Search Results (167)

The ergogenic effects of music have been well described across various modes of exercise with widespread use across competitive athletes and recreational exercisers alike. Underlying the acute beneficial effects of music during exercise are profound physiological and psychological changes which involve an array of different organ systems, including but not limited to cardiovascular, endocrine, skeletal muscle, and nervous systems. While the use of music to enhance physical performance and improve associated mechanisms has been largely optimized in healthy individuals, the investigations of the translation to individuals with neurological conditions are still ongoing. Recently, it has been established that the personalization of music interventions greatly influences performance-enhancing benefits and aids in physical performance optimization in healthy individuals. Self-selected music (SSM) has been documented to impart ergogenic advantages over pre-determined or non-preferred music, including improved cardiorespiratory endurance, power development, and velocity of movement which are characterized by adaptative physiological and psychological changes. Evidence of the benefits of SSM has progressed to the degree to which the overlap of possible benefits between healthy and clinical populations is becoming more apparent. This aim of this theoretical review is to discuss how personalized music influences psychophysiological determinants of exercise ability in healthy individuals and consider how these findings may be applicable to neurological conditions to enhance exercise capacity. The current knowledge on the role of SSM in augmenting physiological and psychological responses to exercise in healthy individuals is presented along with how these mechanisms might be leveraged to overcome exercise limitations in neurological conditions. Overall, SSM appears to have theoretical support to be a promising therapeutic approach to improving exercise ability in neurological conditions through similar ergogenic mechanisms documented in healthy individuals, but further investigation is warranted. Full article

Music learning can provide students with significant emotional and educational benefits, including stress relief, increased confidence, self-expression, brain development, enhanced attention, and perseverance. Despite these advantages, many students perceive music lessons as less important and tend to pay less attention in music classrooms. Consequently, motivation plays a crucial role for both teachers and students in facilitating an effective teaching and learning process in music education. Although motivation is generally understood as a student’s desire to engage in the learning process, it remains a complex concept that researchers and educators continue to explore across various educational contexts. This study aimed to review students’ motivation for classroom music by analyzing research from different studies in music education. Following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, 27 studies were reviewed and included. The findings identified four theoretical constructs related to motivation in classroom music: expectancy–value theory, self-determination theory, mastery motivation, and achievement goal theory. Among these, the first two were most commonly discussed across the reviewed studies. All the reviewed studies employed self-reported questionnaires as their primary assessment tools. Most studies indicated that girls demonstrated higher motivation levels than boys in music classrooms. Additionally, the findings emphasized that teachers’ instructional strategies are critical for enhancing students’ motivation. This study contributes to the field of music education by highlighting the pivotal role of teacher strategies in fostering motivation and by providing a comprehensive review of motivational theories, assessment tools, and gender-related motivational differences in music education. Full article

This study investigates the relationship between gender and global media consumption habits, platform preferences, and engagement types. Prior research suggests that gender significantly influences media preferences, with men being traditionally engaged with news, action-oriented content, and competitive media, and women with entertainment, lifestyle, and social media-driven content. The current primary quantitative research is based on a questionnaire that was distributed online and answered by 292 respondents, equally distributed between men and women. The research findings showed that men are more likely to consume news, video games, and discussion-based media. On the other hand, women showed higher engagement with entertainment content, music, and listening-based media. Pearson’s correlation analysis, conducted using SPSS (v23), further confirmed these gendered preferences. Despite the persistence of traditional gendered media patterns, this research also identified the areas in which digital platforms seem to facilitate more balanced engagement across the two genders. Full article

