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Sinking, spooky feeling? A subsonic sound may be at fault | The Jerusalem Post

Jpost · · 454 words · By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The relationship between sound frequency and human emotion Scientific explanation of unexplained feelings
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What to know about The relationship between sound frequency and human emotion

A Canadian study published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience found that an 18 hertz (Hz) infrasound tone raised cortisol and worsened mood without participants’ awareness.

Claims checked 6
Techniques found 1
Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Right coverage
Left17%
Center83%
Right0%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

A Canadian study published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience found that an 18 hertz (Hz) infrasound tone raised cortisol and worsened mood without participants’ awareness.

Why it matters

In a controlled, blinded study, 36 students sat alone to listen to either calming or unsettling music.

Common ground

Half were exposed to an 18 Hz infrasound signal while the others were not.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.jpost.com/science/article-894693

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 60% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 6 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4
info Single Source 2
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Claim 1: “Those exposed reported heightened irritability, nervousness, and discomfort, and they rated even serene music as sadder, according to The Independent.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that participants exposed to 18 Hz infrasound reported heightened irritability and rated the stimulus as sadder compared to the control group. The claim attributes this finding to 'The Independent,' which is not verifiable, but the core findings are corroborated by multiple sources.
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · We found that participants in the infrasound-on condition reported higher irritation, lower interest, and rated the stimulus as sadder than those in the infrasound-off condition.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience…
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · The Invisible Stressor: Participants exposed to 18 Hz infrasound showed a measurable spike in salivary cortisol (the primary stress hormone) and reported feeling more irritable, even thou…
https://neurosciencenews.com/infrasound-stress-cortisol-mood…
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · For half the participants, hidden subwoofers played infrasound at 18 Hz. After listening, they were asked to report their feelings, their emotional rating of the music, and whether they..…
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1124671
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Claim 2: “Half were exposed to an 18 Hz infrasound signal while the others were not.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results describe the methodology of the study, confirming that participants (n=36) were divided into groups where half were exposed to 18 Hz infrasound and the other half were not, in a 2x2 design.
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · This study explored the non-auditory impact of infrasound on human mood and stress responding. Methods: Participants (n = 36) were exposed to calming or unsettling music with infrasound (…
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience…
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · For half the participants, hidden subwoofers played infrasound at 18 Hz. After listening, they were asked to report their feelings, their emotional rating of the music, and whether they t…
https://neurosciencenews.com/infrasound-stress-cortisol-mood…
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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · Half the participants were unknowingly also subjected to infrasound playing at 18 Hertz, outside the lower threshold of typical human hearing, 20 Hz.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/worried-your-house…
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Claim 3: “Saliva samples showed a measurable jump in cortisol among those exposed, and participants’ expectations failed to account for the physiological and mood changes, according to Deutsche Welle.”
SINGLE SOURCE
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it single source based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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web search NEUTRAL — Cortisol promotes sodium absorption through the small intestine of mammals.[40] Sodium depletion, however, does not affect cortisol levels[41] so cortisol cannot be used to regulate serum sodium. Cort…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol
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web search NEUTRAL — How Does It Work? Your hypothalamus and pituitary gland -- both located in your brain -- can sense if your blood contains the right level of cortisol. If the level is too low, your brain adjusts the a…
https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-cortisol
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web search NEUTRAL — BodySpec does not prescribe, dispense, promote, offer, sell, or facilitate access to any of the pharmaceutical products discussed below. A cortisol levels test measures the amount of cortisol—the body…
https://www.bodyspec.com/blog/post/cortisol_levels_test_type…
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Claim 4: “In a controlled, blinded study, 36 students sat alone to listen to either calming or unsettling music.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The web search results discuss music's effect on stress and mood, but none specifically detail a controlled, blinded study involving exactly 36 students listening to calming or unsettling music as claimed. The evidence is too general to confirm the specific parameters of the study.
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web search NEUTRAL — Jan 10, 2022 · After screening for eligibility, 24 controlled studies were included in the review and 21 were included in the meta-analysis. Results of the meta-analyses showed that music listening ha…
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10298649211046979
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web search NEUTRAL — In light of these considerations, we set out to examine the effect of listening to music prior to a standardized stressor across neuroendocrine, autonomic, cognitive, and emotional domains of the huma…
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3734071/
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web search NEUTRAL — Nov 1, 2020 · Forty-six healthy undergraduates participated in the study and randomly received different genres of music (Pop, Rock, Western Classical, and Persian Traditional) and silence for five co…
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S155083072…
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Claim 5: “A 2002 concert experiment that mixed an 18 Hz tone into musical performances found a 22% rise in reports of a sinking feeling, vague unease, and other unusual experiences among attendees during the low-frequency segments.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that a concert experiment (Infrasonic) took place in the Purcell Room, involving tones played underneath musical pieces. While the specific percentage (22%) and the exact year (2002) are not consistently confirmed across all sources, the core fact of the experiment mixing low-frequency tones into performances and causing reported unease is corroborated.
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web search NEUTRAL — The experimental concert (entitled Infrasonic) took place in the Purcell Room over the course of two performances, each consisting of four musical pieces. Two of the pieces in each concert had 17 Hz t…
https://www.facebook.com/denotrian/videos/on-31-may-2003-a-g…
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web search NEUTRAL — The experimental concert (entitled Infrasonic) took place in the Purcell Room over the course of two performances, each consisting of four musical pieces. Two of the pieces in each concert had 17 Hz t…
https://experienceofopera.blogspot.com/2011/02/infra-sonic-s…
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web search NEUTRAL — However, even during a symphonic concert in a concert hall, sound can excite perceivable vibrations on the surface of the body. This study analyzes the influence of audio-induced vibrations on the per…
http://www.sebastianmerchel.de/Publications/2014/Merchel_Alt…
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Claim 6: “A Canadian study published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience found that an 18 hertz (Hz) infrasound tone raised cortisol and worsened mood without participants’ awareness.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that exposed participants showed a measurable spike in salivary cortisol. Furthermore, these sources emphasize that the participants' expectations (or lack thereof) failed to account for the physiological and mood changes, aligning with the core findings reported by Deutsche Welle.
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · In the present study, we paired the presence or absence of infrasound (~18 Hz, 75–78 dB) with music stimuli designed to be calming or unsettling and examined both self-reported affect and…
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience…
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · In this study, researchers played infrasound alongside music and found that although listeners couldn’t accurately detect the infrasound, their irritability and salivary cortisol levels r…
https://www.frontiersin.org/news/2026/04/27/vibrating-pipes-…
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · That’s the conclusion of a new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. All of those are sources of infrasound. Scientists have long sought to find logical...
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/that-spooky-sensatio…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.