Emotional and Affective Responses to Music Inspired by Permafrost Thaw in Nunavik

Comparison of Emotional and Affective Responses to Three Audiovisual Artworks Inspired by Ice Melt and Permafrost Thaw in Nunavik Among Young Adults

This study will compare how young adults respond to four audiovisual artworks inspired by ice melt and permafrost thaw in Nunavik, northern Quebec. Permafrost is ground that remains frozen for at least two consecutive years. The researchers want to understand whether the artworks evoke different emotions, bodily responses and personal interpretations, and whether they help make environmental changes more concrete and meaningful.

The four artworks draw on the same 30 years of environmental data from the Tasiujaq area of Nunavik. They combine music and moving images through different creative approaches:

1. Contemporary music created by a human composer, paired with images generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
2. Inuit pop-rock music created independently by an Inuk artist, paired with AI-generated images.
3. Music and images generated using AI from the environmental data.
4. AI-generated music combining and reworking material from the two human-created compositions, paired with AI-generated images.

The study will recruit 80 adults aged 18-35 who understand French or English and can provide informed consent. It will take place at the Research Centre of the Montreal Geriatric University Institute in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Before attending, participants will complete approximately 30 minutes of online questionnaires about their background, connection with nature, environmental concerns, and familiarity with music, Inuit culture, Nunavik and AI. They will then attend one laboratory session lasting approximately 60 minutes.

During the session, every participant will watch and listen to all four artworks. Each artwork lasts 3 minutes and 50 seconds. Participants will be assigned to one of eight presentation orders to reduce the influence of viewing order on their responses. Viewing conditions will be kept consistent, and the artworks will be presented under neutral labels.

Before each artwork, participants will sit quietly for approximately one minute while resting physiological measurements are recorded. Sensors will measure changes in skin conductance, which reflects changes in sweating, and heart rate during viewing. These measurements will be considered alongside participants' own reports because they cannot, by themselves, identify a specific emotion.

Participants will complete short questionnaires before and after each artwork about how pleasant or unpleasant they feel, how calm or activated they feel, and specific positive and negative emotions. Further questions will explore their appreciation and interpretation of the artworks and the responses the works evoke. After viewing all four, participants will repeat questionnaires about nature connectedness and environmental anxiety, compare the artworks, and explain their choices in their own words.

The researchers will compare responses to the four artworks within each participant and explore whether responses are associated with individual characteristics, including initial environmental concerns and familiarity with the arts or AI. Each artwork will be evaluated as a complete experience. Differences cannot be attributed separately to musical style, cultural references or the use of AI.

This study is not a treatment for anxiety or another health condition, and no direct health benefit is guaranteed. Participants may request a break or stop the session at any time.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Emotional, Affective, and Physiological Responses to Audiovisual Artworks Inspired by Climate-Related Environmental Changes in Nunavik
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Viewing Four Audiovisual Artworks Inspired by Environmental Changes in Nunavik

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Kevin Galery, MSc; Phone Number: 4728 514 340 3540; Email: kevin.galery.ccsmtl@ssss.gouv.qc.ca
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Olivier Beauchet, MD, PhD; Phone Number: 3637 514 340 3540; Email: olivier.beauchet@umontreal.ca

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Quebec
    • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3W1W5
      • CRIUGM
      • Contact: Olivier Beauchet, MD, PhD; Phone Number: 3637 514 340 3540; Email: olivier.beauchet@umontreal.ca

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 35 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 18-35 years.
• Able to understand French or English, according to the language used for the questionnaires and informed consent.
• Able to provide free and informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unable to understand the study instructions or provide free and informed consent.
• Major uncorrected visual or hearing impairment preventing adequate viewing or listening to the artworks.
• Anticipated substantial discomfort when viewing content about climate change, ice melt, permafrost thaw or environmental changes in northern regions.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Exposure to Four Nunavik-Inspired Audiovisual Artworks; Participants watch and listen to four audiovisual artworks inspired by ice melt and permafrost thaw in Nunavik during one laboratory session. Each artwork lasts 3 minutes and 50 seconds. All participants experience all four artworks, which combine human-created or AI-generated music with AI-generated images. Questionnaires assess emotional and affective responses before and after each artwork. Skin conductance and heart rate are recorded during viewing. Participants also evaluate and compare the artworks and describe their interpretations.

