LEIPZIG, Germany — Many of us routinely turn on certain songs when getting intimate with a partner, and it turns out there’s some science behind it. Music that arouses our eardrums also tickles our tactile senses and enhances the feeling of one’s touch, a new study finds.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany conducted a series of experiments in which participants listened to music, as a robot simultaneously and discreetly stroked their forearm.
Participants’ reactions demonstrated that “sexy” music — all tunes were rated on a sliding scale as to the level of arousal they evoked (from “not at all sexy” to “extremely sexy”) — was linked to increased tactile arousal, regardless of whether one expected to be touched by a machine as opposed to an attractive human.
Beyond exposing the indiscriminate effects of touch, robots were partly used to help administer an even and consistent touch to all participants.
“Music seems to change our perception of touch. Certain features seem to be transferred from music to touch,” says lead researcher Tom Fritz in a press release. “We have observed that the sexier we perceive music, the sexier we also perceive touch that is administered simultaneously.”
As for explanations for their findings, the researchers believe that the same emotional mechanisms that govern how we perceive auditory inputs affect how we perceive touch (e.g., aggressive music would be interpreted much like aggressive touch).
Furthermore, music prompts us to use regions of the brain related to both touch and movement, Fritz explains.
Previous research has found that humans show a preference for brighter, more vibrant colors when music is played at loud decibels, demonstrating that listening to our favorite tracks can trigger other senses.
Music’s relation to touch may have even played an enormous role in our social evolution as a species, Fritz argues, as preference in song may have led certain individuals to mate with one another.
These findings contradict the opinions of some researchers, such as famed cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, who has proclaimed music to be “auditory cheesecake (i.e., it is merely entertainment with no evolutionary role that was developed as a byproduct of language).
The study’s findings were published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
Films with sex and violence, and for that matter outright pornography also are documented to increase arousal. So are many foods.
And you are mischaracterizing completely what Pinker said on this.
Sex and music–ahh, yes.
I had an LP with Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain”, followed by Ravel’s “Bolero”.
Each was about 15 minutes long and the climax on Bolero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A further study revealed that large quantities of laxatives actually do enhance pooping.
I have to wonder how much money was spent to figure out what we all at some time in life know.
AMEN….someone was just looking for $$ for the next semester of college and came up with this dumb idea….dumber yet….someone paid for it!!
Barry White albums will soon be flying off the shelves.
Nothing like a good rock beat to bang your woman to….lol
Diane Keaton: I think sex without love is a meaningless experience.
Woody Allen: Well yes, but as meaningless experiences go, its got to be one of the best.
We needed a study for this? Who pays for this stuff? The Moody Blues is always a sex enhancer. Especially if someone else is there with you.
Al Hirts “Rise” isn’t bad either or even the score from Good. Bad and the Ugly…….(yes, I’m old)
Who doesn’t already know that?
Enigma created some of the sexiest music that left nothing to the imagination.
They just figured this out?
Well, duh! Didn’t need any study to let us know this. I wonder how much it cost the taxpayers for this.
I dare bring back the MasterCard commercial. Written study on how music improves sex, $100,000 dollars. The comments from readers, priceless.
Nothing will turn a woman on faster than a Weird Al Yankovic tune.