Agata Zelechowska

• Agata Zelechowska, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Standstill to the ‘beat’: Differences in involuntary movement responses to simple and complex rhythms, AM '20: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Audio Mostly. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ISSN 9781450375634. p. 107–113. doi: 10.1145/3411109.3411139. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Previous studies have shown that movement-inducing properties of music largely depend on the rhythmic complexity of the stimuli. However, little is known about how simple isochronous beat patterns differ from more complex rhythmic structures in their effect on body movement. In this paper we study spontaneous movement of 98 participants instructed to stand as still as possible for 7 minutes while listening to silence and randomised sound excerpts: isochronous drumbeats and complex drum patterns, each at three different tempi (90, 120, 140 BPM). The participants’ head movement was recorded with an optical motion capture system.We found that on average participants moved more during the sound stimuli than in silence, which confirms the results from our previous studies. Moreover, the stimulus with complex drum patterns elicited more movement when compared to the isochronous drum beats. Across different tempi, the participants moved most at 120 BPM for the average of both types of stimuli. For the isochronous drumbeats, however, their movement was highest at 140 BPM. These results can contribute to our understanding of the interplay between rhythmic complexity, tempo and music-induced movement.

• Agata Zelechowska (2020). Poruszeni muzyką. Badania nad ruchem ciała w kontekście percepcji muzyki. In Julia Kaleńska-Rodzaj & Maria Chełkowska-Zacharewicz (Ed.), Psychologia Muzyki. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. ISSN 9788301213374. p. 87–104. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska, Victor E. Gonzalez-Sanchez, Bruno Laeng & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Headphones or Speakers? An Exploratory Study of Their Effects on Spontaneous Body Movement to Rhythmic Music. Frontiers in Psychology. 11(698). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00698. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Previous studies have shown that music may lead to spontaneous body movement, even when people try to stand still. But are spontaneous movement responses to music similar if the stimuli are presented using headphones or speakers? This article presents results from an exploratory study in which 35 participants listened to rhythmic stimuli while standing in a neutral position. The six different stimuli were 45 s each and ranged from a simple pulse to excerpts from electronic dance music (EDM). Each participant listened to all the stimuli using both headphones and speakers. An optical motion capture system was used to calculate their quantity of motion, and a set of questionnaires collected data about music preferences, listening habits, and the experimental sessions. The results show that the participants on average moved more when listening through headphones. The headphones condition was also reported as being more tiresome by the participants. Correlations between participants’ demographics, listening habits, and self-reported body motion were observed in both listening conditions. We conclude that the playback method impacts the level of body motion observed when people are listening to music. This should be taken into account when designing embodied music cognition studies.

• Agata Zelechowska, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Bruno Laeng, Jonna Katariina Vuoskoski & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Who Moves to Music? Empathic Concern Predicts Spontaneous Movement Responses to Rhythm and Music. Music & Science. 3. doi: 10.1177/2059204320974216. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Moving to music is a universal human phenomenon, and previous studies have shown that people move to music even when they try to stand still. However, are there individual differences when it comes to how much people spontaneously respond to music with body movement? This article reports on a motion capture study in which 34 participants were asked to stand in a neutral position while listening to short excerpts of rhythmic stimuli and electronic dance music. We explore whether personality and empathy measures, as well as different aspects of music-related behaviour and preferences, can predict the amount of spontaneous movement of the participants. Individual differences were measured using a set of questionnaires: Big Five Inventory, Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire. Liking ratings for the stimuli were also collected. The regression analyses show that Empathic Concern is a significant predictor of the observed spontaneous movement. We also found a relationship between empathy and the participants’ self-reported tendency to move to music.

