Post by Blubird on Dec 12, 2010 21:32:15 GMT 1
Scientists have come up with an explanation for why churches and "haunted" houses send a shiver down our spines.
It's nothing to do with ghosts, they say, but with subtle vibrations just below the limits of our hearing.
The low-frequency rumblings, which are felt rather than heard, are known as infrasound. And they have been studied for the first time with intriguing results.
Researchers found they can cause a range of spooky effects in listeners, rangsounding from extreme anxiety to elation, coldness and those shivers down the spine.
And they are enough to make candles flicker - another phenomenon associated with "hauntings".
Infrasound, an extreme bass sound, is produced in dozens of churches and cathedrals by the longest organ pipes.
The researchers also claim that many supposedly haunted places have naturally- occurring infrasound, which can be caused by the wind, traffic noise or the hum of electrical equipment.
Dr Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire, said: "These results suggest that low frequency sound can cause people to have unusual experiences, even though they cannot consciously detect infrasound.
"It has been suggested this level of sound may be present at some allegedly haunted sites and so cause people to have odd sensations they attribute to a ghost. Our findings support these ideas."
In research to be detailed today at the British Association Festival of Science in Salford, Manchester, Dr Wiseman explains how infrasound was tested on 750 concertgoers at the Purcell Room on London's South Bank.
An extra "instrument" at the concerts was a specially designed 25ft infrasound pipe, which could be switched on and off secretly.
The normal range of human hearing goes from 20khz at the top, down to 20hz. The concert-goers were played four pieces of contemporary music, two with infrasound added at 17hz.
Afterwards, the audiences were asked to describe their emotional state during all four pieces. When infrasound was played "underneath" the music, reports of strange feelings rose 22 per cent.
The infrasound inspired roughly equal amounts of positive and negative feelings, said Dr Wiseman.
"Basically it's making them feel extremely strange. It may be that it's intensifying whatever state you were in."
It's nothing to do with ghosts, they say, but with subtle vibrations just below the limits of our hearing.
The low-frequency rumblings, which are felt rather than heard, are known as infrasound. And they have been studied for the first time with intriguing results.
Researchers found they can cause a range of spooky effects in listeners, rangsounding from extreme anxiety to elation, coldness and those shivers down the spine.
And they are enough to make candles flicker - another phenomenon associated with "hauntings".
Infrasound, an extreme bass sound, is produced in dozens of churches and cathedrals by the longest organ pipes.
The researchers also claim that many supposedly haunted places have naturally- occurring infrasound, which can be caused by the wind, traffic noise or the hum of electrical equipment.
Dr Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire, said: "These results suggest that low frequency sound can cause people to have unusual experiences, even though they cannot consciously detect infrasound.
"It has been suggested this level of sound may be present at some allegedly haunted sites and so cause people to have odd sensations they attribute to a ghost. Our findings support these ideas."
In research to be detailed today at the British Association Festival of Science in Salford, Manchester, Dr Wiseman explains how infrasound was tested on 750 concertgoers at the Purcell Room on London's South Bank.
An extra "instrument" at the concerts was a specially designed 25ft infrasound pipe, which could be switched on and off secretly.
The normal range of human hearing goes from 20khz at the top, down to 20hz. The concert-goers were played four pieces of contemporary music, two with infrasound added at 17hz.
Afterwards, the audiences were asked to describe their emotional state during all four pieces. When infrasound was played "underneath" the music, reports of strange feelings rose 22 per cent.
The infrasound inspired roughly equal amounts of positive and negative feelings, said Dr Wiseman.
"Basically it's making them feel extremely strange. It may be that it's intensifying whatever state you were in."
