their alphafindings. According to Ahani et al (2006, p.7) "most studies show higher alphapower during meditation relative to controls." The same counts for theta waves.
Another study analyzed EEG changes during Zen meditation in 20 normal adults
and correlated their result with personality traits (Takahashi et al, 2005). An
increase in fast theta power and slow alpha power on EEG was found mostly in thefrontal area. Equal to the results of Takahashi et al (2005), Aftanas andGolosheikin (2002) found that experienced meditators showed an increase intheta- and slow alpha powers in the frontal regions while meditating.
Slow alpha in the frontal area is said to reflect enhanced internalized attention,
whereas fast theta power reflects enhanced mindfulness (Takahashi et al, 2005).
According to Takahasi and his co-workers (2005, p. 200), internalized attention
could be described as the "manipulation of one's attentional focus", whereas
mindfulness could be understood as the "maximization of the breadth and clarity ofself-awareness". As internalized attention and mindfulness are typical for a
meditative state, it seems to be clear that these frequencies are more active when
meditating. The specific Zen meditation applied for their study is called Su-Soku, a
meditation practice that does not require any special training, because sustained
attention and breath control are the only requirements. (Takahashi et al., 2005)
Interesting in this study is that Takahashi et al (2005) divided the frequency bandsof theta and alpha into theta1 (4.3-5.86 Hz), theta2 (6.25-7.81 Hz), alpha1 (8.238

9.77 Hz) and alpha2 (10.16-12.89 Hz). Thus their findings are more precise andcan shed light to the most important frequencies in the brain related to a meditative
state. In relation to this, Salansky et al (1998, p. 398) state that the "sub-divison of
the spectrum into traditional bands lacks a theoretical basis and may not be theoptimal way to represent the functional relationship with cognitive states".
Moreover according to Salansky et al (2003), even minimal frequency changes,
like 0.3 Hz in clinical practice can be of importance, which further argues for amore discrete differentiation of EEG components. Furthermore, this would lead to abetter interpretation of electrical activity responses of the brain to different sensory
treatments, like drugs, light or sound (Salansky et al, 2003).
As previously mentioned, significant increases of fast theta (theta2) and slow alpha(alpha1), mostly in the frontal area of the brain, were found to be related to a
meditative state. Furthermore, as there was no significant association between
their percent changes, Takahashi et al (2005, p. 204) assume that the changes in
the alpha- and theta activity "may be independently involved in the behaviors of themind during meditation."
Takahashi et al (2005) also conducted HRV1 (heart rate variability) measurementsin this study. This is particularly interesting since they found that the percent
change in the slow alpha power in the frontal area was negatively correlated withthat in nuLF2 as well as LF/HF3. As a decrease in nuLF and LF/HF indicates aninhibition of sympathetic tone, this significant negative correlation shows that theincrease of the activity of alpha1 in the frontal area (reflecting internalized
attention) is related to an inhibitory effect on sympathetic activity too (Takahashi etal, 2005). Since an inhibition of sympathetic activity is related to relaxation, thisfinding supports the assumption that alpha activation is important for meditation, as
it is related to relaxation and further internalized attention.

1

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is measured through electrocardiogram (ECG) and is a parameter ofthe neurovegetative activity and autonom function of the heart and describes its ability to frequently
change the time interval between heartbeat to heartbeat according to certain stresses. (Hottenrott,
2002)
2
nuLF means normalized units of Low Frequency (Takahashi et al, 2005)
3
LF/HF means an estimate of the LF/HF ratio (Takahasi et al, 2005)

39

Moreover Takahashi et al (2005) found that the percent change in theta2 power inthe frontal area is positively correlated with that in nuHF4. Since an increase ofnuHF indicates an acceleration of parasympathetic tone, this significant positive
correlation shows that the increase of the activity of theta2 5 in the frontal area
(reflecting mindfulness) is related to an acceleration of parasympathetic activity too(Takahashi et al, 2005). Parasympathetic activity is related to recovery and also
relaxation. Thus these results further support the assumption that theta activity isimportant for meditation.
Furthermore Lagopoulos et al (2009) found a significantly increased alpha andtheta power when participants were meditating. In detail the significant increases ofalpha- and theta power were found in the posterior, frontal and temporal-central
regions of the brain (Lagopoulos et al, 2009), which fits to the previous mentioned
results.
In their study they looked at the effect of nondirective meditation on EEG changes.
As a nondirective meditation technique they used acem meditation, which "doesnot require volitional direction of attention toward a specific subjectively
experienced state of mind" (Lagopoulos et al, 2009). Moreover it is similar to
mindfulness meditation, because it allows "any thought, memory, emotion, or
sensation to emerge and pass through the awareness of the practitioner"(Lagopoulos et al, 2009) without attempting to "control the current content"(Lagopoulos et al, 2009).

To meditate, the practitioner mentally repeats a

multisyllable sound, with no semantic, emotional, or symbolic meaning. Their study
consisted of two different conditions. In one condition participants had to do acem
meditation for 20 minutes with there eyes closed, whereas subjects in the othercondition just had to rest quietly in a chair with their eyes closed for 20 minutes. It
has to be mentioned here, that there is a big difference in alpha activity when eyes
are closed or opened. In detail, closing the eyes leads to an increase of alphaactivity (Bazanova & Vernon, 2013). The results of increased alpha and theta
power in the meditation condition are therefore interesting, because it shows that
4

nuHF means normalized units of High Frequency (Takahashi et al, 2005)40

these changes seem to be typical for meditation as they cannot be achieved
through normal resting.

To understand the importance of the results that the activity of alpha and theta
power is significantly increased through meditation, the associations of alpha- andtheta waves will be explained again.
Alpha activity, according to Lagopoulos et al (2009) is associated with relaxationand the lack of active cognitive processes. These associations are also typical for
meditation, which possibly explains the increased activity of these brain waves. On
the other hand, theta activity is associated with "alertness, attention, the efficient
processing of cognitive and perceptual tasks, orienting, working memory, andaffective processing, with frontal theta activity indicative of concentration"(Lagopoulos et al, 2009). Therefore, increases in theta activity might be due tocognitive processing and awareness while meditating. Moreover,theta power, greater in frontal and temporal-central regions than in posterior
regions, may be meditation specific and suggests neural processing in thefrontal midline (anterior cingulate cortex), and limbic areas, all of which havebeen previously implicated in meditation. These areas are known to have aprominent role in emotion processing. In contrast, alpha waves were moreabundant in posterior regions, which is compatible with reduced cognitive
processing in sensory-related areas. (Lagopoulos et al, 2009)This further supports the assumption that an increase of alpha- and theta activity is
specific for meditation.
But a review of the literature also showed different findings. Lehmann and his coworkers (2001, as cited in Cahn & Polich, 2006), investigated Tibetan buddhist
practices and found an increase of gamma power (35-44Hz), whereas Jacobs et al(1996, as cited in Cahn & Polich, 2006) found a decreased frontal beta power intheir study on mantra based relxation. Although there are contrary findings, where
no increased alpha- or theta activtity has been found, they are just a few, andresults of increased alpha-and theta activity predominate. The study of Cahn and
Polich (2006) represents a summary of relevant literature on meditation and EEG
41and supports this statement. They (Cahn & Polich, 2006) state that the primaryfindings have implicated increases in theta and alpha band power and decreases
in overall frequency. With this statement they refer to the results of Andresen(2000), Davidson (1976), Delmonte (1984), Fenwick (1987), Pagano andWarrenburg (1983), Schuman (1980), Shapiro (1980), Shapiro and Walsh (1984),
Shimokochi (1996), West (1979, 1980) and Woolfolk (1975). Indeed, there is alarge body of studies which proof that an increase of alpha- and theta activity isrelated to meditation.
Moreover Cahn and Polich (2006) refer to Fenwick et al (1977) and Williams andWest (1975) who suggest, based on the outcome of their studies that meditation
seems to be a condition between being awake and sleeping. This further argues
for the importance of meditation for more scientific studies, as it should be able todescribe the phenomenon of altered states of consciousness, and since meditation
is much easier to be analyzed in lab situations than altered states like trance or
ecstacy.
In addition, Lo and Leu (2005) examined the specific frequencies of the alpha band
when subjects practised Zen Meditation. They found that the dominant frequency
was 9.26 Hz. This fits into the previously discussed studies where it was found thatslow alpha (8.2-9.77 Hz) seems to be important for meditation (Takahashi et al,2005).
According to the discussed findings, fast theta- and slow alpha- waves areimportant to experience a meditative state.
But is it actually possible to influence the activity of the brain with acoustic
frequencies, which are below the hearing threshold?

42

43

2.4 Effects of Infrasounds on humans
As questioned previously: Is it possible to influence the activity of the brain withacoustic frequencies? This chapter will try to demonstrate that infrasounds, equally
if below or above the threshold of hearing have an effect on the human brain andthus are capable of changing mood or intensifying a meditative state. Before
discussing relevant resarch results, it will be explained how hearing works andwhat infrasounds are. Infrasounds are important for this master thesis, as theirfrequency ranges from 0 to 20Hz and thus involves the frequency range of alphawaves (8 - 12Hz) and theta waves (4 - 8 Hz), the possible effect of which on
humans in meditating and relaxing will be investigated in the experimental part ofthis thesis.

442.4.1 Hearing and the inner ear
To understand possible effects of infrasounds on humans it is important to explain
one important part of the ear for the detection of frequencies. This part of the ear is
the inner ear.
The organ of Corti, a part of the inner ear, is shown in Fig. 8. As can be seen, it
contains one row of inner hair cells6 (highlightened with a red circle) and three rowsof outer hair cells7 (highlightened with a blue circle).

Fig. 8: Organ of Corti.
URL: http://neuronbank.org/wiki/images/c/ce/OrganofCorti.gif

When a sound reaches the ear, inner hair cells are stimulated. Furthermore
approximately 95% of the fibers that transmit impulses that will be experienced
as "hearing" are myelinated with one fiber contacting one inner hair cell. On theother hand, another type of nerve fiber, which is not myelinated, synapses with anumber of outer hair cells. These fibers have been assumed to be unresponsive
to sound. (Persinger, 2014, p. 509)

6
7

The acronym of inner hair cells is IHC.
The acronym of outer hair cells is OHC.

45

The assumption that outer hair cells are unresponsive to sound is wrong. Salt andHullar (2010) were able to show that at 5 Hz outer hair cells can be stimulated atsound pressures 40 db below those that stimulate the inner hair cells, which is
associated with conscious hearing. On the other hand, to experience sound at 10
Hz, the sound pressure level must be around 100 db. Then 10 Hz can stimulate theinner hair cells. When just outer hair cells are stimulated the information is
unconscious. Outer hair cells are most sensitive to frequencies below 30 Hz. Whenthe sound pressure level (dB) does not exceed the hearing threshold, lowfrequencies are more perceived as whole body pressures than sound (Persinger,2014). According to Persinger (2014) the arrangement of the the ear with inner andouter hair cells is analogous to the rods and cones of the eye.
2.4.2 What are Infrasounds?
Infrasound is the description of frequencies in the range of 0 up to 20 Hz, thus
corresponding to the frequencies the closest under the hearing threshold.
Furthermore Infrasounds are omnipresent in modern life. They are generated by"natural sources such as earthquakes and wind [...] and are common in urban
environments, and as an emission from many artificial sources: automobiles, rail
traffic, aircraft, industrial machinery, artillery and mining, explosions, air
movement machinery including wind turbines, compressors and ventilation or
air-conditioning units, household appliances such as washing machines, andsome therapeutic devices." (Leventhall et al., 2003, p. 54)

Other natural sources of infrasounds are mountain ranges, incoming meteors,
tornados (1000km away), or volcanic explosions (Persinger, 2014). One good
example for a natural source of infrasound is a moving car with an open window. If
you are sitting in such a moving car with an open window it can happen that aterrible, painful infrasound is perceived. The painful experience is a kind ofhumming pressure at the ears and is due to an extremely high sound pressurelevel.
It is said that the audible noise for humans lies between 20 and 20 000 Hz, which
decreases with age (Leventhall et al., 2003). According to Salt and Kaltenbach46

(2011, p. 2) "serious misconceptions about low frequency sound and the ears haveresulted from failure to consider in detail how the ear works". There are pathways
in the brain which do not involve conscious hearing and distribute responses toinfrasound (Salt & Kaltenbach, 2011). According to Salt and Kaltenbach (2011) for
many years it has been wrongly assumed that what you can't hear can't affect you.
This misinterpretation is due to equating the sensitivity of hearing with sensitivity ofthe ear. As this interpretation says that sound that cannot be heard is insufficient tostimulate the ear, it neglects the present knowledge of the physiology of the ear
and thus is incorrect (Salt & Kaltenbach, 2011). It is widely accepted that hearing
occurs through the IHC. The important difference between IHC and OHC is that
OHC are stimulated at much lower levels than IHC (Salt & Kaltenbach, 2011). The
difference in IHC and OHC from a physiological point of view is that type I fibers
from the IHC terminate on the main output neurons of the cochlear nucleus,
whereas type II fibers from OHC terminate in the granule cell regions of thecochlear nucleus (Salt & Kaltenbach, 2011). This granule cell system connects tonumerous auditory and non-auditory centers of the brain, where some of them are
directly involved in auditon, but others are connected to functions as diverse asattentional control, arousal, startle, the sense of balance and the monitoring ofhead and ear postion (Godfrey et al., 1997, as cited in Salt & Kaltenbach, 2011).
This finding is important for the topic of the effects of alpha- and theta wave
frequencies (infrasounds) on meditation, as non audible infrasound stimulates
OHC whose fibers terminate amongst others in centers responsible for i.e.
attentional demand or arousal. As discussed in previous chapters attentional
demand and arousal are important features of a meditative state. Thus this findingshows a further possible connection of infrasound and meditation.
As already mentioned it was also found out that frequencies below 20 Hz are
audible at high enough levels (Leventhall et al., 2003). According to Leventhall et al(2003) a lot of different studies (Corso, 1985; Lydolf & Møller, 1997a; Lydolf &Møller, 1997b; Moller & Andresen, 1984; Møller & Andresen, 1984; Watanabe &Møller, 1990a; Watanabe & Møller, 1190b; Whittle et al., 1972; Yeowart, 1976;
Yeowart & Evans, 1974) have well established the threshold region at low
47frequencies. It was found that for example a frequency of 4 Hz is audible at about
107 dB, 10 Hz at 97 dB, 20 Hz at 79 dB and 50 Hz at 46 dB. Furthermore it was
found that "about 15 Hz, there is a change in threshold slope from approximately
20 dB/ocatve at higher frequencies to 12 dB/octave at lower frequencies."(Leventhall et al., 2003, p. 13) As Leventhall et al (2003) states that the reason forthis is not clear and that it should be due to a different aural detection process,because it happens at a frequency range where the "tonality of the auditory
sensation is lost" (Leventhall et al., 2003, p. 13), it is assumed that this different
aural detection process has something to do with the stimulation of OHC. In fact, atlower frequencies (around 30 Hz and below), the sound is not anymore perceived
as constant, meaning that the sound is perceived with intermittence (Persinger,2014). Thus, low frequency noice including infrasounds is clearly detectable byhumans when the sound pressure level is high enough. Moreover according to
Berglund et al (1996, p. 2989) "it should be noted that the absence of conscious(auditory) detection does not automatically mean that the noise has no othereffects on the human body."
It has been shown that the human brain includes a specific area which responds toinfrasound. This brain area seems to be the contralateral temporal cortex, that
includes "primary and interpretational regions from the auditory stimulation"(Persinger, 2014, p. 508). It has to be highlighted again that outer hair cells are
more sensitive to infrasounds than inner hair cells. It was also shown that at 5 Hz
outer hair cells can be stimulated at sound pressures 40 dB below those that
stimulate the inner hair cells, which are associated with conscious hearing (Saltand Hullar, 2010).
Since the function of hearing frequencies, especially low frequencies, and the term
infrasound is clear the next step is to discuss relevant literature on the effects ofinfrasounds on humans. The following chapter will try to find answers to thequestion whether infrasound is able to influence humans.

48

2.4.3 Infrasound and its effect on humans
It has to be anticipated, that "people can respond, if at all, quite differently to thesame physical stimulus" (Persinger, 2014, p. 503). This citation is important as it
reflects the human nature in many points. There are quite a lot of different studies
on infrasounds and their effects on humans, which provide different results andopinions from infrasound as a benefit to infrasound as a hazard, from observed
effects on well-being to effects on the activity of the brain. Thereby it is notimportant whether the effects on humans are consciously or subconsciously, since
Persinger (2014) states that neurosciences show that stimuli can significantly affectthe brain directly without the person's awareness. Relevant studies concerning theeffects of infrasound on human will be discussed.

