Activity of reward-generating neural system associated with Shitsukan perception

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Integrative studies of neural mechanisms and advanced information technologies for perception of material and surface qualities
• Project/Area Number: 22135008
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Complex systems
• Research Institution: National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: HONDA Manabu 独立行政法人国立精神・神経医療研究センター, 神経研究所疾病研究第七部, 部長 (40321608)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 脳・神経 / 神経科学 / イメージング / 情動 / 感性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The hypersonic effect is a phenomenon in which sounds containing significant quantities of non-stationary high-frequency components (HFCs) above the human audible range activate the reward-generating neural system and improve Shitsukan perception. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the hypersonic effect and HFC frequencies. An HFC (above 16 kHz) of recorded music with various frequencies was applied to subjects along with an audible low-frequency component (LFC) below 16 kHz and the alpha2 frequency component (10-13 Hz) of spontaneous EEGs (Alpha-EEG) was measured. When an HFC above approximately 32 kHz was applied, Alpha-2 EEG increased significantly compared to when only audible sound was applied (positive hypersonic effect), while, when an HFC below approximately 32 kHz was applied, Alpha-2 EEG decreased (negative hypersonic effect). These findings suggest that the emergence of the hypersonic effect depends on the frequencies of the inaudible HFC.

Free Research Field

神経科学