Modern audio production workflows often require significant manual effort during the initial session preparation phase, including track labeling, format standardization, and gain staging. This paper presents a rule-based and Machine Learning-assisted automation system designed to minimize the time required for these tasks in Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs). The system automatically detects and labels audio tracks, identifies and eliminates redundant fake stereo channels, merges double-tracked instruments into stereo pairs, standardizes sample rate and bit rate across all tracks, and applies initial gain staging using target loudness values derived from a Genetic Algorithm (GA)-based system, which optimizes gain levels for individual track types based on engineer preferences and instrument characteristics. By replacing manual setup processes with automated decision-making methods informed by Machine Learning (ML) and rule-based heuristics, the system reduces session preparation time by up to 70% in typical multitrack audio projects. The proposed approach highlights how practical automation, combined with lightweight Neural Network (NN) models, can optimize workflow efficiency in real-world music production environments. Full article

Background/Objectives: This study examined the effect of sound preference on loudness tolerance (LTLs) and preferred listening levels (PLLs) using personal listening devices (PLDs). The implication of this relationship on hearing health promotion counseling and practices using PLDs is discussed. Methods: Participants were 50 individuals, aged 21 to 90 years, with normal hearing or hearing loss. Listeners rated several sound samples (i.e., music, running speech, and machinery noise) played through a PLD using earphones according to their sound preference (i.e., enjoyable, acceptable, and unpleasant) and then self-adjusted the volume setting to their LTL and PLL for a sound sample in each sound preference category. Results: Most listeners judged music (70%) as enjoyable, running speech (54%) as acceptable, and machinery noise (84%) as unpleasant. No significant differences were found in LTLs according to sound preference, but PLLs for enjoyable sounds occurred at significantly higher levels compared with those deemed acceptable or unpleasant. Conclusions: Listeners using PLDs perceived LTLs and PLLs differently according to their sound preferences. PLLs occurred at significantly higher volumes for sounds deemed enjoyable when using PLDs. The implication is that hearing health counseling should include information to PLD users on the potential of altered loudness perception with enjoyable sounds, which may lead to higher and riskier PLD listening levels. Full article

Background: Gait disturbance in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) significantly impacts quality of life and is not completely mitigated by dopaminergic treatment. Auditory cueing has been shown to help improve certain aspects of gait, but its effects when matched to individuals’ preferred walking rate remain unexplored. Methods: Nine individuals with PD walked at their preferred rate across a GAITRite^® mat under three separate conditions: self-paced, metronome-cued, and music-cued. Spatiotemporal gait measures were collected and analyzed using repeated measures ANOVAs and post-hoc paired-samples t-tests. Results: A main effect of condition was revealed for step width (F = 3.533, p = 0.054, η_p² = 0.306), with reduced step width revealed during the music-cued condition. Post-hoc analysis revealed no significance (p > 0.063). Conclusions: The trend in step width data suggests a potential benefit of music cueing for enhancing gait stability in persons with PD. Results of this pilot study provide valuable framework for future research and the development of therapeutic interventions to enhance gait stability, reduce fall risk, and improve overall quality of life. Full article

Music can evoke powerful, positive, and meaningful experiences, but how does its potential to evoke such experiences come about? Listening to the music itself is critical, but referents (the thoughts, ideas, events, and affects associated with the music) are also relevant. We found a lack of understanding in the literature regarding the processes through which music evokes meaning through referents. To address this lacuna, we built on modern conceptions of framing theory. The following four framing processes were proposed, with each acting on different time scales (shortest [S] to longest [L]), and with an increasingly top-down [T] influence: (1) fluency [S]—the ease with which the accompanying information (about the music) can be mentally processed, with easy-to-process material leading to ‘increased preference/positive evaluation of the music’ [IPPE]; (2) facilitation—the content of the messaging directly influences IPPE, for example, when referring to the beauty of the music or the talent of the composer; (3) affiliation—when social influences imbue the music with meaning; and (4) fit [L, T]—when the other processes lead to long-term personal and cultural IPPE through norms and habits. Together, these processes can be applied to provide a comprehensive account of how musical meaning and preferences are developed. Three case studies show how these processes can be applied to the extant literature: why negatively framed music only has a relatively small (negative) impact on IPPE; why adding crowd sounds to recorded music only has a small effect; and how ‘labels’ such as Beethoven and Mozart become established and then impose top-down influence on music’s meaning. Full article