According to the physical principle that every object has its frequency, also ourbody has its frequencies. In other words, this means that our body emits sound.
Due to the fact that the sound pressure level of the body’s inner frequencies are
too low to be audible, we don't perceive them. For example the frequency of thehuman head is between 8 Hz to 12 Hz, the thoracic cavity is between 4-6 Hz, theheart is around 5 Hz, or the abdominal cavity is betweeen 6-9 Hz (Cheng et al,2010). Oster and Jaffe (1980) found that the dominant frequency of muscle soundis between 22 and 28 Hz at sound pressure levels between 60 and 70 dB.
According to Persinger (2014) about 90 dB would be necessary to be audible forhumans. These sounds can be easily amplified by contraction over the ears, which
are the most sensitive organs to detect and differentiate pressure variations(Persinger, 2014).
To demonstrate this, raise the elbows and then place the thumbs over the ear
openings. A vibrating sound (around 20Hz) is perceived and becomes louder
when the fists are tightened (muscles are tense). (Persinger, 2014, p. 506)

This example should demonstrate that low frequencies are audible for humans andthat every organ has indeed its own frequency. According to the principle of49

superposition of waves (constructive 8 and destructive 9 interference) and also toresonance phenomena, it means that the body's own frequencies should bemanipulable. An interesting point with resonance phenomena is, that they allow
relatively weak stimuli, when they are temporally and spatially congruent with thesystem, to significantly affect the stability of the system (Persinger, 2014). Thus
intrinsic frequencies of the body should be able to be affected by extrinsic
frequencies, and vice-versa, when we imagine the radio with a weak signal, thesignal of which gets better when humans get closer or even touch it, or
electroacoustic devices the signals of which can be interrupted when persons
stand in a certain position next to these devices.
The importance of studies on infrasound has become clear over the past years, as
infrasound (i.e. from wind turbines) has been associated with negative feelings.
Bruel and Olesen (1973) demonstrated that increases in infrasound pressureduring inclement weather is a strong correlate of sickness (as cited in Persinger,2014). Moreover, one room of a university where unbalanced and overdesigned
heating motors generated vibrations was associated with frequent intraclassconflicts and emotional behaviors. These social behaviors ceased when the motors
were inactivated (Persinger, 2014). Furthermore, Evans and Tempest (1972)
showed that frequencies between 1Hz and 20 Hz at 115 dB to 129 dB produced a30-40% increase in reaction time as well as sensations of lethargy (as cited in
Persinger 2014). In addition, Alves-Pereira and Castelo Branco (2007) identified
the vibroacoustic disease or vibroacoustic syndrom among workers within the
aeronautical industries (as cited in Persinger, 2014). This vibroacoustic syndrome
occurs "with a specific pattern and magnitude of infrasound and low-frequency
sound" (Persinger, 2014, p. 516). The most common symptoms of the identified
disease are "sensitivity to sound, depression, irritability, preference to be socially8Constructive interference desribes the phenomenon that when two waves with the same
frequency, travelling in the same direction meet each other crest by crest the resultant wave has ahigher magnitude, because it is the sum of the individual magnitudes. (Pain, 2005)
9
Destructive interference describes the phenomenon that when two waves with the same
frequency, travelling in the same direction meet each other crest by trough the resultant wave has asmaller magnitude or even adds to zero, because it is the difference in the individual magnitudes.
(Pain, 2005)50

isolated, decreased cognitive skills, sleep disruptions, episodes of dizziness, andintermittent sudden tachycardia." (Persinger, 2014, p. 516)
The fact that there is an official disease (vibroacoustic diesease) which is related toinfrasound and low-frequency sound, shows the importance of studies on
infrasound. These results on infrasounds, which show that it can have a negative
effect on humans, do not necessarily counterargue the hypothesis that infrasoundcanfacilitate

meditation

and

thus

is

of

benefit.

Since these studies did not focus on specific frequencies within the infrasoundrange, the negative effects could be due to frequencies in the range of others thanalpha or theta waves. In support of this assumption is the fact that there are resultson both positive and negative effects of infrasound on humans, as will be further
discussed. Hence it is assumed that negative or positive effects of infrasound on
humans depend on the specific infrasound frequency and on the individuals brain
activity. The following citation of Persinger (2014, p. 523) supports this assumption:
Human beings can be described as both mechanical and energetic organisms.
There are multiple sources of stimuli that exhibit energetic equivalents whose
values in turn converge with those essential for the function of the cell, theorgan, and the organism. The frequencies that have been defined as infrasound,from natural, manufactured, and as yet unknown sources, have the capacity toresonate with the human body.

Furthermore Kasprzak (2007) investigated the effects of infrasounds on activationlevels of humans. The study comprised acoustic stimuli at 7 Hz at a soundpressure level of 120 db, 18 Hz at 120 db and 40 Hz at 110 db with an exposure
time to each of the stimuli of 20 minutes in every case. The activation level wasmeasured using a self-assessment questionnaire, known as the ActivationDeactivation Adjective Check List (AD ACL) (Kasprzak, 2007). 7 Hz at 12 db was
found to be responsible for a significant increase of the Deactivation- Sleep effect.
The other two stimuli at 18 Hz and 14 Hz showed no significant results. Thus it
seems possible that 7 Hz at 120 db is able to change the activity of the brain attheta-level (6-8 Hz) which are said to be related to recovery and relaxation, leading
to an increase of deactivation. In another study Kasprzak (2014) tested the effects51

of 20 minutes long infrasounds on humans. The stimuli were recordings of windturbine noise at a distance of 750 meters. The frequency components above 20 Hz
were then filtered out (Kasprzak, 2014). EEG measurements of the brain activity
were recorded. The results indicate some changes in the EEG signal. In detail it
was shown that exposure to infrasound led to a decrease in the amplitude of alphaand theta waves (Kasprzak, 2104), but these findings were not significant. This
could be due to the fact that the stimulus comprised the whole infrasound range
from 0 Hz to 20 Hz.
In addition, Damijan and Wiciak (2005) exposed subjects to infasounds at 7 Hz and
18 Hz at a sound pressure level of 120 db for 20 seconds each. It wasdemonstrated that the harmonic frequency at 7 Hz lead to a significant driving
response effect in the EEG, which means that the dominating frequency of thebrain activity is that of the stimulus, in this case 7 Hz (Damijan & Wiciak, 2005).
This driving response effect "occurs at the moment the exciting signal is applied"(Damijan & Wiciak, 2005, p. 73). Although the other stimulus at 18 Hz did notreveal a significant effect, this finding is interesting because it shows that
infrasounds can have an effect on the brain`s electrical activity. But it has to bementioned that the report of this study lacks methodological details. Thus it is notclear whether the found effect or whether the not found effect are due tomethodological errors or wrongly applied statistical analyses.
Some could argue that the effects of infrasounds on humans could be due to thevibrations which stimulate sensors of the skin. But as previously explained, outerhair cells in the inner ear are responsible for the reaction to infrasounds.
Strengthening this point, Yamada et al (1983, as cited in Leventhall, 2003, p.22)
found that the threshold for hearing of profoundly deaf people "was 40-50 db above
the hearing threshold of those with normal hearing up to 63 Hz and more at higher
frequencies". Since deaf people have recognized the frequencies with a higher
sound pressure level than normal hearing subjects, this demonstrates thatperceiving low frequencies is primary due to the ear.

52

Moos (1963; 1964, as cited in Leventhall, 2003) found that road traffic accidents
and school absences showed higher correlations on days of intense infrasonicdisturbances, than on days with mild infrasound.
Fecci et al (1971, as cited in Leventhall, 2003) showed that workers who were
exposed to the noise from air conditioning, whose noise peaked at 8 Hz with alevel of 80 db, exhibited a much higher percentage of drowsiness than the nonexposed population.
Moreover Landström and Byström (1984, as cited in Leventhall, 2003) found that
infrasound affects the pattern of sleep minutely. In detailed frequencies of 6 Hz and
16 Hz at 10 db above the hearing threshold are related to a reduction in
wakefulness. According to the previously discussed theta waves, the stimulus of 6
Hz could have increased the activation of theta activity in the brain, which is also
related to sleep.
Landström and his co-workers (1991, as cited in Leventhall, 2003) made an EEGstudy and found that noise at 16 Hz and 125 db is an effective stimulus of reduced
wakefulness. The stimuli in this study were frequencies at 6 Hz and 16 Hz at 10 db
below and 10 db above the hearing threshold. Only the stimuli above the threshold
led to a reduced wakefulness (Leventhall, 2003). This result is interesting as it may
indicate that only infrasounds above the hearing threshold are able to affect thehuman brain. Furthermore, they found that exposing deaf and normally hearing
participants to 6 Hz at 115 db for 20 minutes, reduced wakefulness only among thenormally hearing participants (Leventhall, 2003). This further argues for thepreviously stated argument that the effects of infrasounds depend on chochlear
stimulation and not on vibrations stimulating sensory cells of the skin. A further
interesting result of the study of Landström and his co-workers (as cited inLeventhall, 2003) was that during a repeated 42 Hz signal at 70 db wakefulness
was reduced, while a repeated signal of 1000 Hz at 30 db led to an increase in
wakefulness. The result that low frequencies led to reduced wakefulness may be
due to a relaxing effect of these frequencies.
While Fecci et al (as cited in Leventhall, 2003) found effects of infrasound below
the hearing threshold in humans, Landström et al (as cited in Leventhall, 2003)
53

found similar effects above the threshold of hearing. According to Leventhall et al(2003, p.39), since the stimulus of Fecci and hic co-workers also contained
broadband noise and higher frequencies, Fecci et al "may have been mistaken in
attributing the effects observed to the frequencies below 20 Hz." Thus it is not clear
whether the effects found in the study of Fecci and his co-authors, is due toinfrasound below the hearing threshold.
Furthermore, it has been shown several times that low frequency noise causes aworse performance of tasks (Leventhall et al., 2003). For example Waye et al(1997) showed that coping strategies for cognitive demands were worse whenparticipants were exposed to low frequency noise (31.5 Hz at 70 db) and that thesefrequencies interfered more strongly with performance.
Another study of Waye et al (2001) showed that low frequency noise (31.5 Hz at 40dbA) may reduce available information processing resources, because it seems to
be more difficult to ignore or habituate to it. In some sense this counts for low
frequencies in facilitating a meditative state, because meditation is related to a
reduction of cognitive processes or information processing.
Another study investigated the effects of low frequency noise emitted from
aplliances in or near domestic buildings (Mirowska & Mroz, 2000). They showedthat the test group (with infrasound) suffered more from annoyance and sleep
disturbance and was less happy, less confident and more inclined to depression(Mirowska & Mroz, 2000). This study again proofs that infrasound has an effect onhumans. In this case the effect was negative. The exact frequencies in theinfrasound-range causing the negative effects are not mentioned in the study, thus
this finding is not in conflict with the assumption that frequencies in the range oftheta or slow alpha could have a positive effect on humans.
Leventhall et al (2003) states that the found biological effects of infrasound on
humans are sometimes contradictory. For example, Karpova and his co-workers(as cited in Leventhall et al., 2003) showed that workers who were exposed toinfrasound of 5 Hz and 10 Hz at 100 db and 135 db (simulating industrial sound)"reported feelings of fatigue, apathy and depression, pressure in the ears, loss ofconcentration, drowsiness, and vibration of internal organs.” (p. 55). On the54

contrary, a study of long distance drivers with trucks exposed to infrasound at 115
db did not give any significant effects similar to the previously mentioned one.
The reason for this could be the following: A common problem of the older
literature on infrasound seems to be the fact that results are often related toinfrasound as a whole. But infrasound ranges from 0 Hz to 20 Hz and it has been
well established that different frequencies in this range have different effects. Thus
contrary effects found in studies not looking at specific frequencies and taking
infrasound as a whole are likely due to the fact that different frequencies were
investigated within the infrasound-range.
Important for the topic of meditation is the fact that long-term exposure of pilots toinfrasounds of 14 Hz or 16 Hz at 125 db led to decreased alertness and alterationof hearing threshold and time perception. This finding is therefore interesting as thementioned effects produced through infrasound are comparable to feelings of ameditative state. Athough these frequencies are not in the alpha or theta range
they are important for further discucsion, since they proof the effects of infrasoundon humans and a possible relation to meditation.
Evans and Tempest (1972, as cited in Leventhall et al., 2003) found that 30 % ofsubjects that were exposed to frequencies from 2 Hz up to 10 Hz at 120 db to 150
db via earphones had nystagmus10 within 60 seconds at 120 db. The effect was
worst at 7Hz. The higher the intensities, the faster the onset of nystagmus. It has tobe stated here that no complaints of discomfort were found for any of the subjects(Leventhall et al., 2003).
According to Salansky et al (1998, p. 395) it is well known that light and soundstimulations are used for treatment of "depression, migraine, anxiety and sleep
disorders". In their study Salansky et al (1998) point out that individual treatmentalignment is important. This means that amongst others, sound stimulations are
influenced by indiviual properties. Thus variable frequencies should be used tostimulate the brain depending on the individual organism's own rhythmn. According
to the outcome of the experiment of this master thesis, it means that possible
10 nystagmus is the term for involuntary eye movements and is used to study vestibular effects inhumans (Leventhall et al., 2003)

55

results could be due to a stable frequency which is not able to fit exactly the own
individual brain waves. From an evolutionary point of view it is stated that organism
sensitivity is associated with external low-frequency oscillations
with specific evolutionary sensing mechanisms that were developed to derivevaluable biological information from the normal magnetic field of the earth or tocompensate for the effects of geological and meteorological electromagnetic
fields (Salansky et al, 1998, p. 396).

These electromagnetic fields are related to some amplification in the organism andfurther it has been shown that they affect various physiological systems (Salansky
et al, 1998). One of the possible biophysical mechanisms of electromagnetic fields
is based upon resonance interaction processes within the cell structures (Salnsky
et al, 1998). For the discusson of the effect of infrasound on humans, the following
citation of Salansky et al (2003, p. 396) should not be missed:
The human body is constantly bombarded by energy generated by the sun, theuniverse, geomagnetic sources as well as from man-made sources (e.g.
electricity and its resulting megnetic fields). Since all energies have a frequency
and intensity and because light, sound, touch, smell, and taste function throughthe reaction to these frequencies, all human senses can be affected. All
individuals are different and will react differently to environmental exposures, so
specific frequencies must be accessed for helpful and harmful effects.

According to Salansky et al (2003) resonance phenomena and complex dynamics
of compound potentials might play one of the most important roles in brainorganization, which further highlights the importance of frequencies and further
studies on the effects of frequencies on humans.
Since any biological properties vary between individuals, a high degree of
frequency variability was found in different subjects. Although there is a frequency
variability between different subjects, a remarkable intra-subject stability was found
for these frequencies (Salansky et al, 1998).
Moreover, according to Salansky et al (1998) a change of the brain activity torhythmic sensory stimulation is not limited to visual modality. These driving effects
have also been found by somesthetic and auditory stimuli in humans (Salansky et56

al, 1998). Salansky and his co-authors (1998) further state that changes ofendogenous organism rhythms, like respiratory rate, heart rate and EEG rhytmns
lead to changes in the functional state of organisms. These changes can be seen
through an increase of the central nervous systems sensitiveness to "external lowfrequency stimulation, non-specific central nervous system reactivity to rhythms
stimulation and resonance phenomena in different organism systems." (Salansky
et al, 1998, p. 401)
Furthermore rhythmic EEG components are related todifferent physiologicalorganism systems and are said to function as organizational properties within thebrain, and individual EEG frequencies can be used as sensory stimulation andtreatment efficiency improvement (Salansky et al, 1998).
The positive effects of an increased alpha wave activity are well known. Therefore
alpha EEG biofeedback training is used for reduction of stress or anxiety disorder.
These effects could also be evoked through meditation and /or alpha wave sound,
if the hypothesis holds true. At least music or alpha wave frequencies could ease
the increase of alpha activity through meditation.
Biofeedback training is important with respect to changing the activity of the brain
through external stimuli as it shows that humans are able to consciously change
their activity and control narrow frequency bands without the influence of external
stimuli, hence just by themselves. It was found for example that subjects are able
to control two-dimensonal (vertical and horizontal) movement of a curser on acomputer screen with the use of two channels of bipolar alpha EEG activity. While
the subject`s vertical movement of the cursor was provided by a 10 Hz EEG
component, horizontal movement was provided by an 11 Hz component (Salansky
et al, 1998). The use of EEG components to control or steer computer programshas become popular today. The phenomenon is that users can control actions incomputer softwares just by thoughts and imaginations via an EEG. The BCI(means Brain Computer Interfaces and is a part of the institute of neuralengineering) at the TU Graz invented an EEG software which allows users to play
World of Warcraft just by controling their character with the activity of different brain

57

waves. As it is possible to consciously control brain waves it should also be
possibly to externally influence them, via i.e. infrasounds.
From the literature it appears clear that individual specific EEG components can beused for stimulation (Salansky et al, 1998). Therefore there are approaches toregister the patient's own endogenous rhythms and automatically send them to a
feedback device, which adapts it for stimulation (Salansky et al, 1998).
Typically studies involve higher levels of infrasounds for limited periods (up to 24
hours). Furthermore Salt and Kaltenbach (2011) state that there are no studies on
the effects of long-term infrasound exposure on humans. Hence effects ofinfrasounds on people living near wind turbines are not clear.
According to Salt and Kaltenbach (2011) some studies on infrasounds miss to findstatisticallyvalidfindings,

becausetheyare

A-weightening

the

sound

measurements (dBA). This means that sound measurements are correctedaccording to human hearing sensitivity and therefore low frequency components
are mostly not further considered (Salt & Kaltenbach, 2011). Thus, in such cases it
is impossible to find significant effects of infrasound (below the hearing threshold)from wind turbines on humans. If hearing is the important factor A-weighting does
make sense, but to see whether low frequency components, with sound pressurelevels not exceeding the hearing threshold, do have an effect on human, dBA
makes no sense.
As can be seen from the discussion of the relevant literature above, both positive
and negative effects have been found for infrasounds on humans. Furthermore it
should be clear now, that infrasounds do have an effect on humans. Moreover it
seems that infrasound below the hearing threshold also affects humans. Thus theexperimental part of this master thesis will investigate frequencies with soundpressure levels closely below the threshold of hearing.

