(Washington) Fans of electronic music know it well: as soon as a DJ turns on the bass, the crowd gets carried away and responds by accentuating their dance steps. But to what extent is this effect conscious?
Posted at 10:44 a.m.
Researchers have taken a closer look at the relationship between low frequencies and dance, thanks to a life-size experiment during a concert.
The results, published Monday in the scientific journal Current Biologyshow that participants danced almost 12% more when very low frequencies were imperceptibly broadcast, in addition to music.
The public “was not aware of these changes, but they nevertheless guided their movements”, summed up David Cameron, neuroscientist and lead author of the study, to AFP.
These results thus confirm the “special relationship” between basses and dance, observed above all anecdotally.
At parties, “people tend to turn up the bass,” noted the researcher at McMaster University in Canada, himself a drummer. And across all cultures, it is mostly “low frequency instruments, such as the bass guitar or drums, that provide the pulse of the music. »
“But what we didn’t know was: can we really make people dance more with basses? “, he explained.
The experiment, conducted in Canada, took place at the LIVElab, a building that serves as both a concert hall and a research laboratory.
About 60 people – out of the 130 or so who came to attend the concert by the electronic music duo Orphx – agreed to wear a headband fitted with a sensor, recording their movements in real time.
Then, during the concert, the researchers intermittently turned on and off special very low-frequency speakers.
The scientists verified — using a questionnaire completed by the participants after the concert and a separate experiment — that these frequencies were indeed inaudible. Such a method made it possible to isolate the bass effect, preventing it from being disturbed by other factors, such as knowing or not knowing the piece played.
Intuitive
“I was impressed with the effect,” said David Cameron.
According to him, two hypotheses can explain why the basses make us dance so much. On the one hand, they could stimulate the tactile system (the skin), but also the vestibular system, more commonly called the inner ear.
However, the connection between these systems and the motor system, at the origin of the movements, is very close. Above all, it is intuitive, because it does not pass through the frontal lobe of the brain.
This stimulation could thus give “a little momentum to the motor system, and add a little energy and vigor to the movements”, advanced the researcher, who wishes to verify this hypothesis in future experiments.
As for the big question of knowing why humans dance at all, the mystery continues.
“I have always been interested in rhythm, and particularly in what makes rhythm make us want to move”, despite the lack of apparent function, notes David Cameron.
The various theories put forward often imply the idea of social cohesion.
“When we synchronize with others, we then tend to feel a connection with them”, underlined the researcher. “It allows us to feel better as a group and therefore to function better as a group: to be more effective and to promote peace. »
No offense to disgruntled neighbors: the bass could therefore ultimately well, too, help to soften the morals.