Psychophysiological Effects of Birdsongs VS Music

Psychophysiological Effects of Birdsongs on Sadness: Compared With Music Between Depressed and Non-Depressed Participants

The main goal of this study is to learn the psychophysiological effects of birdsongs on sadness. The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Can birdsongs alleviate sadness in a short term?
2. Can birdsongs have greater impact on sadness than music?
3. Can birdsongs alleviate sadness for both non-depressed and depressed participants?

Researchers will compare birdsongs to music (a active control) to see if birdsongs works to reduce sadness and also examined the psychophysiological effects of birdsongs in depressed and non-depressed participants.

Participants will:

go through the following stages: baseline, neutral control, 1st sadness induction, 1st intervention, calculation task, 2nd sadness induction, and 2nd intervention.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sadness
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Birdsongs; Behavioral: Music

Detailed Description

During the baseline phase, participants were instructed to sit quietly and relax. For the neutral control, they viewed an informative video demonstrating the process of plastic injection molding. As for the sadness induction, they were presented with sad film clips from either Hachi: A Dog's Tale or My Brother and Sister. The order of the sad videos was randomized across participants. The intervention stages involved listening to either the cheerful Cuckoo Waltz music or a clip of birdsongs from laughing thrushes. The order of the interventions was randomized as well. The calculation task was employed as a distracter, enabling participants to return to a neutral state. Except for the computational task, the remaining six phases each had a duration of 6 minutes.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 89
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Zhejiang
    • Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, 310058
      • Zhejiang University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 18-30 years
• Right-handed
• No recent illness or medication use
• No history of neurological or psychiatric disorders
• Normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity (myopic participants wore glasses)
• Normal hearing

Exclusion Criteria:

• Incapable of giving written informed consent to this study
• Acute high suicide risk at baseline assessment
• Psychosis

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Depressed group; The participants were categorized into two groups using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). PHQ-9 is a self-report scale. PHQ-9 scores of 5 or higher represent mild and severe depression, while PHQ-9 scores of lower than 5 mean normal condition. HAM-D is a scale administered by a healthcare professional. The cut-off point of the HAM-D scale is 8, which divides normal conditions from depressive conditions. The participants first completed PHQ-9. For those with PHQ-9 scores of 5 or higher, the trained researchers interviewed them and rated their severity of depression on the HAM-D. The participants first completed PHQ-9. For those with PHQ-9 scores ≥ 5, the trained researchers interviewed them and rated their severity of depression on the HAM-D. Those with HAM-D scores > 8 were classified into the depressed group.	Behavioral: Birdsongs; The participants listened to a clip of birdsongs from laughing thrushes.; Behavioral: Music; The participants listened to a cheerful Cuckoo Waltz music.
Experimental: Non-depressed group; Those with PHQ-9 scores < 5 or HAM-D scores ≤ 8 were classified into the non-depressed group.	Behavioral: Birdsongs; The participants listened to a clip of birdsongs from laughing thrushes.; Behavioral: Music; The participants listened to a cheerful Cuckoo Waltz music.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mean of Normal-to-Normal Intervals (MeanNN)	MeanNN refers to the average duration between consecutive normal heartbeats, also named inter-beat interval. A higher MeanNN indicates a lower heart rate.	Throughout the whole experiment, an average of 6 minutes for each stage.
Standard Deviation of Normal-to-Normal Intervals (SDNN)	SDNN measures the overall variability of heart rate. Higher SDNN values indicate greater variability.	Throughout the whole experiment, an average of 6 minutes for each stage.
Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM)	The SAM scale is a brief and widely used tool for assessing emotional states. The scale is a nonverbal self-report measure of emotion, using a set of cartoon-like manikins. The manikins illustrate nine intensity levels for valence (1 = unpleasant; 9 = pleasant), arousal (1 = calm, 9 = excited), and dominance (1 = controlled; 9 = controlling).	Immediately after the baseline, immediately after the neutral control, immediately after each sadness induction, and immediately after each intervention.
Revision of Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS-R)	The PANAS is another widely used scale to measure mood or emotion. The Chinese version of PANAS is comprised of 18 items, with 9 items measuring positive affect (e.g., joyful, inspired) and 9 items measuring negative affect (e.g., sad, fearful). Because participants were required to report their feelings repeatedly in this study, 18 items would be too long and tiresome. The 18 items plus "calmness" were used as 19 options for participants to choose. They needed to select one of the emotion words to tag their strongest emotion for the stage that they had just experienced. This revision of PANAS allowed us to capture the specific emotion type.	Immediately after the baseline, immediately after the neutral control, immediately after each sadness induction, and immediately after each intervention.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Zhejiang University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 16, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 7, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): December 7, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 30, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 30, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): September 3, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 3, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 30, 2024
• Last Verified: August 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: music; depressive symptoms; sadness; Birdsongs; psychophysiological effects
• Other Study ID Numbers: Effects of Birdsongs

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No