58

2.4.4 Infrasounds and their effects on animals
It is also important to look at possible effects of infrasound on animals, as thismight shed light to similar effects on humans. The procedure of testing animals andto relate the results to humans is common in the sciences, as most of the time it is
not possible to carry out experiments with humans due to ethical reasons. The
results of animal studies are said to be a good indicator of human effects. Thus
looking at studies on the effect of infrasound on animals appears to be logical andof important value for argumentation. Alekseev and his co-workers (1985, as citedin Leventhall et al., 2003) found that exposure to 4 Hz up to 10 Hz at 120 db to 125
db led to short-term arterial constriction and capillary dilatation in the myocardium.
Longer exposure led to nuclear deformation, mitochondrial damage and otherpathologies (Leventhall et al., 2003). The most prominent effects were found after
exposure to 10 Hz up to 15 Hz at 135 db to 145 db (Leventhall et al., 2003).
Nekhoroshev and Glinchikov (1991, as cited in Leventhall, 2003) further showedthat exposure of 8 Hz and 16 Hz at 120 db to 140 db for three hours per day for 1
to 40 days on rats and guinea pigs led to morphological and physiological changes
in the myocardium.
Moreover Svidovyi and Kuklina (1985, as cited in Leventhall, 2003) showed that 8
Hz at 100 db and 140 db for three hours per day led to significant changes in the
conjunctiva (i.e. swelling of the cytoplasm and decrease in the lumen of thecapillaries). Also changes in the liver (damage of nuclei, intracellular membranes
and mitochondria of rat hepatocytes in vivo) due to infrasound exposure have been
detected by Alekseev et al (1987, as cited in Leventhall, 2003). The infrasounds
used were frequencies of 2 Hz, 4 Hz, 8 Hz, or 16 Hz at 90d b to 140 db for threehours per day for five to 40 days (Leventhall, 2003). The changes were more
pronounced at 8 Hz and 16 Hz compared to 2 Hz and 4 Hz. Exposures for morethan 25 days induced irreversible changes (Leventhall et al., 2003). These findings
are interesting since also sound pressure levels below the human hearing
threshold led to changes.
In relation to the effects on the brain, Nishimura and his co-workers (1987, as citedin Leventhall, 2003) found that 16 Hz at 100 db to 120 db led to a reduction in the59rate of working, probably due to an impaired concentration in rats. As 16 Hz isrelated to beta waves it seems that the results obtained are due to an increased
brain activation at 16 Hz, as beta waves are associated with sleep, which could
explain an impaired concentration.
In another study, Cheng and his co-workers (2012) found that infrasound exposureof 16 Hz at 130 dB for one hour on cultured rat hippocampal neurons significantly
resulted in axonal degeneration (relatively independent of neuronal cell death(Cheng et al, 2012). These findings on axonal degeneration are interesting
because, according to Cheng et al (2012), a growing evidence suggests thataxonal degeneration is responsible for a variety of central nervous systemdysfunctions (Song et al, 2006; Coleman & Perry, 2002; Finn et al, 2000). Feelingof indisposition, decrease in memory and performance, sleep disturbance andheadache are some examples of possible central nervous system dysfunctions(Cheng et al, 2012). Furthermore Liu and his co-workers (2004, as cited in Chenget al., 2012) found that long-term exposure to infrasound caused apoptosis of rat
hippocampal neurons in vivo.
A further study on the effects of infrasound on adult rats showed that 16 Hz at 130
dB led to a significant decrease of the number of newly generated cells in thesubgranular zone. These effects ceased after some days of infrasound exposure.
Thus, such effects of infrasounds with a certain sound pressure are said to be
temporary but not permanent.
Moreover, according to Liu et al (2010) it was found that infrasound exposure led tohistopathologicalor

histomorphologicalchangesor

impairmentsinliver,

myocardium and lung (Nekhoroshev & Glinchikov, 1992; Svidovyi & Glinchikov,
1987; Alekseev et al, 1983). There are obviously quite a lot of studies (only a few
have been mentioned here) proofing the significant effect of infrasound on animals.
Another interesting study investigated the effects of cannabis on rat brain activity. It
was shown that potent agonists of brain cannabinoid receptors (CP55940)
influenced brain waves. In detail, decreased hippocampal theta and prefrontal
gamma and a disrupted theta-frequency coherence between the two structures has
been observed. These changes in the brain waves led, amongst others, to reduced60

accuracy of task performance (Kucewicz et al., 2011). The results show theimportance of brain waves and thus also frequencies. Furthermore these findings
are interesting as they show that cannabis, which leads to an altered state ofconsciousness, induces such a mental state through changing the brain activity
and influencing brain waves. Thus it looks like the approach to change the brain
activity with alpha- and theta wave frequencies to reach a changed state ofconsciousness is plausible.
According to the discussed literature it is clear that animals can be significantly
influenced with infrasounds.
2.4.5 Binaural beats and their effects on humans
Binaural beats are usually applied in the frequency range of infrasound. When two
different frequencies are played one to each ear simultaneously, a third frequency
will be heard, which is the subtraction of both incoming frequencies. This third
perceived frequency is called binaural beat. Binaural beats are said to influence thebrain activity at the frequency of the perceived binaural beat and are therefore
applied for i.e. relaxation or concentration. Although binaural beats are famous it
seems that their status is not legitimate. This is due to the fact that it seems thatmonaural beats11 evoke better effects (Becher et al., 2014) and that studies on
binaural beats are rare, contrary and mostly no effect is found on subjective wellbeing and EEG activity.
To give an example, one study tested the effects of an alpha binaural beat of 10 Hz
and a beta binaural beat of 20 Hz on EEG activity (Vernon et al., 2014). The study
revealed no significant results (Vernon et al., 2014). Thus it has to be assumed thatbinaural beats do not have an effect on the brain activty and cannot infleunce it.
Another study on the effects of binaural beats on brain activity, where participants
were exposed for five minutes to binaural beats at 1 Hz (delta), 5 Hz (theta), 10 Hz(alpha) and 20 Hz (beta) did not achieve significant results (Gao et al, 2014). It can

11 Monaural beats means that two different frequencies are played together on both ears at thesame time and a third frequency (wich is the subtraction of the both) will be perceived. Contrary tobinaural beats, the two slightly differing frequencies are played on both ears and not just one
frequency on one ear.

61

therefore be concluded that the human brain does not have a tendency to change
its dominant EEG frequency under binaural beats stimulations (Gao et al, 2014).
Furthermore it has been found that binaural beats in the beta range (16 Hz to 24Hz) in comparison to binaural beats in the theta/delta range (1.5 to 4 Hz) have apositive effect on psychomotor performance and mood (Lane et al., 1997). As thisis just a comparison between two different binaural beat stimulations and was notcompared with a control group, the results suffer from methodological errors.
Another study which looked at the effects of binaural beats on the brain activity
measured with EEG, compared two different conditions (Wahbeh et al., 2007). The
experimental condition consisted of a 30 minutes auditory stimulus of binauralbeats at 7 Hz with an overlay of pink noise (sound of rain) and the control condition
consisted of the same auditory stimulus but without a binaural beat. No significant
differences between both conditions have been found for any of the EEG
measures (Wahbeh et al., 2007). But a significant increase of the Profile of Mood
States depression subscale was found for the experimental condition compared tothe control group (Wahbeh et al., 2007). Furthermore, also a significant decreasein immediate verbal memory recall in the experimental condition compared to thecontrol condition has been found (Wahbeh et al., 2007). Another study was also
not able to show any effect of binaural beat on the brain activity, but this study
found significant effects of binaural beats on mood and verbal memory recall.
Since there was no effect on brain activity, the change in mood and decrease inverbal memory recall must be due to something else. It could be due to an
experimenter-participant-interaction, meaning that the subjects in the experimental
condition knew that they are in a somehow special situation. But it could also be
due to a wrongly applied EEG measurement. It is also possible that the effects
observed are due to the binaural beat perceived as unpleasant and as a
distraction, and therefore had no effect on brain activity. Since this is not clear it
has to be assumed again that binaural beats do not affect humans.
A further study showed that binaural beat stimulation around 2 to 8 Hz on young
elite soccer players significantly improved subjective ratings of sleep andawakening quality, sleepiness and motivational state, but it had no impact on their62perceived physical state (Abeln et al., 2014). This study shows an effect of binauralbeats on humans, however, since the majority of the discussed studies on binauralbeats until now showed no significant effect, it has to be assumed that binauralbeats do not affect humans. Furthermore the found effect of the study of Abeln andhis co-workers (2014) could be due to another variable not collected in their study.

The shortness of this chapter is due to the reason that, according to the discussed
literature, it has to be assumed that binaural beats are not able to change mood or
EEG activity in humans. The fact that binaural beats do not have an effect onhumans is no argument against the thesis that infrasound has an effect, sincebinaural beat is physically not present and is only a psychological phenomenon.
Thus, it can be further assumed that, as the physical infrasound frequency is notpresent, it cannot have any effect on humans, because it cannot trigger resonancephenomena, nor can it follow the principle of superposition of waves. It seems thatthe popularity of binaural beats is due to the "magical" phenomenen of perceiving athird frequency which is physically not present. Furthermore, also the fact that two
different frequencies are played simultaneously on one ear each, may also support
the interest in binaural beats and an imagined effect on humans.

63

2.5 Summary
In this chapter the four discussed topics will be summarized.
As discussed in chapter 4.1 it can be said that the opinions on music and its effectin inducing a changed state of consciousness, such as trance, are different.
While Neher (1962), Kartomi (1973), Arrien (1996), Haerlin (1998), Hutson (2000)
and Sundar (2007) believe in the ability of music in inducing a trance-state, Rouget(1985) and Fachner (2006) negate it.
As discussed it seems that the power of music in inducing a changed state ofconsciousness lies in the repetitive rhythmns (Neher, 1962; Kartomi, 1973; Arrien,
1996; Haerlin, 1998; Hutson, 2000 and Sundar, 2007).
Rouget (1985) on the other hand points out that music is not universal in inducing achanged state of consciousness, because people in Ghana can reach a trance
state spontaneously without music. This argumentation is misleadingly, as it juststates that there are also other factors which can trigger an altered state ofconsciousness, and it does not deny that music itself can have a universal property
in inducing a changed state of consciousness.
Moreover in life it is normal that a lot of different factors can lead to a special state,i.e. illness or weight loss. As an example, smoking can lead to serious illnesses
such as lunge cancer, but there are also other factors which can lead to this illness.
Only because of the existence of other factors we cannot deny the fact thatsmoking can lead to serious illnesses. As we cannot deny this special case, wecannot deny the music's ability in inducing an altered state of consciousness.
Furthermore a lot of studies proof the effect of rhythmic flashing light at certain
frequencies on the activity of the brain (photo-driving) and the related change of
consciousness. Therefor it can be supposed that such phenomenons can beproduced by other frequency-stimuli as well, like acoustic stimuli.
As the cited studies are sometimes lacking information, results and profoundargumentation, it is important to have new studies concerning this topic. Therefore
this masters thesis will try to find an answer in an empirically valid way.
In chapter 4.2 it was demonstrated that there are four similar brain areas activatedby listening to music and meditating. These are the precentral gyrus, parts of the64anterior cingulate cortex, hippocampal formations (or hippocampus) and the
midbrain. It was further shown that each of these areas has a function which canbe related to an altered state of consciousness. According to Kjaer and his coworkers (2002, p. 255) an altered state is understood as the experience of threedifferent aspects wich are an enhancement of sensory stimulations, loss of
conscious control of actions and imagination. As discussed, all the brain areas
found to be active, contribute at least to one of these functions. Thus they seem tobe really important brain areas for experiencing altered states of consciousness.
Since there are similar brain areas activated by both actions, passive music andmeditation, it is reasonable to assume that these altered states of consciousness
are similar.
Moreover it was shown that long-term practice of both active music making andmeditation have the same effects on the brain structure. In detail, both actions leadto an increase of grey matter volume in the inferior temporal gyrus. It was further
shown that the inferior temporal gyrus is related to an altered state ofconsciousness because of its function in visual perception, which can beunderstood as imagination, an important aspect of an altered state ofconsciousness. With respect to the fact that long-term practice of active music andmediation have the same effect on grey matter volume of the inferior temporalgyrus, and that music and meditation activate the same brain areas important foran altered state of consciousness, it seems very likely that music and meditationinduce similarly altered states of consciousness.
This result is given under the premise, that the brain areas which were found to be
active in both cases (passive music and meditation), are really activated, as
argued, because of their function in inducing an altered state of consciousness andnot because of another function, not related to such a state. If for example theactivation of these brain areas is a consequence of another stimulus, the main
hypothesis would not hold true. However, the hypothesis receives strong support
by the effects of long-term practice of both active music and meditation on the grey
matter volume of the inferior temporal gyrus. Again this increase of grey matter
could be the consequence of another stimulus during both actions. In this case the65respective brain areas would have to be activated or changed because of anotherstimulus mediated/communicated by music or meditation, and which does not
relate to an altered state of consciousness.
Summarizing, in view of the results presented, it appears to be reasonable toassume that music and meditation are capable of inducing an altered state ofconsciousness. Nevertheless, there are open questions remaining, which will haveto be addressed by further investigations.
As discussed above, it appears to be pretty reasonable that the simultaneous useof passive music and meditation facilitates the entering into an altered state ofconsciousness during meditation because it activates the same brain areas, which
are important for experiencing an altered state of consciousness.
Moreover it is hypothesized that the identified brain areas activated or changed
similarly by music and meditation, are generally the brain areas necessary toactually experience an altered state of consciousness. In other words, thephysiological action of these brain areas could explain an altered state ofconsciousness.

66

To illustrate the possibe physiological pathway to an altered state of consciousness
the following model was designed.

Must be activatedanterior cingulate

precentral

cortexgyrus

midbrainhippocampus
changedstate ofconsciousness

Inferior temporal
gyrus

Should be modified
Fig. 9: Model of the possible physiological pathway to an altered state of consciousness

This model shows the four brain areas in humans which have to be activated andone brain area which should be be modified so that someone can experience analtered state of consciousness.
If these hypotheses hold true, then more successful and easier ways to experiencean altered state of consciousness could be provided. This would be of course very
helpful for mankind, because altered states of consciousness are related torelaxation, enhancing power and healing. For example it could be determined67which kind of music stimulates the five important brain areas to experience analtered state of consciousness the most. This of course would require further
research. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies would be useful toinvestigate which kind of music activates these brain areas the most. Moreover it
would be interesting to find out whether there is proof for the above stated model ofthe physiological pathway to an altered state of consciousness. Furthermore, itwould be interesting to find out whether stimuli other than music or meditation havean effect on these brain areas and can induce altered states of consciousness.
Last, it would also be interesting to find out whether such states can in fact activate
self-healing mechanisms. Are altered states of consciousness, induced by music,
meditation or other means the medicine of tomorrow?

The large amount of studies on meditation and EEG discussed in chapter 4.3
sheds more light to specific brain oscilllations active during meditation. In summary
it was found that alpha- and theta activity is significantly increased while meditating(Ahani et al, 2014; Lagopoulos, 2009; Lo & Leu, 2005; Takahashi et al, 2005;
Aftanas & Golosheikin, 2002; Andresen, 2000; Shimokochi, 1996; Fenwick, 1987;
Delmonte, 1984; Shapiro & Walsh, 1984; Pagano & Warrenburg, 1983; Schuman,
1980; Shapiro, 1980; West, 1980; West, 1979; Davidson, 1976; Woolfolk, 1975).
Furthermore it was found that these two brain waves are mostly significantly
increased in the frontal area of the brain (Lagopoulos, 2009; Takahashi et al, 2005;
Aftanas & Golosheikin, 2002). Alpha activity in this area is related to internalized
attention, whereas theta activity in the frontal area is related to mindfulness(Takahashi et al, 2005). Of further interest are recent studies, which state that not
the whole alpha and theta bands are specific for meditation, but actually the slow
alpha (8.2-9.77 Hz) and fast theta (6.25-7.81 Hz) appear to be most important(Takahashi et al, 2005; Aftanas & Golosheikin, 2002; Lo & Leu, 2005). It is
important to state here in addition that the findings reported for most studies did not
split alpha bands into smaller ones, like slow and fast alpha. Thus it can beassumed that these studies would eventually have come to similar results.