• Magdalena Luniewska, Katarzyna Chyl, Agnieszka Debska, Anna Banaszkiewicz, Agata Zelechowska & Artur Marchewka [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2019). Children With Dyslexia and Familial Risk for Dyslexia Present Atypical Development of the Neuronal Phonological Network. Frontiers in Neuroscience. ISSN 1662-4548. 13, p. 1–19. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01287. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Learning to read changes the brain language system. Phonological processing is the language domain most crucial for reading, but it is still unknown how reading acquisition modifies the neural phonological network in children who either develop dyslexia or are at risk of dyslexia. For the two first years of formal education, we followed 90 beginning readers with (n = 55) and without (n = 35) familial risk of dyslexia who became typical readers (n = 70) or developed dyslexia (n = 20). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify the neural correlates of phonological awareness using an auditory rhyme judgment task. This task was applied when participants were starting formal education, and repeated 2 years later. By applying two alternative group splits, we analyzed the effects of dyslexia and the effects of familial risk of dyslexia separately. We found that the phonological brain network undergoes reorganization during the first 2 years of formal education. This process proceeds differently depending on the presence of a familial history of dyslexia and reading impairment. Typical readers without risk for dyslexia activate structures responsible for phonological processing already at the beginning of literacy. This group shows reduced brain activation over time during phonological processing, perhaps due to automatization of phonological skills. Children who develop reading impairment present a delay in the development of phonological structures such as the bilateral superior temporal gyri, left middle temporal gyrus, right insula and right frontal cortex, where we observed time and group interaction. Finally, typical readers with familial risk of dyslexia also present an atypical development of the neural phonological structures, visible both at the beginning of reading instruction and 2 years later. These children used a presumably efficient neural mechanism of phonological processing, based on the activation of the precentral and postcentral gyri, and achieved a typical level of phonological awareness.

• Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2019). Analysis of the Movement-Inducing Effects of Music through the Fractality of Head Sway during Standstill. Journal of Motor Behavior. ISSN 0022-2895. doi: 10.1080/00222895.2019.1689909. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The links between music and human movement have been shown to provide insight into crucial aspects of human’s perception, cognition, and sensorimotor systems. In this study, we examined the influence of music on movement during standstill, aiming at further characterizing the correspondences between movement, music, and perception, by analyzing head sway fractality. Eighty seven participants were asked to stand as still as possible for 500 seconds while being presented with alternating silence and audio stimuli. The audio stimuli were all rhythmic in nature, ranging from a metronome track to complex electronic dance music. The head position of each participant was captured with an optical motion capture system. Long-range correlations of head movement were estimated by detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). Results agree with previous work on the movement-inducing effect of music, showing significantly greater head sway and lower head sway fractality during the music stimuli. In addition, patterns across stimuli suggest a two-way adaptation process to the effects of music, with musical stimuli influencing head sway while at the same time fractality modulated movement responses. Results indicate that fluctuations in head movement in both conditions exhibit long-range correlations, suggesting that the effects of music on head movement depended not only on the value of the most recent measured intervals, but also on the values of those intervals at distant times.

• Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Correspondences Between Music and Involuntary Human Micromotion During Standstill. Frontiers in Psychology. 9. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01382. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The relationships between human body motion and music have been the focus of several studies characterizing the correspondence between voluntary motion and various sound features. The study of involuntary movement to music, however, is still scarce. Insight into crucial aspects of music cognition, as well as characterization of the vestibular and sensorimotor systems could be largely improved through a description of the underlying links between music and involuntary movement. This study presents an analysis aimed at quantifying involuntary body motion of a small magnitude (micromotion) during standstill, as well as assessing the correspondences between such micromotion and different sound features of the musical stimuli: pulse clarity, amplitude, and spectral centroid. A total of 71 participants were asked to stand as still as possible for 6 min while being presented with alternating silence and music stimuli: Electronic Dance Music (EDM), Classical Indian music, and Norwegian fiddle music (Telespringar). The motion of each participant's head was captured with a marker-based, infrared optical system. Differences in instantaneous position data were computed for each participant and the resulting time series were analyzed through cross-correlation to evaluate the delay between motion and musical features. The mean quantity of motion (QoM) was found to be highest across participants during the EDM condition. This musical genre is based on a clear pulse and rhythmic pattern, and it was also shown that pulse clarity was the metric that had the most significant effect in induced vertical motion across conditions. Correspondences were also found between motion and both brightness and loudness, providing some evidence of anticipation and reaction to the music. Overall, the proposed analysis techniques provide quantitative data and metrics on the correspondences between micromotion and music, with the EDM stimulus producing the clearest music-induced motion patterns. The analysis and results from this study are compatible with embodied music cognition and sensorimotor synchronization theories, and provide further evidence of the movement inducing effects of groove-related music features and human response to sound stimuli. Further work with larger data sets, and a wider range of stimuli, is necessary to produce conclusive findings on the subject.

• Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Muscle activity response of the audience during an experimental music performance. In Stuart Cunningham (Eds.), Proceedings of the Audio Mostly 2018 on Sound in Immersion and Emotion. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ISSN 9781450353731. doi: 10.1145/3243274.3243278. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This exploratory study investigates muscular activity characteristics of a group of audience members during an experimental music performance. The study was designed to be as ecologically valid as possible, collecting data in a concert venue and making use of low- invasive measurement techniques. Muscle activity (EMG) from the forearms of 8 participants revealed that sitting in a group could be an indication of a level of group engagement, while comparatively greater muscular activity from a participant sitting at close distance to the stage suggests performance-induced bodily responses. The self-reported measures rendered little evidence supporting the links between muscular activity and live music exposure, although a larger sample size and a wider range of music styles need to be included in future studies to provide conclusive results.

• Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Charles Patrick Martin, Agata Zelechowska, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand, Victoria Kristine Å Johnson & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Bela-based augmented acoustic guitars for sonic microinteraction. In Luke Dahl, Doug Bowman & Tom Martin (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference On New Interfaces For Musical Expression. Virginia Tech. p. 324–327. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article describes the design and construction of a collection of digitally-controlled augmented acoustic guitars, and the use of these guitars in the installation \textit\{Sverm-Resonans\}. The installation was built around the idea of exploring `inverse’ sonic microinteraction, that is, controlling sounds by the micromotion observed when attempting to stand still. It consisted of six acoustic guitars, each equipped with a Bela embedded computer for sound processing (in Pure Data), an infrared distance sensor to detect the presence of users, and an actuator attached to the guitar body to produce sound. With an attached battery pack, the result was a set of completely autonomous instruments that were easy to hang in a gallery space. The installation encouraged explorations on the boundary between the tactile and the kinesthetic, the body and the mind, and between motion and sound. The use of guitars, albeit with an untraditional `performance’ technique, made the experience both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Many users reported heightened sensations of stillness, sound, and vibration, and that the `inverse’ control of the instrument was both challenging and pleasant.

• Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand (2017). Exploring the Myo controller for sonic microinteraction. In Cumhur Erkut (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Aalborg University Copenhagen. p. 442–445. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper explores sonic microinteraction using muscle sensing through the Myo armband. The first part presents results from a small series of experiments aimed at finding the baseline micromotion and muscle activation data of people being at rest or performing short/small actions. The second part presents the prototype instrument MicroMyo, built around the concept of making sound with little motion. The instrument plays with the convention that inputting more energy into an instrument results in more sound. MicroMyo, on the other hand, is built so that the less you move, the more it sounds. Our user study shows that while such an "inverse instrument" may seem puzzling at first, it also opens a space for interesting musical interactions.

• Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Agata Zelechowska & Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez (2017). The Musical Influence on People's Micromotion when Standing Still in Groups. In Tapio Lokki, Jukka Pätynen & Vesa Välimäki (Ed.), Proceedings of the 14th Sound and Music Computing Conference 2017. Aalto University. ISSN 9789526037295. p. 195–200. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The paper presents results from an experiment in which 91 subjects stood still on the floor for 6 minutes, with the first 3 minutes in silence, followed by 3 minutes with mu- sic. The head motion of the subjects was captured using an infra-red optical system. The results show that the average quantity of motion of standstill is 6.5 mm/s, and that the subjects moved more when listening to music (6.6 mm/s) than when standing still in silence (6.3 mm/s). This result confirms the belief that music induces motion, even when people try to stand still.

