Cerebral mechanisms underlying music use during exhaustive exercise

Abstract

The brain mechanisms by which music-related interventions ameliorate fatigue-related symptoms and enhance exercise performance during the execution of fatiguing motor tasks are hitherto under-researched. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of music on electrical activity in the brain and psychophysiological responses during the execution of a fatiguing isometric ankle-dorsiflexion task that was performed to the point of volitional exhaustion. Nineteen healthy participants (10 men and 9 women; Mage = 26.4 years, SD = 3.6 years) performed two fatigue tests at 40% of maximal voluntary contraction while administered a musical excerpt or a no-music control condition. The well-known track Eye Of The Tiger by Survivor (109 bpm) was used as a distractive auditory stimulus. Electrical activity in the brain was assessed by use of a 64-channel EEG. Fast Fourier Transform was used to decompose the 1 s asynchronous samples into three wave frequencies (theta [3–8 Hz], alpha [8–12.5 Hz], and beta [12.5–35 Hz] bands); these were selected to facilitate investigation of how a musical excerpt might influence performance of a motor task. Attentional focus was assessed every 30 s during the motor task. Limb discomfort, situational motivation, affective valence, and felt arousal were assessed prior to and immediately after the motor task. The results indicated that, during the task, music down-regulated theta waves in the frontal, central, and parietal regions of the brain. Music also elicited a partial attentional switching from internal, task-related cues to external task-unrelated cues during exercise, which was associated with improvements in task performance. Moreover, participants experienced more positive affect while performing the isometric task in the music condition. In conclusion, music elicited a change in the predominance of low-frequency waves throughout the cortex and suppressed exercise-related afferent cues (e.g., limb discomfort) in such a way that they remained outside of focal awareness over a broader range of exercise intensity.