68

To give an easy overview of the disussed findings on meditation and EEG thefollowing table 4 was designed.

Table 4: Results on Meditation and EEG of alpha- and theta waves

Results on meditation and EEG of alpha- and theta waves
Paper

Resultsincrease of slow alpha and fast theta

Takahasi et al, 2005

activity in frontal area
increase in power in alpha, beta and theta

Ahani et al, 2014

bands
increase in theta- and slow alpha powers

Aftanas & Golosheikin, 2002

in the frontal area
increase in alpha- and theta power in

Lagopoulos et al, 2009

posterior, frontal and temporal-central
regions

Andresen(2000),Davidson(1976),

Delmonte(1984),

Fenwick(1987),

Paganoand

Warrenburg(1983), increase in theta- and alpha band power

Schuman (1980), Shapiro (1980), Shapiro and decrease in overall frequency
and Walsh (1984), Shimokochi (1996),
West (1979, 1980) and Woolfolk (1975)
Lo and Leu, 2005

dominant frequency was 9.26Hz

The large amount of studies demonstrating a significant increase of theta andalpha waves when meditating, leads to the assumption that the increase of bothalpha-and theta waves are characteristic for a meditative state. Although somepreviously mentioned studies were not able to proof an increase (Lehmann et al,
2004; Jacobs et al, 1996), they are limited and it is assumed that the differences of
their findings can be explained by the methodology applied, since the large
majority of studies on EEG and meditation found an increase of alpha- and theta
activity when meditating.
69

As further discussed, it seems to be convincing that the frequency range fromhigher theta (6-8Hz) to lower alpha (8-10Hz) is the most important for meditation(Lo & Leu, 2005; Takahashi et al, 2005; Aftanas & Golosheikin, 2002;).
Thus, the following experiment will consist of a condition with a frequency band
ranging from 6 to 10 Hz, played repeatedly to the subjects, to see whether, similar
to a photo-driving effect, acoustic frequencies can also influence the activity of thebrain. Moreover, because of a kind of "alpha-wave hype" in the alternative scene
with binaural beats and other stimulations, which have no scientific proof, it seems
to be necessary also to study this topic in a scientifically valid way.
Fig. 10 shows a model which was designed to highlight the relation of alpha- andtheta waves to meditation and to show a possible biological pathway from the
beginning of meditation until the feeling of a meditative state, with a focus on brain
waves activity.

70

71
Fig. 10: Model of the possible biological pathway (focused on brainwaves) from the beginning of
meditation until the feeling of a meditative state.

In chapter 4.4 three topics have been discussed to evaluate whether thequestioned effect of infrasounds on human wellbeing and brain activity really takes
place. These three topics were the effects of infrasounds on humans, the effects ofinfrasound on animals and the effects of binaural beats.
According to the first topic it can be summarized that infrasounds really affectpeople. Most studies have been found to proof a negative effect than a positive
one. But as previously discussed, the found negative effects could be due to otherfrequencies than that of alpha- or theta waves. Furthermore, the negative effects
found must not be of negative value for the topic of meditation. To give an
example, it was found that certain frequencies lead to an increase in reaction time
as well as sensations of lethargy (Evans & Tempest, 1972) which was, related tothe cited study, a negative effect, but concerning a meditative state, an increased
reaction time could be due to the experienced altered state while meditating. Most
important here is that it was found that infrasounds in fact really affect humans.
Thus it can be assumed that although mostly negative effects have been found,
positive ones are also possible when using the right frequency and sound pressurelevel. Furthermore, it is possible that infrasounds positively affect people as somestudies proofed such an effect. The discussed results furthermore depend on theapplied sound pressure levels, as infrasounds exceeding a certain sound pressurelevel are consciously detectable by humans (see chapter 4.4.2). In most of thecases the sound pressure levels for the infrasounds have been above the hearing
threshold. But other studies also proofed a significant effect of infrasound below
the hearing threshold of humans. For the experimental investigation in this masterthesis this implies, for the alpha- theta- wave frequency condition, that a stimulus
closely below the hearing threshold will be used.
The second topic on the effects of infrasound on animals, showed that infrasounds
affect animals. Animals used for the studies were rats and guinea pigs. Infrasounds
significantly affect the cell structure in a way as certain processes are inhibited or
destroyed within the cell, i.e. axons.
In the majority of cases infrasounds were above the hearing threshold. One study
also proofed the effect of infrasounds below the hearing threshold on the animal's
72

liver cell structure (Alekseev et al, 1987). As studies with animals are good
indicators for similar effects on humans, the significant result of infrasound on
animals is another argument for the effects of alpha wave-frequencies on
meditation.
The third and last topic discussed was about binaural beats, as they are applied at
the frequency range of infrasound. Binaural beats seem not to affect the humanbrain activity. It is assumed that this is due to the fact that the binaural beat (or third
frequency), which has the infrasound frequency, is physically not present and just aphenomenon of perception. Since this frequency is physically not present it cannot
evoke resonance with the brain waves, nor can it lead to a superposition of similar
waves. Only one discussed study proofed an effect of binaural beats on improved
subjective ratings of sleep and the awakening quality, sleepiness and motivational
state, but it had no impact on the perceived physical state of the subjects (Abeln etal., 2014). Since the majority of the discussed studies on binaural beats until now
showed no significant effect, it has to be assumed that binaural beats do not affecthumans. Furthermore, the observed effects of the study of Abeln and his coworkers (2014) could be due to another variable not collected in their study.

73

3. Empirical Study
The rationale for this master thesis is to explore possible effects music may haveon meditation. Furthermore this thesis tries to show that frequencies below the
hearing threshold can influence humans. Therefore two experimental questions willacompany this thesis.

1) Does music have an effect on meditation?
2) Do alpha-theta-wave frequencies have an effect on meditation or relaxation?

To be able to answer these questions in a statistically valid way, different kinds ofmusic (relaxing and arousing) will be compared with no music, and also alphatheta-wave frequencies (6-10 Hz frequency band) will be compared with no music.
In relation to these questions different hypotheses can be formulated:

H1) Relaxing music has a positive effect on meditation compared to no music andarousing music.
H2) Arousing music has a negative effect on meditation compared to no music andrelaxing music.
H3) Alpha-theta-wave frequencies have a positive effect on meditation orrelaxation.

Testing these hypotheses will be the content of the following chapters.

74

3.1 Introduction
To obtain physiological values, the following study used a galvanic skin response(=GSR) measuring instrument. GSR is also known as electrodermal response(=EDR) amongst others and it describes the measurement of electricalconductance of the skin (Benedek & Kaernbach, 2010). This electricalconductance changes with the moisture level of the skin. The moisture level isinfluenced by sweat glands, which are associated with the sympathetic nervous
system. This means that higher activity of the sympathetic nervous system leads toan increase of sweat gland activity, which in turn leads to a higher moisture level
and therefore also to an increased skin conductance (Benedek & Kaernbach,2010). Thus GSR is used to measure psychological or physiological arousal.

A

special software, named Ledalab (Benedek & Kaernbach, 2010) has been used tocompute different interesting values describing GSR. This study used the value
CDA.SCR for analysis. CDA.SCR is the average phasic driver within a given
response window. According to Benedek and Kaernbach (2010), this score
represents phasic activity within a given response window most accurately. At thesame time it does not fall back on classic skin conductance response amplitudes.

75

3.2 Pretest
A pretest was designed to evaluate the best music pieces for the conditions„relaxing“ and „arousing“.
3.2.1 Methods
The pretest comprised two parts. One part evaluated relaxing music while the otherone evaluated arousing music. The pretest consisted of eight participants. One ofthem was excluded, because the participant mentioned background noiseproduced by the CD-Player. Thus the pretest was run with a PC instead of a CDPlayer. All together 7 participants (3 women and 4 men) finished the pretest. The
participants ranged in their age from 27 to 62, with a mean of 35.5.
Every participant was tested with the same equipment. The testing equipment
consisted of a Compaq 615 Laptop, Sony MDR-V55 earphones and a Yamaha
RDX E-700 amplifier.
The preselection of the different music pieces used for the pretest was done
according to the findings of Rickard (2004) and Rentfrow & Gosling (2003).
According to Rickard (2004) relaxing music should be "soft calm and melodious"(p.376), whereas arousing music should be "rhythmic, dynamic and lessmelodious" (p.376). Moreover Rentfrow and Gosling (2003) found that heavy metalshows a strong correlation to negative affects like angry and bitter as well as
energetic and loud. Genres like hip hop, electronic music (like dubstep) correlatewith boastful rhythmic and simple. These findings go hand in hand with the findingsof Rickard (2004). Thus the preselection of music included pieces fitting the above
mentioned criteria.
The following two tables (Table 5 and 6) list all the music pieces, which had been
selected for the pretest, divided in relaxing and arousing with their corresponding
genre.

76

Table 5: shows the preselection of relaxing music pieces for the pretest
Music piece

Genre

Beethoven Piano Sonata, Op. 13 No. 8, Pathétique II

Classic / piano music

Beethoven - Mondscheinsonate

Classic / piano music

Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 9 No. 1

Classic / piano music

Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 9 No. 2

Classic / piano music

Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 15 No. 1

Classic / piano music

Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 15 No. 3

Classic / piano music

Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 37 No. 1

Classic / piano music

Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 55 No. 1

Classic / piano music

Chopin - Prélude, Op. 28 No. 4

Classic / piano music

Chopin - Prélude, Op. 28 No. 6

Classic / piano music

Chopin - Prélude, Op. 28 No. 7

Classic / piano music

Chopin - Prélude, Op. 28 No. 21

Classic / piano music

Chopin - Regentropfen Prélude, Op 28, No. 15

Classic / piano music

Debussy - Claire de Lune

Classic / piano music

Debussy - Rêverie

Classic / piano music

Debussy, Sarabande pour le PianoClassic / piano music

Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.1

Classic / piano music

Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.2

Classic / piano music

Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.3

Classic / piano music

Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.4

Classic / piano music

Erik Satie - Gnossienne No. 5

Classic / piano music

Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No.1

Classic / piano music

Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No.2

Classic / piano music

Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No.3

Classic / piano music

Schumann - Kinderszenen Op.15, I. Von Fremden Ländern Classic / piano music
und Menschen

77

Table 6: shows the preselection of arousing music pieces for the pretest
Music piece

Genre

Bloodspot - By the Horns

Death Metal

Bloodspot - Consumed By Hatred

Death Metal

Bloodspot - Death Illusion

Death Metal

Bloodspot - Volcanos

Death Metal

Booba - Bakel City Gang

Hip Hop – Rap Hardcore

Das EFX – Hardcore Rap Act

Hip Hop

Deficiency - A Way Out Of Nowhere

Melodic Trash Metal

Deficiency - Unfinished

Melodic Trash Metal

Gore Elohim - Electric Lucifer

Hip Hop

Gore Tex - Momentary Of Lapse Of Reason

Hip HopGyörgy Ligeti _ Requiem

Klassik - Avantgarde

Immortal – All Shall Fall

Death Metal

Kaaris - Zoo

Hip HopNon Phixion -There is no future (ft._necro)

Hip Hop

Olivier Messiaen - Quatuor pour la fin du temps

Klassik - Avantgarde

Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz

Free Jazz

Pierre Boulez - Structures I & II

Klassik - Avantgarde

Skrillex - Bangarang feat Sirah

Dubstep

Skrillex - DnB Ting

Dubstep

Skrillex - First Of The Year

Dubstep

Skrillex - Kill Everybody

Dubstep

Skrillex - Rock n Roll

Dubstep

Skrillex - Try it out [ft Alvin Risk]

Dubstep

Skrillex -Ragga Bomb with Ragga Twins

Dubstep

Stockhausen - Helikopter Streichquartett

Klassik - Avantgarde

Stockhausen - Klavierstück IX

Klassik – Avantgarde

Stockhausen - Luzifers Abschied

Klassik – Avantgarde

Stravinsky - Rite of Spring Sacrificial Dance

Klassik

System Of A Down - Chop Suey!

Alternative Metal

78

The Prodigy - Breathe

Drum and Bass

The Prodigy - Firestarter

Drum and Bass

The Prodigy - Wild Frontier

Drum and Bass

The pretest took around 45 minutes per participant. Each participant started
randomly with either the relaxing or the arousing part of the pretest. Also thepresentation of the music pieces, of both parts, was in a randomized order. For
each music piece the participants were asked to turn the volume of the amplifier to
a comfortable volume. Each volume was documented by the experimenter, to beable to reconstruct the sound pressure level afterwards in the lab. As the soundpressure level (SPL) has an effect on the perception of music, this was animportant step to make sure to be able to control the variable SPL in the main
study and to see whether there are big differences in the ratings of subjective
comfortable volumes.
The participants also had to rate 4 different rating scales from 1 to 7 (1 stood for„not at all“ and in ascending order 7 for „a lot“) for each music piece.

First

participants were asked to rate „how relaxing the music piece is“, second, „howarousing the music piece is“, third „how familiar they are with the music piece“ andfourth, „how much they liked the music piece“.
3.2.2 Results
The mean ratings were calculated for the relaxing and arousing parts. For therelaxing part of the pretest the music pieces with the highest mean ratings onrelaxing and simultaneously with the lowest mean scores on arousing andfamiliarity were chosen. Low scores on familiarity were favoured because it makes
it possible to control the variable familiarity and to avoid the influence of familiarity
on the outcome of the main study. Table 7 shows the music pieces which werechosen for the relaxing part. For both the relaxing and the arousing condition of themain study, music pieces were chosen to obtain a duration of 30 minutes. This wasnecessary, as participants had to meditate for 30 minutes in the main study.

79

Table 7 shows the music pieces chosen for the relaxing part
Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 37 No.1
Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 55 No.1
Chopin - Prélude, Op. 28 No. 7
Debussy - Rêverie
Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.1
Erik Satie - Gnossienne No. 2
Erik Satie - Gnossienne No. 3
Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No. 3

Table 8 shows the number of participants (N), mean ratings, standard deviation(SD), minimum and maximum for "relaxing“, "arousing“, "familiarity“ and "liking" forthe relaxing part of the pretest.
Table 8: shows the mean scores for the music pieces of the relaxing part of themain study
N

mean

SD

minimum

maximum

Relaxing

7

6.13

0.573

5.50

7

Arousing

7

1.98

1.135

1

4.25

Familiarity

7

3.57

1.757

1.88

6.38

Liking

7

5.55

1.168

3.75

7

For the arousing part of the pretest the music pieces with the lowest mean ratings
on relaxing and familiarity and simultaneously with the highest mean scores on
arousing were chosen for the main study. Table 9 shows the music pieces, whichwere chosen for the arousing part.
Table 9 shows the music pieces chosen for the arousing partBloodspot - By the Horns
Bloodspot - Consumed By Hatred
Bloodspot - Death Illusion
Bloodspot - Volcanos
Deficiency - Unfinished80

Immortal - All Shall Fall
Skrillex - Bangarang feat Sirah
Skrillex - DnB Ting
Skrillex - Rock n Roll
Skrillex - Try it out [ft Alvin Risk]
Skrillex -Ragga Bomb with Ragga Twins
Stockhausen – Helikopter Streichquartett ↓The Prodigy – Wild Frontier

Since „Stockhausen – Helikopter Streichquartett“ is the only music piece
representing the classic-avantgarde genre, it was removed to enable an internalconsistency of the arousing music pieces by their type and genre. Instead of„Stockhausen – Helikopter Streichquartett“ „The Prodigy – Wild Frontier“ waschosen as it is the next best rated music piece (according to the previously
mentioned criteria).
Table 10 shows the number of participants, mean ratings, standard deviation,
minimum and maximum for „relaxing“, „arousing“, „familiarity“ and „liking“ for the
arousing part of the main study.

