Psychoacoustical correlates of musically induced chills

Abstract Music listening is often accompanied by the experience of emotions, sometimes even by so-called “strong experiences of music” (SEMs). SEMs can include such pleasurable reactions as shivers down the spine or goose pimples, which are referred to as “chills”. In the present study, the role of psychoacoustical features was investigated with respect to the experience of chills. Psychoacoustical parameters of short musical segments (total duration: 20 s), characterized as chill- inducing, were analyzed and compared with musical excerpts which did not induce chill responses. A significant increase of loudness in the frequency range between 8 and 18 Bark (920–4400 Hz) was found in those excerpts for which chills were reported. Frequency-dependent changes of loudness seem to play an important role in the induction of chills.