Margot Niessen

Bio: Margot Niessen is an academic researcher from Leipzig University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Music and emotion & Musical composition. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 8 publications receiving 150 citations.

Musical agency reduces perceived exertion during strenuous physical performance

Abstract: Music is known to be capable of reducing perceived exertion during strenuous physical activity. The current interpretation of this modulating effect of music is that music may be perceived as a diversion from unpleasant proprioceptive sensations that go along with exhaustion. Here we investigated the effects of music on perceived exertion during a physically strenuous task, varying musical agency, a task that relies on the experience of body proprioception, rather than simply diverting from it. For this we measured psychologically indicated exertion during physical workout with and without musical agency while simultaneously acquiring metabolic values with spirometry. Results showed that musical agency significantly decreased perceived exertion during workout, indicating that musical agency may actually facilitate physically strenuous activities. This indicates that the positive effect of music on perceived exertion cannot always be explained by an effect of diversion from proprioceptive feedback. Furthermore, this finding suggests that the down-modulating effect of musical agency on perceived exertion may be a previously unacknowledged driving force for the development of music in humans: making music makes strenuous physical activities less exhausting.

Method-Induced Differences of Energy Contributions in Women's Kayaking

Abstract: Context: Different relative aerobic energy contribution (WAER%) has been reported for the 2 women’s Olympic kayaking disciplines (ie, 200 and 500 m). Purpose: To investigate whether the adopted method of energy calculation influences the value of WAER% during kayaking time trials. Methods: Eleven adolescent female kayakers (age 14 ± 1 y, height 172 ± 4 cm, body mass 65.4 ± 4.2 kg, VO2peak 42.6 ± 4.9 mL·min−1·kg−1, training experience 1.5 ± 0.3 y) volunteered to participate in 1 incremental exercise test and 2 time trials (40 and 120 s) on the kayak ergometer. A portable spirometric system was used to measure gas metabolism. Capillary blood was taken from the ear lobe during and after the tests and analyzed for lactate afterward. The method of modified maximal accumulated oxygen deficit (m-MAOD) and the method based on the fast component of oxygen-uptake off-kinetics (PCr-La-O2) were used to calculate the energy contributions. Results: The anaerobic energy portions from m-MAOD were lower than those from PC...

Music and social bonding: "self-other" merging and neurohormonal mechanisms.

Abstract: It has been suggested that a key function of music during its development and spread amongst human populations was its capacity to create and strengthen social bonds amongst interacting group members. However, the mechanisms by which this occurs have not been fully discussed. In this paper we review evidence supporting two thus far independently investigated mechanisms for this social bonding effect: self-other merging as a consequence of inter-personal synchrony, and the release of endorphins during exertive rhythmic activities including musical interaction. In general, self-other merging has been experimentally investigated using dyads, which provide limited insight into large-scale musical activities. Given that music can provide an external rhythmic framework that facilitates synchrony, explanations of social bonding during group musical activities should include reference to endorphins, which are released during synchronised exertive movements. Endorphins (and the Endogenous Opioid System (EOS) in general) are involved in social bonding across primate species, and are associated with a number of human social behaviours (e.g. laughter, synchronised sports), as well as musical activities (e.g. singing and dancing). Furthermore, passively listening to music engages the EOS, so here we suggest that both self-other merging and the EOS are important in the social bonding effects of music. In order to investigate possible interactions between these two mechanisms, future experiments should recreate ecologically valid examples of musical activities.

Affordances and the musically extended mind.

Abstract: I defend a model of the musically extended mind. I consider how acts of “musicking” grant access to novel emotional experiences otherwise inaccessible. First, I discuss the idea of “musical affordances” and specify both what musical affordances are and how they invite different forms of entrainment. Next, I argue that musical affordances—via soliciting different forms of entrainment—enhance the functionality of various endogenous, emotion-granting regulative processes, drawing novel experiences out of us with an expanded complexity and phenomenal character. I suggest that music therefore ought to be thought of as part of the vehicle needed to realize these emotional experiences. I appeal to different sources of empirical work to develop this idea.

Quantification of anaerobic energy production during intense exercise : Symposium : New insights into the control of human muscle blood flow and metabolism studied in vivo

Abstract: Anaerobic energy production during supramaximal exercise has been estimated from muscle metabolic changes. Based on such measurements the anaerobic energy production was determined to be 63 and 189 mmol ATP.kg -1 d.w. for 60 and 142 s of exhaustive cycling exercise, respectively. These estimations do not, however, include release of lactate from the exercising muscles. Furthermore, the anaerobic production cannot be related to the work performed since the muscle biopsy sample may not be representative for the muscles involved in the exercise, and the total anaerobic energy production during whole body exercise cannot be determined because the mass of the muscles used is unknown. When a single muscle is exercised, the problems are minimized. With a one-legged knee-extensor exercise model, which uses a defined muscle mass, the anaerobic energy production has been estimated to be 370 mmol ATP.kg -1 d.w. for a 192-s exhaustive exercise period. Estimated pulmonary oxygen deficit based on an energy demand extrapolated from a linear relationship between exercise intensity and oxygen uptake at submaximal exercise does not appear to represent the anaerobic energy production during whole body exercise.

Synchrony as an Adaptive Mechanism for Large-Scale Human Social Bonding

Abstract: This work was funded by European Research Council Advanced Investigator Grant No. 295663 awarded to RD.

Effective conditioning of female soccer players

Abstract: We compared the efficacy of three physical conditioning programmes provided over a 12 week period (24 h in total) on selected anthropometric and physical fitness parameters in female soccer players. Two of the groups received physical conditioning training in accordance with speed, agility and quickness (SAQ); one group used specialized resistance and speed development SAQ equipment (equipment group; n = 12), while the other group used traditional soccer coaching equipment (non-equipment group; n = 12). A third group received their regular fitness sessions (active control group; n = 12). All three interventions decreased (P <0.001) the participants' body mass index (−3.7%) and fat percentage (−1.7%), and increased their flexibility (+14.7%) and maximal aerobic capacity ([Vdot]O2max) (+18.4%). The participants in the equipment and non-equipment conditioning groups showed significantly (P <0.005) greater benefits from their training programme than those in the active control group by performing significantly better on the sprint to fatigue (−11.6% for both the equipment and non-equipment groups versus −6.2% for the active control group), 25 m sprint (−4.4% vs −0.7%), left (−4.5% vs −1.0%) and right (−4.0% vs −1.4%) side agility, and vertical (+18.5% vs +4.8%) and horizontal (+7.7% vs +1.6%) power tests. Some of these differences in improvements in physical fitness between the equipment and non-equipment conditioning groups on the one hand and the active control group on the other hand were probably due to the specificity of the training programmes. It was concluded that SAQ training principles appear to be effective in the physical conditioning of female soccer players. Moreover, these principles can be implemented during whole team training sessions without the need for specialized SAQ equipment. Finally, more research is required to establish the relationship between physical fitness and soccer performance as well as the principles underlying the improvements seen through the implementation of SAQ training programmes.