Table 10: shows the mean scores for the music pieces of the arousing part of themain study
N

MW

SD

Minimum

Maximum

Relaxing

7

1.55

0.448

1.17

2.42

Arousing

7

5.73

0.736

4.75

6.67

Familiarity

7

2.06

0.575

1.17

3.08

Liking

7

2.76

0.499

1.92

3.42

As mentioned already before, the volume was documented to control the mean
comfortable loudness. The mean volume adjustments for each music piece had
been computed. Table 11 and 12 show the mean voulme ratings for the relaxing ad
arousing music pieces.
81

Table 11: shows the mean volume ratings for the relaxing music pieces
namemean volume

rounded

Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 37 No.1

21.57

22

Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 55 No.1

22.29

22

Chopin - Prélude, Op. 28 No.7

20.71

21

Debussy - Rêverie

21.57

22

Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.1

21.43

21

Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.2

21.57

22

Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.3

21.43

21

Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No.3

22.71

23

mean

21.66

22
(sd=0.707)

Table 12: shows the mean volume ratings for the arousing music pieces
name

mean

roundedvolumeBloodspot - By the Horns

12.29

12

Bloodspot - Consumed By Hatred

13

13

Bloodspot - Death Illusion

12.57

13

Bloodspot - Volcanos

12.71

13

Deficiency - Unfinished

12.43

12

Immortal - All Shall Fall

14.29

14

Skrillex - Bangarang feat Sirah

12.14

12

Skrillex - DnB Ting

14

14

Skrillex - Rock n Roll

12.14

12

Skrillex - Try it out [ft Alvin Risk]

13.29

13

Skrillex -Ragga Bomb with Ragga Twins

13.14

13

The Prodigy – Wild Frontier

14.29

14

mean

13.02

13
(sd=0.793)

82

In a room of the Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics the testing situation of
the pretest was readjusted with the same equipment used in the pretest. The
earphones were placed on a head simulator (see Fig. 11) to be able to get the realsound pressure level which arrives at the ears of the participants. The sound wassent to the headphones with an external soundcard, able to produce frequencies
from 6 to 10 Hz. The external sound card was connected with an HP laptop.

Fig. 11: shows the head simulator and the reconstructed testing situation

A calibrated signal of exactly 94dB was played to the head simulator and recorded.
This recorded signal was then analyzed and taken as the reference value tocompute the mean sound pressure levels of the different music pieces. As the83mean volume values differ between 12 and 14 for relaxing and 21 and 23 forarousing, a pink noise of 1 kHz with an amplitude of 0.5 and 30 seconds duration
was produced and played to the head simulator with the volumes 12, 13, 14, 21, 22
and 23 to compute their differences in dB. Table 13 shows the volume values andtheir corresponding dB values.

Table 13: shows the volume values and their corresponding dB (rounded)volumelevel

dB (rounded)

12

-33

69 dB

13

-31

71 dB

14

-29

73 dB

21

-17.3

85 dB

22

-15.5

87 dB

23

-14.3

88 dB

calibrating signal

-8

94 dB

As shown in Table 13 the mean value (13) of all the arousing pieces corresponds
to 71dB. Therefore the minimum (69dB) and maximum (73dB) mean volume
ratings for each arousing music piece are 2dB above or below this. This differenceis very low and therefore applicable. Moreover it can be seen that the mean value(22) of the relaxing music pieces corresponds to 87dB. This is 2dB above themean minimum (85dB) value and just 1dB below the mean maximum (88dB) valueof each relaxing music piece. Again this is such a small difference that there is noreal discrepancy. Since the differences in sound pressure level are small, theoverall mean volume values for relaxing and arousing are applied to all theselected music pieces. Thus the variable loudness is controlled for the main study
and it can be assumed that possible results of the main study are not due to theloudness. Moreover as can be seen in Tables 11 and 12 the standard deviation isreally low for the volume values (relaxing sd=0.707 and arousing sd=0.793)
Furthermore, all the selected music pieces have been recorded via the head
simulator with their mean volume value (see Tables 11 and 12). These recordings
84

have then been analyzed according to loudness units in dBA with the software
ableton live. The following Table 14 shows the dBA for all the music pieces.

Table 14 shows the computed dBA for all the selected music pieces
Name of file
Bloodspot - By the Horns
Bloodspot - Consumed By Hatred
Bloodspot - Death Illusion
Bloodspot - Volcanos
Deficiency - Unfinished
Immortal - All Shall Fall
Skrillex - Bangarang feat Sirah
Skrillex - DnB Ting
Skrillex - Rock n Roll
Skrillex - Try it out [ft Alvin Risk]
Skrillex -Ragga Bomb with Ragga Twins

dB_A (LU)

The Prodigy – Wild Frontier

81.1
80.9
79.8
79.9
81
79
82.6
81.3
82.9
83
81.1
78.8

Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 37 No.1
Chopin - Nocturne, Op. 55 No.1
Chopin - Prélude, Op. 28 No. 7
Debussy - Rêverie
Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.1
Erik Satie - Gnossienne No. 2
Erik Satie - Gnossienne No. 3
Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No. 3

76.1
71.6
76.7
77.9
77.1
74.7
75.4
66.4

Table 14 shows the differences in dBA between the single music pieces is bigger
than the previously dicussed differences. These are due to the different recordings
and compressions of the music pieces. But, as previously mentioned all the musicpieces in the main study are played with the overall mean volume ratings. Thus
these differences in dBA become less in the main study and are therefore not ofinterest for the discussion.
Furthermore the ability of the headphones to produce frequencies from 6 to 10 Hz
was tested with the head simulator. A 6 to 10Hz frequency band was produced andthen recorded with the head simultaor via the headphones. The recorded signal85

was further analyzed according to the sound pressure level and whether byproducts like higher audible frequencies were produced due to technical limitationsof the headphones.
Two different headphones, namley Sony MDR-V55 and Beyerdynmics DT 770 Pro
were tested, and it turned out that the Sony headphones produced moremisleading higher frequencies with audible artifacts. As the Beyerdynamics
headphones did not produce audible artifacts at a particular SPL, theseheadphones were used for the main study. It has to be mentioned that the
Beyerdynamics headphones were used by every participant and in every condition.
In relation to the before mentioned calibrated signal, the Beyerdynamics
headphones, played the 6 to 10Hz frequency band with 71.81dB left and 73.43dB
right. As mentioned already in chapter 4.4, these values are below the hearing
threshold.
3.2.3 Discussion
Based on the mean scores in Tables 8 and 10, the chosen music pieces for theconditions relaxing and arousing, evoke the right feelings in the participants. While
the mean score of „relaxing“ is really high for the relaxing music pieces(mean=6.13, sd=0.573, n=7), it is really low for the arousing music pieces(mean=1.55, sd=0.448, n=7). On the other hand, the mean score of „arousing“ isreally low for the relaxing music pieces (mean=1.98, sd=1.135, n=7), but reallyhigh for the arousing music pieces (mean=5.73, sd=0.736, n=7). For both therelaxing music condition and the arousing music condition, the mean ratings onfamiliarity are low (relaxing: mean=3.57, and arousing: mean=2.06). This is a goodoutcome as it can be assumed that possible results found in the main study are notaffected by familiarity with the music pieces. Furthermore the selected musicpieces really evoke the feelings they should (arousing and relaxing). The mean
ratings on liking are much higher for the relaxing music pieces (mean=5.55 andsd=1.168) than for the arousing music pieces (mean=2.76 and sd=0.499). As likingof the music pieces might have an effect on the results, the variable musicalpreference will be controlled with the STOMP-R questionnaire in the main study.
86

The differences between the sound pressure level of the selected music pieces isis very small and it can thus be assumed that SPL will not have any influence on
the outcome of the main study. Furthermore the Beyerdynamics seem to be goodin producing 6 to 10 Hz frequencies, as they do not produce audible artifacts andreach about 73dB maximum at these frequencies. This level is below the hearing
threshold (97dB are necessary for 10 Hz). Therefore it can be assumed, that the
Beyerdynamics are acceptable headphones for the purpose in the main study.

87

3.3 Main Study
3.3.1 Introduction
The focus of the main study is to answer the two experimental questions:
1) Does music have an effect on meditation?
2 ) Do alpha-theta-wave frequencies have an effect on meditation or relaxation.
In relation to these questions different hypotheses have been stated.
1) Relaxing music has a positive effect on meditation compared to no music andarousing music.
H3) Alpha-theta-wave frequencies have a positive effect on meditation orrelaxation
2) Arousing music has a negative effect on meditation compared to no music andrelaxing music.
3) Alpha-theta-wave frequencies have a positive effect on meditation or relaxationcompared to no music.
In this context, positive effects on meditation have been collected in different ways,
like with a concentration test, an anxiety questionnaire and galvanic skin response
measurements. Moreover positive effect has been evaluated by ratings on theeasiness or time to get into a meditative state, as well as the felt degree ofrelaxation, intensity, happiness, tranquilization and tiredness while being in a
meditative state.
To prove these hypotheses, the main study consisted of 4 different conditions
namely “relaxing music”, “arousing music”, “no music” and “alpha-theta wave
frequencies”.
3.3.2 Material
For the arousing music condition, the selected music pieces from the pretest were
cut into 40 to 60 seconds parts. Only the most stressful parts of each music piece
have been taken into account. Then they were randomly arranged to obtain 30
minutes of music. This combination was necessary to prevent participants ofgetting used to the music and facilitate a more relaxed state. For every part there
was a short fade-in and -out.
88For the relaxing music condition all the selected music pieces from the pretest
were also randomly arranged to obtain 30 minutes of music. Here again, eachmusic piece consisted of a fade-in and -out.
The produced 6-10HZ frequency band audio file lasted exact 8 minutes and 18.5
seconds. Thus 3 of these files were arranged. The last one had been cut at 30
minutes.
The "no music" condition consisted of no sound.
At the end of every condition a bell-sound, indicating the end of meditation, wasadded.
3.3.3 Methods
The main study was carried out in a within-subject design. This means that every
participant participated in every condition. The conditions were randomly assigned
to the participants to prevent sequence effects. The first testing of every participant
started with an introduction (see appendix) explaining the following steps of theexperiment and the fact that they will meditate twice with music and twice withoutmusic. They did not get any further information. For example they were not toldthat there is arousing and relaxing music, and that one of the two conditions
without music consisted of alpha-theta-wave frequencies. Furthermore they wereasked to give their age, sex and the meditation technique currently practiced. The
instruction was followed by the STOMP-R 12 questionnaire (Rentfrow & Gosling,2003). This questionnaire tests the musical preferences with a list of 23 music
genres participants have to rate (see appendix for the whole STOMP-R
questionnaire). The results were then differentiated into 4 categories, namely:“Reflective and Complex”, “Intense and Rebellious”, “Upbeat and Conventional”
and “Energetic and Rhythmic”.
After the STOMP-R, participants had to answer the STAI-X13 questionnaire (Lauxet al, 1981). This questionnaire is divided into two different questionnaires, one
asking for the current state of anxiety, and the other one asking for general anxiety

12
13

STOMP-R means "short test of music preferences - revision"
STAI-X means "state trait anxiety inventory - original form X"

89

(trait), each consisting of 20 different items. For the whole STAI-X questionnaire
used in this study see appendix.
The STAI-X is followed by a short concentration ability test, named d2-R
(Brickenkamp et al, 2010).
In this test participants have to cross out all the d’s with two bars in sum (see Fig.
12).

Fig. 12: One row of the d2-R questionnaire

Participants had to work as fast and as correct as possible. For each row they had
a maximum time of 20 seconds. After 20 seconds the experimenter tells them“stop, next row”. Usually participants do not finish one row in that time. The test
comprises 14 rows.
After the d2-R participants had to meditate for 30 minutes. They were instructed tosit down on a chair in front of a white wall. To sit in front of a white wall while
meditating is typical in Zen meditation. As the majority of expert meditators in thisstudy were Zen meditators every participant had to sit in front of a white wall toenable an internal consistency and to avoid effects of different sitting positions on
the outcome of the study. The participants then put on the headphones, and theelectrodes for the galvanic skin response (=GSR) measurement were placed on
the index- and middle finger of the non-dominant hand. Before placing theseelectrodes, their fingers, as well as the electrodes were desinfected with alcohol toguarantee conductivity and proper measurements. A "neulog GSR sensor" and"USB module", connected to the HP laptop, were used for GSR-measurements.
The measurments were recorded by the "neulog software". GSR recordings were
measured in microsiemens (µS) and done for the whole 30 minutes of meditation
with 10 values per second. All participants were instructed to meditate in the same
way as they usually practice meditation. When they never practiced meditation
before, they were told to think of a hill with a big wonderful tree. They are sitting
under this tree and looking up into the blue sky, where there are some little clouds
90

passing. Furthermore they were told to imagine putting all their occuring thoughts
and problems into the clouds and watch them pass by. This should help them toget rid of thoughts and problems and easily getting into a meditative state. After 30
minutes participants heard a bell-sound which indicated the end of the meditation.
The same bell-sound occurred after every condition. Therefore participants do notstart questioning why they had to wear headphones in the conditions of “no music”
and “alpha-theta wave frequencies”, when they didn’t hear anything. This point
further made sure that they don’t anticipate that there was a difference between thetwo silent conditions. Important to add again here is the fact that the participants
did not know about the alpha-theta wave frequencies. They were just told that they
will meditate twice with no music. This further made sure that possible differences
between “no music” and “alpha-theta wave-frequencies” are really due to effects offrequencies from 6Hz to 10Hz.
After meditation participants were asked to rate different ratingscales designed forthis study on the experienced meditative state (for the whole questionnaire on themeditative state see appendix). The rating scales consisted of numeric choicesfrom 1 to 7, where 1 stood for "not at all" and in ascending order 7 for "a lot". In thefollowing the different questions for the rating scales are listed:
1) Wie intensiv war der erlebte meditative Zustand?
2) Wie einfach war es in einen meditativen Zustand zu kommen?
3) Wie entspannend war die Meditation für Sie?
4) Wie glücklich fühlten Sie sich während der Meditation?
5) Wie sehr hat Ihnen die Meditation gefallen?
6) Wieviel beruhigter sind Sie nun, im Vergleich zu vor der Meditation?
7) Wie müde waren Sie durch die Meditation?
8) Wie schnell sind Sie circa in einen meditativen Zustand gekommen?

91

The rating scale for question number 8 did not use the numeric choices from 1 to 7.
Instead participants were asked to mark when they thought that they first got into a
meditative state (see Fig. 13). The answers were then converted into values from 1
to 7 to enable statistical analysis. "1 - 5 Minuten" corrsponded to "1" and inascending order "gar nicht" to "7".

Fig. 13: Possible choices for question 8

The rating scales were followed by the STAI-X questionnaire again. This time justthe state questionnaire was taken, to explore possible effects of the different
meditation conditions on anxiety.
After this the participants had to do the d2-R again, to explore possible effects ofthe different meditation conditions on concentration ability.
The first testing of every participant took about 60 minutes.
The second, third and fourth testing of every participant were in the same order.
Only the introduction, the STOMP-R and the trait questionnaire of the STAI-X were
not repeated by the participants. These testings took around 45 minutes each.
As a "thank you"- gift, every participant got a coupon for a sound meditation unit atMeditas. Thanks to Mona Schramke (leader of Meditas) for sponsoring this study
and the help to find participants.

923.3.4 Participants
22 persons participated in the main study. 3 participants dropped out due to nothaving enough time. Thus 19 participants completed the whole experiment. 11 outof these participants fell into the criteria of meditation novices, whereas 8 fell into
the criteria of meditation experts. While recruiting, participants were asked for theirlevel of expertise in meditation, according to the following ranking:
Wieviel Erfahrung hast du mit Meditation?
1 = gar keine
2 = einmal probiert
3 = ein wenig
4 = ich meditiere immer wieder
5 = ich meditiere seit mindestens 1 Jahr regelmäßig
6 = ich meditiere schon mehr als 3 Jahre regelmäßig
7 = Profi/ Experte – langjähriges regelmäßiges Meditieren

Participants with a higher ranking than 4, where assigned to meditation experts,
whereas the ones with a ranking lower than 5 to meditation novices.
The mean expertise for meditation novices was 2.36 with a standard deviation of
1.286. The mean expertise for meditation experts was 5.63 with a standard
deviation of 1.061.
Meditation experts were mostly recruited from meditation centres in Vienna. 6 ofthem were from two different Zen meditation centres, whereas 1 was from a
concentration based sound meditation centre. The other one was recruited by afriend of the experimenter. Every meditation expert practiced a meditation typefocusing on concentration, as argued in chapter 3.3. This was necessary to makesure that no other type of meditation which tends to evoke more betha or gamma
brain waves is practiced.
Meditation novices were recruited via facebook, work and friends. No friends of theexperimenter participated in the main study.
The mean age of the participants was 28.9 (sd=10.07) with a minimum of 20 and amaximum of 53 years. Only one person of the participants was male.

93

4. Results
As the main study comprised two different experimental questions, the results
chapter will report significant outcomes in two separate chapters. The firstexperimental question asked, whether music has an effect on meditation. This
question was statistically analyzed with the data of the conditions "relaxing music","arousing music" and "no music". The second experimental question asked,
whether alpha-theta wave frequencies have an effect on meditation/ relaxation.
This question was statistically analyzed with the data of the conditions "no music"
and "alpha-theta wave frequencies".