Background: For children, the decision to play a specific musical instrument may be influenced by several factors. Among them, a relevant role is played by beliefs about gender appropriateness of musical instruments, which may guide the choice toward instruments “for boys” or “for girls”. This would limit the range of choices available, overshadowing preferences based on aesthetic and personal tastes. Methods: the current study aims to investigate stereotypical beliefs about gender appropriateness of musical instruments among Italian primary and middle school students. An online questionnaire with close-end and open-end questions has been proposed to 370 students. Qualitative and quantitative analyses have been performed. Results: indications emerged about the presence of specific beliefs about gender appropriateness for some musical instruments. There is a tendency for both girls and boys to express a major preference for those instruments which are considered “feminine” (for girls) and “masculine” (for boys). Conclusions: Among children, there still persist some gender stereotypes about specific instruments, although these are not so strong. The gender of the participants, and not their level of education and musical experience, seems to be a discriminating factor in the appearance of such beliefs. Educators should encourage students to experiment with different musical instruments. Full article

This article examines the correlation between “trendy” musical features and contemporary worship songs for kids. We engage in music video analysis, comparing three songs from a range of contemporary worship children’s ministries to critically examine the messages that their children’s covers convey. Further, we question how contemporary worship music videos form children’s preferences and musical tastes, drawing on Lucy Green’s writing on musical taste formation and intersonic properties (2008). We argue that when children’s religious and musical experiences are formed by adults’ assumptions of their preferences—including that they prefer fun, cool, and trendy music—their overall experience of Christian music may be limited. Full article

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of background music on text comprehension using eye-tracking technology. Ten Greek undergraduate students read four texts under the following four reading conditions: preferred music, non-preferred music, café noise, and in silence. Eye movements were tracked to assess visual patterns, while reading performance and attitudes were also evaluated. The results showed that fixation measures remained stable across conditions, suggesting that early visual processing is not significantly influenced by auditory distractions. However, reading performance significantly declined under non-preferred music, highlighting its disruptive impact on cognitive processing. Participants also reported greater difficulty and fatigue in this condition, consistent with an increased cognitive load. In contrast, preferred music and silence were associated with enhanced understanding, confidence, and immersion, café noise also had a moderate but manageable effect on reading outcomes. These findings underscore the importance of tailoring reading environments to individual preferences in order to optimize reading performance and engagement. Future research studies should focus on the effects of different musical attributes, such as tempo and genre, and use more complex reading tasks, in order to better understand how auditory stimuli interact with cognitive load and visual processing. Full article

The Korean popular music (K-pop) industry, with its global popularity and increasing multilingual orientation, serves as a suitable context for exploring language perceptions. This research examines the metalinguistic commentary on K-pop idols’ English accents on YouTube. Specifically, we investigate how online users evaluate the idols’ English accents and how their metalinguistic comments communicate linguistic ideologies that favor a “native” way of speaking. Our dataset consists of 602 metalinguistic comments drawn from four popular YouTube videos featuring the evaluation of K-pop idols’ accents. We employ content analysis to first categorize comments into positive, negative, and neutral evaluations, then focus on aspects being evaluated in the users’ comments (e.g., social attractiveness and (non-)nativeness). The results indicate that a vast majority of comments (88.1%) convey positive evaluations, largely associating the idols’ accents with social appeal and native-like accents. Although a few neutral and negative evaluations exist, our result shows a dominant preference for inner circle accents and complex attitudes toward accented speech in digital spaces. We conclude by highlighting the influence of digital platforms in shaping language perceptions and the implications for linguistic stereotyping in the context of K-pop culture. Full article