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• Shokoufeh Moezzi, Agata Zelechowska, Olga Korostynska, Parisa Gazerani, Haroon Khan & Mimmu Rankanen (2026). Multimodal Interdisciplinary Protocol  for studying Art Therapy. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska, Shokoufeh Moezzi, Mimmu Rankanen, Parisa Gazerani, Haroon Khan & Olga Korostynska (2026). BraArt: Repetition and return in an interdisciplinary study bridging art therapy and neuroscience. doi: https:/www.ecarte.info/_files/ugd/a16ace_f0f224a395b5441b93e53b6f870d2e49.pdf. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Pain and discomfort are inevitable parts of the human experience. Throughout the life journey, everyone encounters emotional and physical pain to varying degrees. How do we cope with these difficult experiences, and how can art therapy help us to navigate them? BraArt is an interdisciplinary research project investigating the therapeutic mechanisms of different art materials and tasks, and how art therapy modulates the experience of pain. It combines a range of quantitative and qualitative research methods, including neuroscientific (EEG and fNIRS), physiological (cardiovascular and hormonal) and psychometric (questionnaire-based) tools, along with simulated-recall interviews based on video recordings, to measure neural, physiological, and psychological changes during and after art therapy. The goal is to explore the link between creative expression and pain relief, and to strengthen the understanding of art therapeutic mechanisms and the evidence base for art therapy in pain treatment.

• Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Finn Upham, Agata Zelechowska, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Dana Swarbrick & Maham Riaz (2026). micromotion: A Python toolbox for analysing human micromotion in motion time series. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.22080495. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Software. One implementation of quantity of motion — the average speed of a body part, band-limited to 0.2-5 Hz, in millimetres per second — for optical marker data, body-worn accelerometers and force-plate centre of pressure, together with the readers, resampling rules, scaling measures and alignment methods that surround it.

• Agata Zelechowska (2025). Riktig musikk til trening øker prestasjonene betydelig. [Internet]. Nettavisen. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Du blir beviselig raskere og bedre av en god spilleliste til trening, ifølge forskere. Velger du riktig er det faktisk umulig å stå stille.

• Agata Zelechowska & Silje Pileberg (2021). Some music makes it impossible to stand still. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska & Silje Pileberg (2021). Denne musikken gjør at du ikke klarer å stå i ro. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska & Silje Pileberg (2021). Some music makes it impossible to stand still. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska (2021). Poruszeni muzyką. Charaktery. Full text in Research Archive
• Finn Upham, Agata Zelechowska, Victor Gonzalez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). Quiet Breathing to Heard Music. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska, Victor Gonzalez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2021). Championship of Standstill: A paradigm to study involuntary responses to music with the use of motion capture. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska & Silje Pileberg (2021). Some music makes it impossible to stand still. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2020). Standstill to the ‘beat’: Differences in involuntary movement responses to simple and complex rhythms. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Previous studies have shown that movement-inducing properties of music largely depend on the rhythmic complexity of the stimuli. However, little is known about how simple isochronous beat patterns differ from more complex rhythmic structures in their effect on body movement. In this paper we study spontaneous movement of 98 participants instructed to stand as still as possible for 7 minutes while listening to silence and randomised sound excerpts: isochronous drumbeats and complex drum patterns, each at three different tempi (90, 120, 140 BPM). The participants’ head movement was recorded with an optical motion capture system.We found that on average participants moved more during the sound stimuli than in silence, which confirms the results from our previous studies. Moreover, the stimulus with complex drum patterns elicited more movement when compared to the isochronous drum beats. Across different tempi, the participants moved most at 120 BPM for the average of both types of stimuli. For the isochronous drumbeats, however, their movement was highest at 140 BPM. These results can contribute to our understanding of the interplay between rhythmic complexity, tempo and music-induced movement.