Other: Viewing Four Audiovisual Artworks Inspired by Environmental Changes in Nunavik; Participants attend one laboratory session and view four audiovisual artworks inspired by 30 years of data on ice melt and permafrost thaw in Nunavik. Each artwork lasts 3 minutes and 50 seconds. Two combine independently human-composed music with AI-generated images. A third combines AI-generated music and images based on the environmental data. A fourth combines AI-generated images with music created by merging and reworking the two human compositions. All participants experience all four artworks under standardised viewing and listening conditions. Each presentation is preceded by approximately one minute of quiet rest and followed by a questionnaire period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Affect Grid Valence Score Following Each Audiovisual Artwork	Emotional valence is assessed using the horizontal coordinate of the Affect Grid, ranging from 1 (unpleasant) to 9 (pleasant). For each artwork, change is calculated as the score immediately after viewing minus the score immediately before viewing. Positive changes indicate greater pleasantness. Responses are compared across the four artworks within participants.	Immediately before and after each 3-minute-50-second artwork during one approximately 60-minute laboratory session.
Change in Affect Grid Arousal Score Following Each Audiovisual Artwork	Subjective arousal is assessed using the vertical coordinate of the Affect Grid, ranging from 1 (low arousal) to 9 (high arousal). For each artwork, change is calculated as the score immediately after viewing minus the score immediately before viewing. Positive changes indicate greater subjective activation. Responses are compared across the four artworks within participants.	Immediately before and after each 3-minute-50-second artwork during one approximately 60-minute laboratory session.
Electrodermal Responses During Audiovisual Artwork Viewing	Electrodermal activity is recorded continuously using the Shimmer3 GSR+ device. Tonic skin conductance level and phasic skin conductance responses characterise physiological activation during each artwork. Recordings are evaluated relative to the approximately one-minute resting period preceding each artwork and compared across the four artworks within participants. Skin conductance is expressed in microsiemens; higher activity does not identify whether an emotion is positive or negative.	During the approximately one-minute rest before each artwork and throughout each 3-minute-50-second presentation, within one approximately 60-minute session.
Heart Rate Responses During Audiovisual Artwork Viewing	Heart rate is estimated from the photoplethysmographic pulse signal recorded using the Shimmer3 GSR+ device and expressed in beats per minute. Responses during each artwork are evaluated relative to the preceding approximately one-minute resting period and compared across the four artworks within participants.	During the approximately one-minute rest before each artwork and throughout each 3-minute-50-second presentation, within one approximately 60-minute session.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Global Affective Polarity Following Each Audiovisual Artwork	Global Affective Polarity (GAP) is a study-developed exploratory composite based on six items rated from 0 to 10. GAP-P is the mean of pleasantness, joy and appeasement; GAP-N is the mean of unpleasantness, sadness and melancholy. Global GAP equals GAP-P minus GAP-N and ranges from -10 to +10. Higher scores indicate predominance of positive affective components. Component scores each range from 0 to 10. Changes are calculated separately for each artwork as post-viewing minus pre-viewing scores.	Immediately before and after each 3-minute-50-second artwork during one approximately 60-minute laboratory session.
Change in Nature Connection Index Score	Nature connectedness is assessed using the six-item Nature Connection Index. Responses are recorded on seven-point agreement scales and coded so that higher values indicate stronger connectedness. Under the study protocol, the mean item score is transformed to a 0-100 index using [(mean score - 1)/6] × 100. Higher scores indicate greater nature connectedness. Change is calculated as the score after viewing all four artworks minus the score collected at inclusion.	At inclusion before the laboratory visit and immediately after viewing all four artworks during the approximately 60-minute laboratory session.
Change in Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale Score	Eco-anxiety is assessed using the 13-item Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale (HEAS-13). Items are rated from 0 to 3 and summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 39. Higher scores indicate more frequent eco-anxiety-related responses. Change is calculated as the score after viewing all four artworks minus the score collected at inclusion. This exploratory assessment does not imply that the artworks constitute a treatment for eco-anxiety.	At inclusion before the laboratory visit and immediately after viewing all four artworks during the approximately 60-minute laboratory session.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre integre universitaire de sante et de services sociaux du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): November 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 30, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): March 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 28, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 28, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): November 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 4, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 28, 2026
• Last Verified: October 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2027-2668

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

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