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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.