• Monika Malec & Agata Zelechowska (2020). Pocztówka dźwiękowa. [Radio]. Polskie Radio Lublin. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska (2020). What is musical entrainment? Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska (2020). Irresistible Movement: The Role of Musical Sound, Individual Differences and Listening Context in Movement Responses to Music. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska & Maria Lokna (2019). Vi er konstant absorbert i en annen verden. Full text in Research Archive
• Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Cagri Erdem, Agata Zelechowska, Qichao Lan, Julian Peter Fuhrer & Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez (2019). Entraining Guitars. Full text in Research Archive
• Charles Patrick Martin, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska, Cagri Erdem & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Stillness under Tension. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). How music moves us? Studying human body micromotion in music perception. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Music has the power to influence not only our thoughts and emotions, but also various physiological processes in our bodies. Furthermore, it often encourages physical movement of the listener. While there are numerous studies describing spontaneous psychophysiological responses to music that are linked with emotions, spontaneous body movement to music has became a topic of exploration relatively recently. Mostly, it has been studied in the context of free dance (Burger et al., 2013) or synchronization to musical rhythm while performing repetitive movements such as walking (Styns et al., 2007). But what can we observe if the participants are just standing still? In our project “MICRO - Human Bodily Micromotion in Music Perception and Interaction” we focus on movements so small that they can be unnoticed both by observer and performer, and that can happen involuntarily. This is what we call “micromotion” of the human body. To see how these small movements are affected by music, we develop different experiments using mainly motion capture technology, but also physiological measures such as electromyography (EMG). In this presentation I would like to describe some of our research methods, findings and plans. In one of the experiment paradigms, disguised as the “Norwegian Championship of Standitill”, we invite groups of participants to the laboratory and ask them to stand as still as possible while we present them with segments of selected music or silence. The head motion of each participant is captured using an infrared optical system. In 2012, 91 subjects stood on the floor for 3 minutes in silence and 3 minutes listening to music of increasing level of rhythmicality and energy (Jensenius et al., 2017). In 2017, 71 participants listened to 6 minutes consisting of segments of silence alternating with electronic dance music (EDM), classical Indian music or Norwegian fiddle music. In both studies we observed higher mean quantity of motion of the participants (QoM) in music condition compared to silence condition, and the effect was driven mostly by EDM. We also observed correlations between QoM and participant’s age, height and standing strategy (locked knees), although these results are mixed between the two studies. The future goal is to look more closely into specific features in music that correspond with observed movement, to search for signs of rhythmic entrainment, and to see what demographic and psychological factors might contribute to interpersonal differences in music induced body micromotion. References: Burger, B., Thompson, M. R., Luck, G., Saarikallio, S., & Toiviainen, P. (2013). Influences of rhythm-and timbre-related musical features on characteristics of music-induced movement. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 183. Jensenius, A. R., Zelechowska, A., & Gonzalez Sanchez, V. E. (2017). The Musical Influence on People's Micromotion when Standing Still in Groups. In Proceedings of the SMC Conferences (pp. 195-200). Aalto University. Styns, F., van Noorden, L., Moelants, D., & Leman, M. (2007). Walking on music. Human movement science, 26(5), 769-785.

• Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand, Victoria Johnson, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Francesca R. Jensenius (2018). Sverm-Pluck. Full text in Research Archive
• Robert Jack, Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand, Agata Zelechowska & Charles Patrick Martin [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2018). Sverm-Resonans: interactive installation with resonating guitars and Bela. [Internet]. Bela blog. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Sverm-Resonans is an interactive installation developed for the Ultima Contemporary Music Festival in Oslo which features 6 suspended guitars, each fitted with an actuator, distance sensor and a Bela.

• Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Muscle activity response of the audience during an experimental music performance. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This exploratory study investigates muscular activity characteristics of a group of audience members during an experimental music performance. The study was designed to be as ecologically valid as possible, collecting data in a concert venue and making use of low-invasive measurement techniques. Muscle activity (EMG) from the forearms of 8 participants revealed that sitting in a group could be an indication of a level of group engagement, while comparatively greater muscular activity from a participant sitting at close distance to the stage suggests performance-induced bodily responses. The self-reported measures rendered little evidence supporting the links between muscular activity and live music exposure, although a larger sample size and a wider range of music styles need to be included in future studies to provide conclusive results.

• Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Charles Patrick Martin, Agata Zelechowska, Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand, Victoria Johnson & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2018). Bela-based augmented acoustic guitars for sonic microinteraction. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article describes the design and construction of a collection of digitally-controlled augmented acoustic guitars, and the use of these guitars in the installation \textit\{Sverm-Resonans\}. The installation was built around the idea of exploring `inverse’ sonic microinteraction, that is, controlling sounds by the micromotion observed when attempting to stand still. It consisted of six acoustic guitars, each equipped with a Bela embedded computer for sound processing (in Pure Data), an infrared distance sensor to detect the presence of users, and an actuator attached to the guitar body to produce sound. With an attached battery pack, the result was a set of completely autonomous instruments that were easy to hang in a gallery space. The installation encouraged explorations on the boundary between the tactile and the kinesthetic, the body and the mind, and between motion and sound. The use of guitars, albeit with an untraditional `performance’ technique, made the experience both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Many users reported heightened sensations of stillness, sound, and vibration, and that the `inverse’ control of the instrument was both challenging and pleasant.

• Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Kari Anne Vadstensvik Bjerkestrand (2017). Exploring the Myo controller for sonic microinteraction. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper explores sonic microinteraction using muscle sensing through the Myo armband. The first part presents results from a small series of experiments aimed at finding the baseline micromotion and muscle activation data of people being at rest or performing short/small actions. The second part presents the prototype instrument MicroMyo, built around the concept of making sound with little motion. The instrument plays with the convention that inputting more energy into an instrument results in more sound. MicroMyo, on the other hand, is built so that the less you move, the more it sounds. Our user study shows that while such an "inverse instrument" may seem puzzling at first, it also opens a space for interesting musical interactions.

• Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Charles Patrick Martin, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Victoria Johnson (2017). Sverm-Resonans. Full text in Research Archive
• Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Agata Zelechowska & Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez (2017). The musical influence on people’s micromotion when standing still in groups. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska (2017). Combining eye-tracking and motion capture to study human bodily micromotion in music perception. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In order to understand how we perceive music, we should always consider that this process starts in our bodies being exposed to sound. Thus, the cognitive processing of sound cannot be treated as separate from the functioning of the body. During the last decades there has been a growing focus on embodied music cognition, and the role of the human body in both perception and production of music has been widely studied. However, not much research has been devoted to what we might call “micromotion” of the human body in the musical context – the tiniest, often involuntary and unconscious movements that occur during music listening. The human body is never completely still as there are many physiological processes that induce small-scale movement. The question, then, is whether such micromotion is altered when we are exposed to music? Here I would like to present my design of a set of small experiments that will shed some light on how human micromotion is influenced by musical sound. Methodologically, I will use a combination of motion capture and portable eye-tracking glasses. Each experiment will be designed to test a different subject, such as the differences between listening to music via headphones and via loudspeakers or the importance of the low-frequency region (bass sound) in inducing body movement. The aim of these small and exploratory studies will be to understand more about the effects of musical sound on human micromotion in particular and music cognition in general.

• Charles Patrick Martin, Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Tejaswinee Kelkar, Agata Zelechowska, Stig Johan Berggren & Christina Hopgood [Show all 14 contributors for this article] (2017). Ensemble Metatone - Improvised Touchscreen Performance. Full text in Research Archive
• Victor Evaristo Gonzalez Sanchez, Agata Zelechowska & Alexander Refsum Jensenius (2017). The influence of music in people's standstill. Full text in Research Archive
• Agata Zelechowska, Alexander Refsum Jensenius, Bruno Laeng & Jonna Katariina Vuoskoski (2020). Irresistible Movement: The Role of Musical Sound, Individual Differences and Listening Context in Movement Responses to Music. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This dissertation examines the phenomenon of spontaneous movement responses to music. It attempts to grasp and illustrate the complexity of this behaviour by viewing it from different perspectives. Unlike most previous studies on music and body movement, this dissertation places the focus on barely visible manifestations of movement, such as those that may occur when listening to music while standing still. The point of departure is a reflection on movement responses to music and why such responses are considered universal among humans. This is followed by a discussion on the different approaches to studying how music ‘inspires’ movement, and an overview of the different factors that can potentially contribute to the emergence of movement responses to music. The first goal of the empirical research was to verify the common conception that ‘music makes us move’ and examine whether such movement responses can be involuntary. Three of the five included papers show that music can, indeed, make people move, even when they try to stand as still as possible. The second goal is to explore different factors that contribute to movement responses to music. Throughout the included papers, several topics are examined, including rhythmic complexity, tempo, music genres, individual differences and playback systems. The theoretical chapters show how these topics fit into three broader components of the music experience: music, listener and context. Overall, the results suggest that several factors seem to increase movement responses to music: the clear underlying pulse in the sound stimuli, the rhythmic complexity, a tempo of around 120 beats per minute, listening on headphones rather than speakers and high empathy of the listener. All in all, this dissertation contributes to bridging several gaps in the literature on music-related body movement. It also broadens the perspective on why, how and when music moves us.

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