Attention Bias Modification (ABM) is a cost-effective mood intervention that has the potential to be used in daily settings beyond clinical environments. However, its interactivity and user engagement are known to be limited and underexplored. Here, we propose Uplifting Moods, a novel mood intervention app that combines gamified ABM and augmented reality (AR) to address the limitation associated with the repetitive nature of ABM. By harnessing the benefits of mobile AR’s low-cost, portable, and accessible characteristics, this approach is to help users easily take part in ABM, positively shifting one’s emotions. We conducted a mixed methods study with 24 participants, which involves a controlled experiment with Self-Assessment Manikin as its primary measure and a semi-structured interview. Our analysis reports that the approach uniquely adds fun, exploring, and challenging features, helping improve engagement and feeling more cheerful and less under control. It also highlights the importance of personalization and consideration of gaming style, music preference, and socialization in designing a daily AR ABM game as an effective mental wellbeing intervention. Full article

(1) Background: People with intellectual disabilities and blindness tend to be withdrawn and sedentary. This study was carried out to assess a new technology system to enable seven of these people to collect boxes containing different sets of objects from a storage room and transport them to the appropriate destination rooms. (2) Methods: The technology system used for the study involved tags with radio frequency identification codes, a tag reader, a smartphone, and mini speakers. At the start of a session, the participants were called by the system to take a box from the storage room. Once they collected a box, the system identified the tags attached to the box, called the participants to the room where the box was to be transported and delivered, and provided them with preferred music stimulation. The same process was followed for each of the other boxes available in the session. (3) Results: During baseline sessions without the system, the mean frequency of boxes handled correctly (collected, transported, and put away without research assistants’ guidance) was zero or virtually zero. During the intervention sessions with the system, the participants’ mean frequency of boxes handled correctly increased to between about 10 and 15 per session. (4) Conclusions: These findings suggest that the new technology system might be helpful for people like the participants of this study. Full article

This study enhances the music-listening experience and promotes Thai artists. It provides users easy access to Thai songs that match their current moods and situations, making their music journey more enjoyable. The system analyzes users’ emotions through text input, such as typing their current feelings, and processes this information using machine learning to create a playlist that resonates with their feelings. This study focuses on building a tool that caters to the preferences of Thai music listeners and encourages the consumption of a wider variety of Thai songs beyond popular trends. This study develops a tool that successfully creates personalized playlists by analyzing the listener’s emotions. Phrase and keyword recognition detect the listener’s emotions, generating playlists tailored to their feelings, thus improving their music-listening satisfaction. The classifiers employed in this study achieved the following accuracies: random forest (0.94), XGBoost (0.89), decision tree (0.85), logistic regression (0.79), and support vector machine (SVM) (0.78). Full article

Engaging with music has been shown to have a positive impact on the quality of life of residents in care homes, who are known to be affected by anxiety, depression and loneliness. Based on the known benefits of in-person singing activities, a new Virtual Reality (VR) choir application was developed to facilitate group singing, aiming to improve residents’ wellbeing and sense of community. Co-designed with Alzheimer Scotland, the intervention was tested in two care homes for functionality and to develop an approach towards assessing feasibility. Residents participated in scheduled sessions over a five-week period, in addition to staff engaging in independent ad hoc use of the experience with residents. Data on reactions to the intervention, the quality of life of participants and preferences about the outcome instruments were collected. The VR intervention proved technically successful, user-friendly, and allowed multiple users to sing together. Participants and staff showed strong enthusiasm for the intervention, with residents actively engaging in singing and movement, although some residents found the headsets uncomfortable. This suggests that VR choirs could be a valuable, scalable activity in care homes, especially when in-person facilitators are unavailable. Preliminary observations indicated that the intervention was not detrimental to participants’ health; however, the sample size was very small and a larger feasibility study is required to examine the intervention’s effectiveness, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. This research highlights the challenges associated with measuring the feasibility of VR interventions in residential care settings, and the value of capturing qualitative data in an ecological setting that represents the intended use of the intervention. Full article