Differences between meditation experts and novices
First it is interesting to see that there are differences between meditation experts
and novices in there ratings and GSR-measurements. A univariate analysis ofvariance (ANOVA) controlling for the confounding variable "trait anxiety" shows asignificant difference between meditation experts and novices on CDA.SCR in thecondition "no music" (p=0.023, F=6.310, n=19). When meditating with "no music"
meditation novices (mean=0.092, sd=0.081, n=11) show a significantly lower
CDA.SCR than meditation experts (mean=0.168, sd=0.147, n=8), indicating amore relaxed state over the whole 30 minutes of meditation.
A univariate ANOVA with the confounding variable "trait anxiety" shows asignificant difference between meditation experts and novices in there musicalpreference in the category "Upbeat and conventional" (p=0.01, F=8.595, n=19).
Meditation

novices(mean=26.73,

sd=2.901,

n=11)

like

musicalgenres,representing "upbeat and conventional" more than meditation experts (mean=22,
sd=2.268, n=8). Another univariate ANOVA with the confounding variable "trait
anxiety" shows a significant difference between meditation experts and novices on
the intensity of the meditative state when listening to relaxing music (p=0.041,
F=4.923, n=19). When listening to relaxing music meditation experts (mean=5,
sd=1.511, s=8) experienced the meditative state more intense than meditation
novices (mean=3.36, sd=1.433, n=11).

94

A Kolmogorov-Smirnov-test showed that the variable "intensity_no music" is notnormally distributed (p=0.013, K-S=0.224). Therefore a nonparametric test wasapplied to test differences between meditation experts and novices on the felt
intensity when meditating with no music. A Mann-Whitney-U-Test showed asignificant difference between meditation experts and novices (p=0.014, U=-2.457,n=19). When meditating without music meditation experts (mean rank=13.63, n=8)experienced the meditative state as more intense than meditation novices (meanrank=7.36, n=11).
Furthermore the variable "easiness_alpha-theta" is also not normally distributed(p=0.039, K-S=0.202). A nonparametric Mann-Whitney-U-test showed a significant
difference on the easiness to get into a meditative state between meditation
experts and novices when meditating with alpha-theta-wave frequencies (p=0.018,
U=-2.356, n=19). It is easier for experts (mean rank=13.44, n=8) to get into a
meditative state than for novices (mean rank=7.5, n=11).
The variable "more tranquilized_alpha-theta" is not normally distributed either(p=0.00, K-S=0.301). A Mann-Whitney-U-test showed a sginificant difference
between meditation experts and novices on "more tranquilized_alpha" (p=0.019,
U=-2.346). When meditating with alpha-theta-wave frequencies, meditation experts(mean rank=13.44, n=8) felt more tranquillized after meditation (compared tobefore meditation) than meditation novices (mean rank=7.5, n=11).
Moreover a univariate ANOVA controlling for the confounding variable "trait
anxiety" showed a significant difference between meditation experts and novices
on "tired_alpha-theta" (p=0.008, F=9.299, n=19). When meditating with alphatheta-wave frequencies, meditation experts (mean=5.125, sd=0.991, n=8) become
more tired than meditation novices (mean=3, sd=1.265, n=11).
The variable "duration_relaxing" is also not normally distributed (p=0.008, KS=0.234). A Mann-Whitney-U-test showed a significant difference between
meditation experts and novices on "duration_relaxing" (p=0.01, U=-2.578, n=19).
When meditating to relaxing music, meditation experts (mean rank=6.19, n=8) got
faster into a meditative state than novices (mean rank=12.77, n=11).

95

Furthermore the variable "duration_alpha-theta" is also not normally distributed(p=0.024, K-S=0.213). A Mann-Whitney-U-test showed a significant difference
between mediattion experts and novices on "duration_alpha" (p=0.011, U=-2.528,n=19). When meditating with alpha-theta-wave frequencies, meditation experts(mean rank=6.25, n=8) got faster into a meditative state than meditation novices(mean rank=12.73, n=11).
For an overview of the discussed significant results see the following Table 15.

Table 15: Shows the significant results on the differences between meditation
experts and novices
Results
Difference with mean scores
CDA.SCR - no music: meditation experts (0.168) vs.
meditation novices (0.092)
Musical preference - upbeat and conventional:
meditation experts (22) vs. meditation novices (26.73)
Intensity - relaxing music: meditation experts (5) vs.
meditation novices (3.36)
Intensity - no music: meditation experts (13.63) vs.
meditation novices (7.36)
Easiness - alpha-theta: meditation experts (13.44) vs.
meditation novices (7.5)
More tranquilized - alpha-theta: meditation experts(13.44) vs. meditation novices (7.5)
Tiredness - alpha-theta: meditation experts (5.125) vs.
meditation novices (3)Duration - relaxing music: meditation experts (6.19)
vs. meditation novices (12.77)
Duration - alpha-theta: meditation experts (6.25) vs.
meditation novices (12.73)

Significancep=0.023

p=0.01p= 0.041

Statistical analysis
Univariate Analysis of Variance
controlling for "Trait Anxiety"
Univariate Analysis of Variance
controlling for "Trait Anxiety"
Univariate Analysis of Variance
controlling for "Trait Anxiety"p=0.014Mann-Whitney-U-Test

p=0.018

Mann-Whitney-U-Test

p=0.019

Mann-Whitney-U-Test

p=0.008

Univariate Analysis of Variance
controlling for "Trait Anxiety"p=0.01Mann-Whitney-U-Test

p=0.011Mann-Whitney-U-Test

96

Effects of music on meditation
In the following statistical analyses are carried out for the three conditions "relaxing
music", "arousing music" and "no music". A repeated measurements ANOVA
controlling for the confounding variable "trait anxiety" showed a significant effect on"state anxiety" after meditation (p=0.033, F=4.244, n=19). Posttests with pairwise
comparisons showed a significant difference between state anxiety after meditating
to "relaxing music" and "arousing music" (p=0.025, I-J=-8.316, n=19), and between"no music" and "arousing music" (p=0.038, I-J=-7.947, n=19). All the participants
showed higher anxiety after meditating with arousing music (mean=39.47,
sd=14.053, n=19) than with relaxing music (mean=31.16, sd=7.529, n=19). They
also showed higher anxiety after meditating with arousing music, than with nomusic (mean=31.53, sd=7.493, n=19).
Furthermore a repeated measurments ANOVA controlling for the confounding
variable "trait anxiety" showed a significant effect on the degree of relaxation(p=0.013, F=5.784, n=19). Posttests with pairwise comparisons showed asignificant difference between the degree of relaxation when meditating to "relaxing
music" and "arousing music" (p=0.027, I-J=1.842, n=19), and between "no music"
and "arousing music" (p=0.009, I-J=1.737, n=19). The participants showed a higher
degree of relaxation when meditating with relaxing music (mean=5.05, sd=1.471,
n=19) than with arousing music (mean=3.21, sd=1.813, n=19), and when
meditating with no music (mean=4.95, sd=1.353, n=19) than with arousing music.
Another repeated measurements ANOVA controlling for the confounding variable"trait anxiety" showed a significant effect for the felt happiness while meditating(p=0.031, F=4.359, n=19). Posttests via pairwise comparisons showed a significant
difference between the felt happiness when meditating with relaxing music andarousing music (p=0.025, I-J=1.421, n=19). Participants were happier when
meditating with relaxing music (mean=5.11, sd=1.449, n=19) than with arousingmusic (mean=3.68, sd=1.827, n=19).
Moreover a repeated measurments ANOVA controlling for the confounding
variable "trait anxiety" showed a significant effect on the liking of the meditation(p=0.003, F=8.557, n=19). Possttests with pairwise comparisons showed a97

significant difference between liking when meditating to relaxing music andarousing music (p=0.002, I-J=1.895, n=19), and when meditating without music
and arousing music (p=0.043, I-J=1.263, n=19). Participants liked meditating withrelaxing music (mean=5.42, sd=1.465, n=19) more than with arousing music(mean=3.53, sd=1.775, n=19), and meditating without music (mean=4.79,
sd=1.398, n=19) more than with arousing music.
Furthermore a repeated measurements ANOVA controlling for the confounding
variable "trait anxiety" showed a significant effect of the tranquillized effect after
meditation compared to before meditation (p=0.002, F=9.670, n=19). Posttests
with pairwise comparisons showed a significant difference between being more
tranquillized after meditation when meditating with no music and arousing music(p=0.001, I-J=2.053, n=19). Participants were more tranquillized after meditation
when meditating with no music (mean=5.26, sd=1.240, n=19) than with arousingmusic (mean=3.21, sd=1.903, n=19).
Moreover a variable called "State-anxiety_change" was computed. This variable is
the result of the values of state anxiety after meditation minus the values of stateanxiety before meditation. A repeated measurements ANOVA controlling for "trait
anxiety" showed a significant effect for the change of state anxiety (p=0.03,
F=4.397, n=19). Posttests via pairwise comparisons showed significant differences
between the change of state anxiety when meditating with relaxing music andarousing music (p=0.031, I-J=7.684, n=19), and no music and arousing music(p=0.025, I-J=9.158, n=19). Participants were less anxious when meditating torelaxing music (mean=5.47, sd=6.586, n=19) than to arousing music (mean=-2.21,
sd=11.627, n=19), and when meditating without music (mean=6.95, sd=6.745,n=19) than with arousing music.
For an overview of the discussed significant results see the following Table 16.

98

Table 16: Shows the significant results on the effects of music on meditation
Results
Difference with mean scores
State Anxiety after meditation: relaxing music (31.16)
vs. arousing music (39.47)
State Anxiety after meditation: no music 31.53) vs.
arousing music (39.47)
Degree of relaxation: relaxing music (5.05) vs.
arousing music (3.21)
Degree of relaxation: no music (4.95) vs. arousingmusic (3.21)
Happiness: relaxing music (5.11) vs. arousing music(3.68)

Significancep=0.025p=0.038

p= 0.027

p=0.009

p=0.025

Liking: relaxing music (5.42)vs. arousing music (3.53)

p=0.002

Liking: no music (4.79) vs. arousing music (3.53)

p=0.043

More tranquilized: no music (5.26) vs. arousing music(3.21)
Change of State Anxiety: relaxing music (5.47) vs.
arousing music (-2.21)
Change of State Anxiety: no music (6.95) vs. arousingmusic (-2.21)

p=0.001p=0.031p=0.025

Statistical analysis
Posttest: Pairwise Comparisonscontrolling for "Trait Anxiety"
Posttest: Pairwise Comparisonscontrolling for "Trait Anxiety"
Posttest: Pairwise Comparisonscontrolling for "Trait Anxiety"
Posttest: Pairwise Comparisonscontrolling for "Trait Anxiety"
Posttest: Pairwise Comparisonscontrolling for "Trait Anxiety"
Posttest: Pairwise Comparisonscontrolling for "Trait Anxiety"
Posttest: Pairwise Comparisonscontrolling for "Trait Anxiety"
Posttest: Pairwise Comparisonscontrolling for "Trait Anxiety"
Posttest: Pairwise Comparisonscontrolling for "Trait Anxiety"
Posttest: Pairwise Comparisonscontrolling for "Trait Anxiety"Effects of alpha-theta-wave frequencies on meditation and relaxation
In the following, statistical analyses were carried out with the two conditions "nomusic" and "alpha-theta-wave frequencies".
A repeated measurements ANOVA controlling for the confounding variable "trait
anxiety" showed a significant difference between the easiness of getting into a
meditative state when meditating with no music and with alpha-theta-wave
frequencies (p=0.037, F=5.151, n=19). It was easier for the participants to get into99

a meditative state, when meditating without music (mean=4.42, sd=1.895, n=19)
than with alpha-theta-wave frequencies (mean=3.47, sd=1.896, n=19).
Another repeated measurements ANOVA controlling for the confounding variable"trait anxiety" showed a significant difference between feeling more tranquillized
after meditation, when meditating with no music, than with alpha-theta-wave
frequencies (p=0.035, F=5.226, n=19). Participants felt more tranquillized after
meditation, when meditating with no music (mean=5.26, sd=1.240, n=19) than withalpha-theta-wave frequencies (mean=4.42, sd=1.953, n=19).
As discussed earlier, it was found out that there are significant differences between
meditation experts and novices. Thus statistical analyses are furthermore done
independendly for experts and novices.
For an overview of the discussed significant results see the following Table 17.

Table 17: Shows the significant results on the effects of alpha-theta-wave
frequencies on meditation
Results
Difference with mean scores

Significance

Statistical analysis

Easiness: alpha-theta (3.47)vs. no music (4.42)

p=0.037

Repeated measurements ANOVA

More tranquilized: alpha-theta (4.42) vs. no music (5.26)

p=0.035

Repeated measurements ANOVA

Effects for meditation novices seperately
To be able to see changes in GSR over time, the 30 min GSR-measurements havebeen divided into six 5 minutes sections. This allows to detect possible changes ofsmaller time intervals, which might be interesting. One participant had to be
excluded due to measurements problems. A repeated measurements ANOVA
controlling for "trait anxiety" showed an almost significant difference between
CDA.SCR in the time from 20min to 25min when meditating to no music and toalpha-theta-wave frequencies (p=0.057, F=4.922, n=10). Meditation novices
showed a lower CDA.SCR value when meditating with alpha-theta-wave
frequencies (mean=0.0683, sd=0.065, n=10), than without music (mean=0.0981,
sd=0.075, n=10) This indicates a physiologically measured more relaxed state100under alpha-theta-wave frequencies. When the time interval was increased to 10
minutes, signifcant effects ceased.
For an overview of the discussed significant results see the following Table 18.

Table 18: Shows the almost significant result for meditation novices seperately
Results
Difference with mean scores
CDA.SCR 20min to 25min: alpha-theta(0.0683)vs. no music (0.0981)

Significancep=0.057

Statistical analysis
Repeated measurements ANOVA

Effects for meditation experts seperately
A repeated measurements ANOVA controlling for "trait anxiety" showed asignificant difference between the felt intensity of a meditative state when
meditating without music and with alpha-theta-wave frequencies (p=0.037,
F=7.142, n=10). Meditation experts felt a more intense meditative state when
meditating without music (mean=5.88, sd=0.835, n=8), than with alpha-theta-wave
frequencies (mean=4.50, sd=1.690, n=8).
Moreover a repeated measurements ANOVA controlling for "trait anxiety" showeda significant difference between the subjective degree of relaxation when
meditating without music and with alph-theta-wave frequencies (p=0.045, F=6.397,
n=8). Meditation experts experienced a higher degree of relaxation when
meditating without music (mean=5.63, sd=1.302, n=8) than with alpha-theta-wave
frequencies (mean=5.25, sd=1.669, n=8).
Another repeated measurements ANOVA controlling for "trait anxiety" found asignificant difference between the experienced happiness when meditating withoutmusic and with alpha-theta-wave frequencies (p=0.046, F=6.274, n=8). Meditation
experts were happier when meditating without music (mean=5.00, sd=1.690, n=8)than with alpha-theta-wave frequencies (mean=4.00, sd=1.069, n=8).
Furthermore a repeated measurements ANOVA controlling for "trait anxiety"showed a significant difference between the liking of the meditation when
meditating without music and with alpha-theta-wave frequencies (p=0.028,
101

F=8.282, n=8). Meditation experts liked the meditation more when meditating
without music (mean=5.38, sd=1.188, n=8) than with alpha-theta-wave frequencies(mean=4.50, sd=1.069, n=8).
A repeated measurements ANOVA controlling for "trait anxiety" found an almost
significant difference between the tiredness when meditating without music andwith alpha-theta-wave frequencies (p=0.065, F=5.087, n=8). Meditation experts
became

more

tired

when

meditatingwithalpha-theta-wave

frequencies(mean=4.75, sd=1.753, n=8) than without music (mean=3.63, sd=2.199, n=8).
Interesting compared to the previous result is, that a bivariate correlation showed asignificant negative correlation bewteen trait anxiety and tiredness when meditatingwith alpha-theta-wave frequencies (p=0.007, R=-0.595, n=19).
For an overview of the discussed significant results see the following Table 19.

Table 19: Shows the significant results for meditation experts seperately
Results
Difference with mean scores
Intensity: alpha-theta (4.5) vs. no music (5.88)
Degree of relaxation: alpha-theta (5.25) vs. nomusic (5.63)
Happiness: alpha-theta (4.00) vs. no music(5.00)
Liking: alpha-theta (4.50) vs. no music (5.38)
Tiredness: alpha-theta (4.75)vs. no music(3.63)

Significancep=0.037p= 0.045

p=0.046p=0.028p=0.065

Statistical analysis
Repeated measurements ANOVA
controlling for "Trait Anxiety"
Repeated measurements ANOVA
controlling for "Trait Anxiety"
Repeated measurements ANOVA
controlling for "Trait Anxiety"
Repeated measurements ANOVA
controlling for "Trait Anxiety"
Repeated measurements ANOVA
controlling for "Trait Anxiety"102Qualitative Results
As participants were asked to additionally write down what they want to mention orintersting things they experienced during meditation, qualitative data has beencollected. Some participants also started to talk to the experimenter who in turntook notes of what the participants said. In the following the obtained data will be
discussed. The focus will be on interesting notes and terms which were mentioned
more than just once by different participants (for all the notes see appendix).

Relaxing
Participants stated wonderful music to the relaxing music condition. Some of themheard windy noises or background sounds. Some of them also mentioned that theyexperienced these noises as distracting. These sounds were background sounds
on the audio files. One participant stated a short panic attack. Another one
mentioned that she wasn't able to focus that much on her meditation technique dueto the music. But she experienced the meditative state as much more intense

Arousing
Some of the participants mentioned that the music was agressive, and that they
tried not to evaluate the music, but that this was difficult. Also the fast switches
between the music pieces made it more difficult to get into a meditative state. Twoparticipants (meditation experts) mentioned that they found it intersting to meditate
to distracting music, as they had to work harder on their meditative state. Theyexperienced it as a good challenge. One participant said that the music made her
aggressive.

