Physiological Orienting Response to Musical and Complex Sounds

Twenty-two healthy young male participants underwent auditory experiments during three-day stays, with physiological responses measured via heart rate changes. The dataset contains orienting response metrics for 16 distinct test sounds, including eight musical and eight complex tones, across a frequency range of 130.8 Hz to 1661.4 Hz. Researcher Mako Katagiri published this data on figshare in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Model the relationship between sound frequency (e.g., 130.8 Hz to 1661.4 Hz) and the normalized orienting response (OR) strength to identify attention-grabbing tones.
• Classify sounds as calming or tension-inducing based on positive or negative OR values, using features like sound type (musical vs. complex) and pitch interval (C+E vs. C+G#).
• Analyze the reproducibility of physiological responses by comparing OR values across repeated experiments for the 11 sounds where results were consistent.
• Predict the presence of an orienting response (OR absolute value > 2) using the calculated RRI difference and its standard deviation from heart rate data.
• Correlate the change in mean RR interval over five beats before and after sound presentation with specific octave recordings (e.g., C3+E3, C6+G#6) to assess signal suitability.

Strengths

• Includes physiological data from 22 participants across repeated experimental sessions.
• Provides quantified orienting response (OR) values for 16 distinct test sounds with defined frequency ranges.
• Uses a controlled experimental protocol simulating daily life with background noise.

Limitations

• Very small dataset size (19.8 KB), indicating limited raw data or summary statistics only.
• Sample consists exclusively of 22 young male participants, limiting generalizability.
• Unknown row count and specific column structure, as only an XLSX file format is provided.

Provenance

Source

Mako Katagiri via figshare.

Collection Method

Experimental data collected from participants in a controlled environment simulating daily life, measuring heart rate changes (RR intervals) before and after auditory stimuli.

Time Range

Experimental sessions conducted over three-day, two-night stays with a washout period of at least one week.

Freshness

Last updated in April 2026, indicating recent data.