Effects of forest animal sounds on physiological and subjective responses in young women

Abstract

Emotional responses to forest sounds among young Japanese women were examined by comparing birdsong with sounds produced by a potentially dangerous insect. The birdsong of four distinct species was significantly more pleasant and less arousing than the sound of an Asian giant hornet. Skin blood flow, an indicator of sympathetic nervous activity, decreased during exposure to the hornet sound, whereas no significant change was observed to birdsong. These findings suggest that young women show similarly positive subjective responses to the acoustically distinct songs of forest bird species and exhibit an adaptive physiological response to the hornet sound.