No music
Some of the particpants reported distracting background noises like high pitches.
These noises were produced by public transports (tram) from outside.

103

Alpha-theta-wave frequencies
Participants reported that they were not as distracted by the background noises
from public transports outside than under the condition without music. They had
the impression of experiencing the background noises in another way than withoutmusic.
Furthermore the participants reported, that they heard three times a short clicking
noise. This clicking noise is produced at the onset of the 6-10Hz frequency band.
As the audio file of the frequency band started three times in the 30 minutes
meditation these three experienced clicking noises are due to the audio file. One
participant reported a strong feeling of dizziness and that she got devious ears.
Another participant mentioned that her head felt twitchy, and asked whether there
was really nothing played by the headphones. Moreover one participant got a big
sensation of heat in the last 5 minutes of meditation.

In general, one participant mentioned that the goal of Zen meditation is not toevaluate, thus not being either happy or unhappy. Therefore she said thatratingscales concerning happiness or liking cannot really be answered.

104

105

5. Discussion
Many significant results were obtained. In the following these results will be
discussed and put into relation to the mentioned hypotheses.
The significant difference in GSR measurements between meditation experts andnovices (lower CDA.SCR or higher physiologically relaxed state for novices) while
meditating with "no music" might be due to the fact that mediation experts are used
to meditate with no music and thus the experimental artificial situation might havestressed, or influenced them more as meditation novices, since this was not theusual situation. If this is the right explanation, the fact that there is no difference
while meditating to "alpha-theta wave frequencies" might mean that this condition
was not experienced as the usual situation without music for meditation experts,
and shows that alpha- theta wave frequencies affected them. Thus this might be afirst argument for an effect of these frequencies on brain waves.
Contrary it was found that meditation experts experienced the meditative state as
more intense than novices when they listened to no music. This might be also dueto the fact that meditation experts are trained to meditate without music. But thequestion arises why meditation experts show a lower physiologically relaxed state(higher CDA.SCR) but a higher experienced intensity. The answer to this might bethat an intense meditative state is not a deeply relaxed state, and this might be dueto the fact that in a meditative state people experience out-of body sensations orhighly concentrated states, which would not be able in a deeply relaxed state,
which is maybe more similar to a tired state.
Moreover it was found that meditation experts subjectively rated the tranquillizing
effect of meditating with alpha-theta-wave frequencies as higher as meditation
novices. This significant outcome strengthens the previously stated physiologicalfinding of the GSR measurements. Since the hypothesis is that alpha-theta wave
frequencies stimulate once own brain waves in the corresponding frequencies withresonance phenomena or superposition of waves, and since meditation is said to
produce more such brain waves in humans, meditation experts might fasterproduce such brain waves by themselves and thus are more likely to be influenced
by an auditive stimulation of 6 to 10Hz frequencies. Further support to this106

argument are the results that it is easier for meditation experts to get into a
meditative state when listening to alpha-theta-wave frequencies than for meditation
novices and that meditation experts get faster into a meditative state than novices
when listening to alpha-theta-wave frequencies. Moreover it was found that
listening to these frequencies made meditation experts more tired than novices.
This is another argument for an effect of 6-10 Hz frequencies on humans,
indicating that a higher relaxed state can also lead to tiredness.
In addition it was observed that meditation experts get faster into a meditative statethan novices when listening to relaxing music. This might be due to the fact that
meditation experts are used to meditation and that relaxing music helps them toget faster into a meditative state.

It was also shown that meditation experts

experienced the meditative state as more intense than meditation novices, when
listening to relaxing music. This further shows that relaxing music really has aneffect on meditation.
The fact that most of the differences between experts and novices can only befound under the condition of alpha, shows that alpha seems to have an effect on
the brain waves of meditation experts.
Concerning the effects of music on meditation over all the participants it was
shown that meditating with arousing music led to significantly higher anxiety (tested
with STAI-X) than relaxing music and no music. This shows that arousing music
has a negative effect on meditation. Furthermore it was shown that the degree ofrelaxation was lower when meditating with arousing music than with relaxing music
or no music. This outcome seems to be obvious, but it proofs the good quality ofthe obtained data. It was also shown that participants liked meditating witharousing music less than with relaxing music and no music. Moreover it was foundthat participants felt happier when they meditated with relaxing music than witharousing music. This is another argument for the negative effect of arousing music
on meditation and a first argument for a positive effect of relaxing music on
meditation, as the condition "no music" showed no significant differences witharousing music. Furthermore it was found that participants got less anxious when
meditating with relaxing music and with no music than with arousing music.
107

Contrary arousing music led to a higher anxious state after meditation. This again
is proof for the hypothesis that arousing music has a negative effect on meditationcompared to relaxing music and no music and shows that music might be used asa distractor for meditation. Furthermore it shows that music has an effect on
meditation.
The positive effect of relaxing music on meditation is not confirmed at this stage,
because it was shown that participants were more tranquilized after meditation
when meditating with no music than with arousing music. Here no difference
between relaxing music and arousing music was found. It seems that relaxing
music has the same effect on meditation as no music. Maybe this outcome has
been provoked by background noise on the audio files of the relaxing music, which
participants described as distracting. It's possible that relaxing music would show apositive effect on meditation compared to no music without background noise. On
the other hand, when participants meditated without music they heard thebackground noise produced by the outside public transports and cars, which might
equalize the effect of background noise on relaxing music audio file.
In relation to the effects of alpha-theta-wave frequencies on meditation it was foundthat it was significantly easier for participants to get into a meditative state when
meditating without music than with 6-10Hz frequencies. Although the effect of 610Hz frequencies seems to be negative compared to no music, it shows thatalpha-theta-wave frequencies do have an effect on humans, as the outcome issignificantly different to no music. Participants also felt significantly more
tranquillized after meditating with no music than with alpha-theta-wave frequencies.
Again this is proof for an effect of 6-10Hz frequencies on humans, but at the sametime it also opens the question, whether 6-10Hz might have a negative effect on
meditation or relaxation.
Interesting at this point is that meditation novices showed an almost significant
lower CDA.SCR when meditating with alpha-theta-wave frequencies than with nomusic. This means that novices showed a much more relaxed state under 6-10Hz
frequencies. First it has to be mentioned that this finding argues again for an effectof alpha-theta-wave frequencies on meditation. The kind of effect is still unclear, as
108

it seems here, different to the previously discussed findings, that 6-10 Hz
frequencies have a positive effect on meditation and relaxation. A possible answer
is that the GSR measurements are bad, or an error occured in the whole method
section of the study. Another, maybe more likely answer is that there are different
relaxed states. It is therefore assumed that there is a difference between a relaxed
tired state and a relaxed meditative state. This could answer the discrepancy in thediscussed outcomes. While a relaxed meditative state facilitates getting into a
meditative state and leads to a more tranquillized state, a relaxed tired statehandicaps this state due to tiredness. The interesting thing is that in both cases
there is relaxation. As the GSR measures the physiological degree of relaxation,
no difference between these two different relaxed states can be seen. It seems tobe obvious that a tired relaxed states leads to a lower CDA.SCR than a meditative
relaxed state, as in a meditative state people experience quite different sensations
and a higly concentrative state, which might not be as relaxing for the body itself as
it is in a tired relaxed state.
Thus it is assumed that listening to 6-10Hz frequencies leads to a more relaxedstate via tiredness, and is thus not positive for a meditative state.
Since a possible effect of these frequencies on humans is explained with thesuperposition of waves, another possible answer is that the induced waves diddelete the existing ones and not intensify them.
A further look at the results for meditation experts stregthens the previous results
and the stated assumption. It was found that meditation experts experienced amore intense meditative state, a higher degree of relaxation, a higher happinesslevel, when meditating with no music than with alpha-theta-wave frequencies.
Moreover it was shown that meditation experts also liked meditating with no music
more than with 6-10Hz frequencies. It’s interesting that these effects have not beenfound for the novices. Thus it seems that alpha-theta-waves influence meditation
experts more than meditation novices. This could be due to several reasons suchas that meditation experts are used to meditate witout music and are distracted by
6-10Hz frequencies. It could also be due to meditation experts producing morebrain waves in the frequency range of 6-10 Hz as these are more active under109

meditative states, and thus are more influencable from outside arriving frequencies
in this range.
A further important finding is that meditation experts got more tired (p=0.065) when
meditating with alpha-theta-wave frequencies than with no music. This strengthens
the previously made assumption that there are two different types of relaxation,and that the stimulation with 6-10Hz frequencies leads to a more tired relaxedstate. In relation to these findings it is interesting that (as discussed in chaper 4.4)
Karpova and his co-workers (as cited in Leventhall et al., 2003) showed thatworkers who were exposed to infrasound of 5 Hz and 10 Hz at 100 db and 135 db
reported feelings of fatigue amongst others. It can be seen that also previous
research had come to similar results, which is further strengthening the assumptionthat an auditive stimulation of 6-10Hz frequencies provokes tiredness.
Moreover it was shown that meditation novices had a lower CDA.SCR from minute
20-25 when meditating with 6-10Hz frequencies than with no music. Important todiscuss is the fact that the effects on CDA.SCR from minute 20-25 ceased when
the time interval was increased to 10 minutes. Why did alpha-theta-wave
frequencies only have an effect on GSR from minute 20-25? While one answer
could be accidental, another answer could be that after 20 minutes of exposure to
6-10 Hz frequencies the brain started to adapt to these frequencies. Whenf we lookat the discussed literature in chapter 4.1, we can see that previous researchassumed that a constantly repeated rhythmn has to be continued at least for 13-15
minutes until this rhythmn, expressed in beats per seconds, affects brain waves atthe same frequencies (Arrien, 1996). This is an argument for the validity andimportance of the obtained result. According to this, it has to be assumed that thebrain has to be stimulated with frequencies for a particular period of time, until it
starts adapting to these frequencies. That this effect ceased after 25 minutes,
could thus be due to the participants anticipating the end of the study and thus got
into a more aroused state. It appears obvious, as this effect was only found withmeditation novices, which are not used to meditate for 30 minutes. Thus 30
minutes of sitting quiet, calm and trying to meditate can be really striking and thus110can increase arousal with time. Therefore this effect becomes much more
important.
Furthermore its striking that meditation experts showed no significant differences intheir GSR measurements. Why did alpha-theta-wave frequencies have a shortphysiologically measureable effect on meditation novices but not on meditation
experts? And vice-versa, why did alpha-theta-wave frequencies have subjective
effects on meditation experts but not on meditation novices?
There are different possible answers to this question. Maybe the GSR measuring
hardware didn’t work properly. A more likely answer is the difference of expertise in
meditation. As most of the meditation novices did not have a lot of experience inmeditation, they were more focused on trying to get into a meditative state thanbeing aware of how they feel. Thus they did not subjectively perceive any
differences. Whereas meditation experts don’t have to focus that much of getting
into a meditative state and thus experience differences consciously. The foundphysiological effect of 6-10Hz frequencies from minute 20 to 25 could be due torelaxing tiredness provoked through resonance phenomena or superposition ofwaves. The fact that there is no such effect for meditation experts might be due tothe fact that meditation experts consciously perceived that they are getting tired,
and thus tried to counteract tiredness to stay in a meditative state. This conflictmight have influenced the GSR measuremnts and of course also the subjective
ratings. It is also possible that counteracting tiredness prevented them of getting
into a tired relaxed state which might have diminished CDA.SCR. This assumption
is supported by the previously discussed finding that meditation experts rated thesubjectively

perceived

tirednesswhen

meditatingwithalpha-theta-wave

frequencies more pronounced than with no music. Moreover no subjective effects
were found for meditation novices, which further argues for the stated assumption.
Looking at the qualitative results it seems to be obvious that the background noisesof the relaxing music audio file influenced participants in a negative way. It is
possible that this further influenced the outcome of this study and thus it’s still not
clear whether relaxing music has a more positive effect on meditation than nomusic. Further investigations should be carried out concentrating on a high quality111

of the audio files with no background noises. On the other hand participants havealso been distracted by background noises in the conditions „no music“ and „alphatheta-wave frequencies“. In this case the background noises were not produced
from the audio file, but from public transports outside the lab. Since every condition
included background noise it could be assumed that it is negligible. But it could
also be argued that artificial background noise on an audio-file with music is more
distracting than naturally occuring background noise from outside.
Concerning the effects of alpha-theta-wave frequencies, it is interesting thatparticipants reported a kind of altered experience of the background noises when
listening to 6-10Hz frequencies than when listening to no music. It is possible thatthe sense of hearing is influenced by frequencies below the hearing threshold.
Furthermore the fact that some participants perceived a difference between the two
conditions „6-10Hz frequencies“ and „no music“ shows that these frequencies
below the hearing threshold do have an effect on humans. Further interesting isthat three different participants reported negative sensations when listening toalpha-theta-wave frequencies. They reported dizziness, experience of heat in thelast 5 minutes, devious ears and the feeling of a twitchy head. Interesting to add atthis point is that (as discussed in chapter 4.4) Alves-Pereira and Castelo Branco(2007, as cited in Persinger, 2014) identified the vibracousitc syndrom as aconsequence of exposure to infrasound. The symptoms of this disease include
amongst others dizziness. Thus previous research showed results similar to thementioned feelings of some participants. This seems to argue for a negative effectof 6-10Hz frequencies. A possible effect of these frequencies on humans is
explained via the physical law of the superposition of waves. There are possible
effects these frequencies can have on the brain waves. On one hand they canintensify the existing brain waves, but on the other hand they can delete theexisting brain waves. Thus it is furthermore possible that the condition of „alphatheta-wave frequencies“ lead to an intensification of existing brain waves in someparticpants (leading to positive effects), but to a deletion of existing brain waves inother participants (leading to negative effects). While this assumption can explain
discrepancy in the findings of 6-10 Hz frequencies between experts and novices, it112

is also possible that the mean values are not representing the data, as it seems
like there is no effect, although there is an effect.
It has to be stated here that participants heard three clicking sounds in the „alphatheta-wave frequencies“ condition, which might have influenced the outcome of thestudy.

113

6.

Conclusion

According to the discussed findings it can be summarized that arousing music has
a negative effect on meditation in different aspects. Although the GSR
measurements did not show any significant effects on CDA.SCR there have been
a lot of different subjectively rated significant effects like a higher state anxiety(measured with a standardized questionnaire), less happiness, less relaxation, orless tranquillization. Moreover the stated hypothesis that arousing music has amore negative effect on meditation than relaxing music and no music holds true.
As further discussed the hypothesis that relaxing music has a more positive effecton meditation than no music and arousing music is just partly true. No doubt,
relaxing music has a more positive effect than arousing music, but there is nodifference between the effect of relaxing music and no music on meditation. As
there was background noise on the relaxing music audio file, the outcome of thestudy was influenced and it is still possible that relaxing music has a more positiveeffect on meditation than no music. Nevertheless this study did not prove such aneffect.
Moreover the last hypothesis that alpha-theta-wave frequencies have a morepositive effect on meditation than no music, is also just partly true. As previously
discussed, it can be summarized that alpha-theta-wave frequencies have a positiveeffect on a relaxed state achieved through tiredness and also on physiologicalmeasurements of relaxation (GSR). On the other hand these frequencies have anegative effect on a relaxed state achieved through meditation. At least this study
shows that frequencies below the hearing threshold indeed influence humans andthat alpha- theta wave frequencies can be used to increase tiredness, which canbe really helpful.

114

Further Research
It would be interesting to test whether infrasounds really influence acuesthesia (asdiscussed under qualitative results) and in which way they do so. Possible findings
could be used to explore new ways of noise prevention.
Moreover it would be important to replicate this study focusing on relaxing musicwith a higher number of participants and audio files in high quality with nobackground noise.
To explore possible effects of 6-10Hz frequencies on brain waves it would be
important to have a study just concentrating on infrasounds with EEG
measurements. EEG data would enable to show a possible deletion or
enforcement of brainwaves through infrasounds. Moreover different conditions withdifferent frequency bands or single frequencies should be applied in such a study
and it should also be studied, which SPL is best or necessary to stimulate thehuman brain.
The effect of frequencies in other ranges on humans should be explored. Maybe
positive effects on humans could be detected and used as therapy (i.e.:
concentration enhancement).

Practical Imlpications
What is the use of this study? What are practical implications?
Alpha-theta-wave frequencies could be used against sleeping disorders. They
could help people to easier fall asleep. Moreover they could be therapeuticallyused as stress prevention tools, due to their physiologically relaxing effect.
Another practical implication is the certainty that the kind of music used for
meditation should be consciously chosen, as too arousing music has a negative
effect on meditation.

