Heart Rate Orienting Responses to Musical and Complex Tones

Twenty-two healthy young male participants underwent auditory experiments during multi-day stays to measure physiological orienting responses to 16 test sounds. The dataset contains calculated heart rate interval differences and normalized orienting response strengths for musical and complex tones across four octaves. Mako Katagiri published this data on figshare in 2026 under a CC-BY-4.0 license.

Use Cases

• Analyze the relationship between sound frequency (130.8 Hz to 1661.4 Hz) and the normalized orienting response (OR) strength to identify salient auditory stimuli.
• Compare the calming (negative OR) versus tension-inducing (positive OR) effects of musical sounds (e.g., C3+E3) versus complex sounds (e.g., C6+G#6).
• Investigate the reproducibility of OR values across experimental sessions for the 11 sounds where responses were consistent.
• Model the change in mean RR interval over five beats before and after sound presentation as a function of sound type and participant.
• Validate the experimental protocol simulating daily life and background noise by examining the distribution of OR values where an absolute value >2 indicates a response.

Strengths

• Includes data from 22 participants across repeated experimental sessions with a washout period of at least one week.
• Tests 16 distinct auditory stimuli (8 musical, 8 complex) across a defined frequency range of 130.8 Hz to 1661.4 Hz.
• Provides a derived, normalized physiological metric (OR strength) for objective analysis.
• Published under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license for open reuse.

Limitations

• Very small dataset at 12.5 KB, indicating limited raw data or aggregated results only.
• Sample consists exclusively of 22 young male participants, limiting generalizability.
• Specific row count, column names, and raw sample data are unavailable for detailed inspection.

Provenance

Source

Mako Katagiri via figshare.

Collection Method

Experimental data from a controlled study measuring heart rate (RR interval) changes before and after presentation of test sounds in a simulated daily environment.

Time Range

Experimental period involved three-day, two-night stays repeated after washout periods; specific dates not provided.

Freshness

Last updated in April 2026, indicating recent publication.