115

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122

Appendix
1) Instruction for particpants

Lieber Versuchsteilnehnmer,
vielen Dank für die Teilnahme am Experiment. Das Experiment besteht aus
mehreren Teilen. Es beginnt mit einem kurzen Fragebogen der deinen aktuellen
und generellen Gemütszustand erfragt. Danach wirst du gebeten einen kleinen
Konzentrationstest zu machen.
Darauf folgt der Hauptteil der Studie mit einer 30 minütigen Meditation. Hierbei
wirst du Kopfhörer tragen. In den insgesamt 4 Testungen wirst du 2 mal Musikhören und 2 mal keine Musik hören. Bitte übe die Meditation so aus, wie du es
gewohnt bist. Wenn du noch keine Erfahrung mit Meditation hast, werden dir vom
Versuchsleiter einleitende Tipps für Meditation gegeben. Auch wenn dir die Musik
nicht gefällt, bitten wir dich trotzdem weiter zu versuchen zu meditieren. Des
Weiteren wird dein Hautleitwert über ein Hautleitwert-Messgerät gemessen. Dieses
hat keinerlei Auswirkungen auf dich und deinen Körper.

Das Ende der 30

minütigen Meditation wird durch einen Glockenton signalisiert.
Danach wirst du erneut gebeten einen kleinen Konzentrationstest und einen
Fragebogen zu deinem aktuellen Gemütszustand durchzuführen. Zum Schluss
folgt ein letzter kurzer Fragebogen.

Bitte beantworte alle Fragen ehrlich! Es gibt keine richtigen oder falschen
Antworten. Die gesamte Studie ist anonym. Es werden keinerlei Daten von dirgespeichert oder weitergegeben.

Hier noch 3 Fragen zu deiner Person.
Geschlecht:
Alter:
Meditationstechnik die von dir angewendet wird:

1232) STOMP-R
Bitte bewerten Sie Ihre Präferenz für jede der aufgelisteten musikalischen Genres anhand
der vorgegebenen Werte. 1 steht dabei für "mag ich gar nicht" und in aufsteigender
Reihenfolge 7 für "mag ich sehr"

1-----------------2-----------------3-----------------4-----------------5-----------------6----------------7
mag ich

weder

mögen

mag ichgar nicht

noch nicht mögensehr

1. _____ Alternative
2. _____ Bluegrass
3. _____ Blues
4. _____ Classical
5. _____ Country
6. _____ Dance/Electronica
7. _____ Folk
8. _____ Funk
9. _____ Gospel
10. _____ Heavy Metal
11. _____ International/Foreign
12. _____ Jazz

13. _____ New Age
14. _____ Oldies
15. _____ Opera
16. _____ Pop
17. _____ Punk
18. _____ Rap/hip-hop
19. _____ Reggae
20. _____ Religious
21. _____ Rock
22. _____ Soul/R&B
23. _____ Soundtracks/theme

song_____________________________________________________________________________________Music preference dimensions scoring:

Reflective & Complex: 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15

Intense & Rebellious: 1, 10, 17, 21

Upbeat & Conventional: 5, 9, 14, 16, 20, 23

Energetic & Rhythmic: 6, 8, 18, 19, 22
1243) STAI-X

Im Folgenden Fragebogen finden Sie eine Reihe von Feststellungen, mit denen man sichselbst beschreiben kann. Bitte lesen Sie jede Feststellung durch und wählen Sie aus denvier Antworten diejenige aus, die angibt, wie Sie sich jetzt, das heißt in diesem Moment,
fühlen.

Es gibt keine richtigen oder falschen Antworten. Überlegen Sie bitte nicht lange und denken
Sie daran, diejenige Antwort auszuwählen, die Ihren augenblicklichen Gefühlszustand am
besten beschreibt.

Ein Beispiel:

Ich bin überanstrengt

Bitte machen Sie ein Kreuz bei der Antwort die für Sie im Moment zutrifft.

125

Ich bin ruhig

Ich fühle mich geborgen

Ich fühle mich angespannt

Ich bin bekümmert

126

Ich bin gelöst

Ich bin aufgeregt

Ich bin besorgt, dass etwas schiefgehen könnte

Ich fühle mich ausgeruht

127

Ich bin beunruhigt

Ich fühle mich wohl

Ich fühle mich selbstsicher

Ich bin nervös

128

Ich bin zappelig

Ich bin verkrampft

Ich bin entspannt

Ich bin zufrieden

129

Ich bin besorgt

Ich bin überreizt

Ich bin froh

Ich bin vergnügt

130Anschließend finden Sie ebenfalls eine Reihe von Feststellungen, mit denen
man sich selbst beschreiben kann. Bitte lesen Sie wieder jede Feststellung
durch und wählen Sie aus den vier Antworten diejenige aus, die angibt, wie Siesich im Allgemeinen fühlen.

Es gibt keine richtigen oder falschen Antworten. Überlegen Sie bitte nicht lange
und denken Sie daran, diejenige Antwort auszuwählen, die am Besten
beschreibt, wie Sie sich im Allgemeinen fühlen.

Ein Beispiel:

Ich kann mich gut entspannen

Bitte kreuzen Sie die Antwort an, die für Sie im Allgemeinen zutrifft.

131

Ich bin vergnügt

Ich werde schnell müde

Mir ist zum Weinen zumute

Ich glaube, mir geht es schlechter als anderen Leuten

132

Ich verpasse günstige Gelegenheiten, weil ich mich nicht schnell genug
entscheiden kannIch fühle mich ausgeruht

Ich bin ruhig und gelassen

Ich glaube, dass mir meine Schwierigkeiten über den Kopf wachsen

133

Ich mache mir zu viel Gedanken über unwichtige Dinge

Ich bin glücklich

Ich neige dazu, alles schwer zu nehmen

Mir fehlt es an Selbstvertrauen

134

Ich fühle mich geborgen

Ich mache mir Sorgen über mögliches MissgeschickIch fühle mich niedergeschlagenIch bin zufrieden

135Unwichtige Gedanken gehen mir durch den Kopf und bedrücken mich

Enttäuschungen nehme ich so schwer, dass ich sie nicht vergessen kannIch bin ausgeglichen

Ich werde nervös und unruhig, wenn ich an meine derzeitigen Angelegenheiten
denke

136

4) Rating Scales

Bitte beantworten Sie die folgenden Fragen intuitiv, schnell und ohne lange
nachzudenken. Es gibt keine richtigen oder falschen Antworten.
Bitte kreuzen Sie bei den folgenden Fragen den Wert an, der Ihrer Meinung
nach am Besten passt. Hierbei stehen Ihnen in aufsteigender Reihenfolge 7
Werte zur Verfügung. 1 steht dabei für "gar nicht" und in aufsteigender
Reihenfolge 7 für "sehr".

Wichtige Anmerkung: Wenn von einem meditativen Zustand die Rede ist, istfolgendes gemeint: Ein bewusstseinsveränderter Zustand wie zum Beispiel
Veränderung des Denkens, der Zeitwahrnehmung, der Kontrolle, derEmotionen, des Körperempfindens und der Wahrnehmung von Bedeutung undWichtigkeit.

1) Wie intensiv war der erlebte meditative Zustand?

2) Wie einfach war es in einen meditativen Zustand zu kommen?

1373) Wie entspannend war die Meditation für Sie?

4) Wie glücklich fühlten Sie sich während der Meditation?

5) Wie sehr hat Ihnen die Meditation gefallen?

6) Wieviel beruhigter sind Sie nun, im Vergleich zu vor der Meditation?

1387) Wie müde waren Sie durch die Meditation?

Die folgende Frage hat wieder 7 verschiedene Antwortmöglichkeiten zur
Verfügung. Bitte beantworten Sie die folgende Frage intuitiv, schnell und ohne
lange nachzudenken. Es gibt keine richtigen oder falschen Antworten.

8) Wie schnell sind Sie circa in einen meditativen Zustand gekommen?

9) Gibt es etwas das Ihnen während der Meditation aufgefallen ist?

10) Möchten Sie noch etwas in Bezug auf die Meditation erwähnen, dass nochnicht gefragt worden ist? Bitte nutzen Sie den nachfolgenden Platz um dies zu
tun.

139

5) Qualitative results
Relaxing musicjede Menge / Normalerweise sitze ich ohne Musik. Da ich teilweise die Musikstücke kannte, kamen
Erinnerungen aus der Kindheit hoch. Wir sitzen mit der Idee, nicht zu merken, ob uns etwas gefällt
oder nicht. Daher empfinde ich es als etwas irritierend, meine Meditation zu "werten".
Augenzucken ab ca. 20 Minuten; Gefühl als wäre eine Störquelle angegeangen. Konnte dann die
Konzentration schwer halten. ( ab ca. 20 minuten berichtet sie war sie gestresst --> sie hat etwas
wie einen Wind gehört --> Das Rauaschen der Klaviermusik ist ab Minute 18 lauter möglicherweise war dies die Störquelle --> sie wollte die Kopfhörer schon fast abnehmen
Ablenkung durch wunderschöne Musik am Anfang doch sehr großwunderbare Musik / (sie ist eingeschlafen)
nicht der fokus auf die Tecnik --> war nicht so möglich --> aber durch die Musik war ein anderer
Zustand in einen meditativen Zustand möglich der ihr (laut ihr) einen intensiveren meditativen
Zustand ermöglichte --> kurz: weniger Fokus auf "Muh" beim Ausatmen --> dafür aber intensiverer
meditativer Zustand als sonst --> war auch schon bei "stressend" sowurde sehr müde, aber angenehmes Gefühl / war ziemlich schnell in der Meditation drinnen
eigentlich nicht
Bei der Musik (klass. Klavier) ist zu hören, wenn das Pedal getreten wird. Bei manchen Aufnahmenklingt es, als würde im Hintergrund jemand mit einem sehr dicken Edding auf Papier zeichnen.
kurzer AngstzustandHintergrundgeräusche hinter der Klaviermusik
je lauter die Musik desto leichter schaltet man abdas Musik nicht förderlich ist
Hintergrundgeräusche / Filmmusik "Ziemlich beste Freunde"
Ich habe ab ca. 15/20 min Geräusche aus meiner Rücken-/Wirbelsäulengegend, besonders beim
Einatmen, wahrgenommen (Muskelstränge oder Sehnen? Keine Ahnung) / Zwischendurch hätte ichlieber keine Musik gehabt
Beim Wechsel der Musik wechselt auch die Tiefe der Meditation
Ich habe im Hintergrund immer ein Rauschen wahrgenommen und konnte mich dadurch nicht
wirklich auf die Musik einlassen, obwohl mir diese eigentlich gefallen hat. Ich fand die Musik
grundsätzlich entspannend, aber das Rauschen hat mich trotzdem gestört.

Arousing music
die laute und "agressive" Musik kann durchaus entspannend sein/ elektro sound hingegenhabe ich als unangenehm empfundenzu Beginn keine persönliche Gedankenwelt, trotz Bewertung der Musik Fokus auf Übung
möglich; gegen Ende tendenziell gestresst und überreizt; (" sie sagt sie war sehr beeinflusst
von der Musik und ihrer Bewertung --> dann hat sie es aber geschafft")
Herzrasen / mir wurde übelZustand hat sich mit dem Musikwechsel verändert
optische Halluzinationen
Musik, die ich kannte (Skrillex) hat mich sehr "gefangen" --> Fokus auf Musik140

gegen Ende hin wurde es immer anstrengender
Die Wechsel zwischen den Liedern haben mich wieder herausgerissen, mit elektronischer
Musik ("Dubstep") war es leichter für mich abzuschalten als mit Metal.
Das der Zustand (Musik) der Meditation nicht förderlich ist / es hat sich mir die Frage nach derSinnhaftigkeit dieses Tuns gestellt und auch der Relevanz der Daten…
Lieder haben sich wiederholt / es war eher lustig als entspannend

Schwierig in einen meditativen Zustand zu kommen da zu schnelle Musikwechsel (und diesehoch [oder doch?] sehr bass-/taktlastig
Metal hat mich sehr angespannt. Ich hatte das Gefühl. Dass ich etwas aggressiv werde.

no music
Sitzposition war angangs nicht so gut, generell wäre sitzen auf einem Kissen vermutlich
besser. Anfangs hatte ich Herzklopfen.
Schwierigkeit, meditativen Zustand klar von Haöbschlaf zu unterscheiden
starke Störgeräusche durch Umgebung
ein quietschendes Fenster, 2mal; Schritte im Raum kurz; Phantasien, Erinnerunge;
Bewegung davor (davon?) Weg als lösend empfunden (Gesamtsichtveränderung); Idee
künstlerische Arbeit / zum Schluss Kopfhörer gespürt
Die Zeit ist sehr schnell vergangen, als bei der 1. Sitzung um 14:00(von mir: aufeinmal hat ein Saxophonspieler draußen zu spielen begonnen)
mehrmals weggenickt / Ohrwürmer, die ich nicht ausblenden konnte / (sie sagte, dass sie
diesesmal nicht meditieren konnte)

mein Telefon hat geklingelt
an einigen Stellen einen hohen Ton gehört, der relativ unangenehm war (Notiz von mir:ich denke das war die Straßenbahn")

Zu Beginn: es war sehr schwer an nichts zu denken und abzuschalten

141alpha- theta wave frequencies

Ich habe 1 mal die Augen geöffnet und ca. 3 Sekunden später was ein höheres Geräusch zu hören.
Mehrmals (3mal) kamen Piepsgeräusche. [sie dachte, dass sie etwas über die Kopfhörer
wahrgenommen hat --> wollte wissen ob ich etwas abgespielt habe / sie hat vermutlich die
Umgebungsgeräusche (Bim) wahrgenommen aber sagte, dass diese im Vergleich zu "ohne Musik"
anders waren --> möglicherweise Verzerrung der Umgebungsgeräusche durch die Wellen. / Ihr
KOpf fühlt sich zappelig an / Sie siagt sie kann sich fast nicht auf die Fragen konzentrieren / sie
wirkt etwas verwirrt auf mich und daneben/ Beim state test zu t2 hat sie "Gehirn zappelig" und"Kann mich nicht konzentrieren" geschrieben.
sehr starkes Hitzegefühl 5 min vor Ende, plötzlich enorme Unruhe, hatte das Gefühl, nicht mehr
still sitzen zu können ("sie spricht davon, dass sie 2 mal so richtig weggedrifftet ist --> also in einen
meditativen Zustand.")Der Sessel war weniger bequem.
Sie hatte am Vorabend ein hartes, anstrengendes Gespräch. Das erschwerte ihr das ganze Anfangs.
Sie war in Gedanken beim Gespräch.
leise Wahrnehmung durch die Kopfhörer (laute Töne) / keine Regung von Glück oder Unglück indiesen 30 Minuten. Leere, nichts Denken…
kein durchgehend meditativer Zustandim Vergleich zu "ohne Musik" 1 Stunde davor, war es laut ihr viel leichter --> auch sie berichtet
wieder dass sie die Umgebungsgeräusche gar nicht wahrgenommen
Die "Wolken" haben die Richtung gewechselt, was gar nicht so angenehm war. Gong zum Ende hatmich erschreckt. (Notiz von mir: "Sie beschrieb den Zustand als insgesamt intensiver [als stressend]--> insgesamt 2. Durchgang)ohne Musik war es schwerer in einen meditativen Zustand zu kommen
3mal kam ein Geräusch auf dem rechten Ohr
es kam ihr länger vor als die Meditation "Aufreibend" und "ohne Musik"mein Telefon hat geläutet; 2mal war ein kurzes Knacken zu hören
3, 4 mal Geräusche (kurz)
starkes Schwindelgefühl, Gefühl wie bei beschlagenen Ohren nach einiger Zeit
Ganz ohne Musik hat mich irgendwie auch irritiert, weil es ja trotzdem nie ganz ruihg ist - andere
Geräusche werden dominant Und meine Hände/ Handgelänke fühlten sich so unfassbar schwer an.
("die Meditation kam ihr länger vor als die anderen --> auch länger als "ohne Musik"

Hatte den Eindruck Geräusche zu hören ("es ist ihr anders vorgekommen als die anderen
Testungen --> vor allem eben die Umgebungsgeräusche / Geräusche")142

general
2mal 12 Personenzimmer; 1mal HS 27 und 1mal Besucherzentrum --> die 2
letzteren waren viel ruhier --> verfäclsche Ergebnisse ( auch bei Anna Maringer)
Ratings wie glücklich oder Gefallen ist bei Zen laut ihr nicht möglich. --> manversucht nicht wertend zu sein - also weder glücklich noch unglücklich -->möglicherweise rausnhemensie hatte für die 2. Zeile des d2r "danach" mehr Zeit (--> zu spät gestoppt)"ohne Musik" und "alpha" wurden beide im Besucherzentrum getestet
Ich habe persönlich das Gefühl, dass es Herrn Dosen nicht gefreut hat und er
bewusst gegen die Ergebnisse gearbeitet hat. --> Das heißt beim
Konzentrationstest zu Zeitpunkt 2 habe ich das Gefühl, dass es Ihn einfach nicht
gefreut hat gscheit zu arbeiten.

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