A number of studies concerning affective stimuli processing reveled
differences in patients with anxiety disorders in comparison to healthy
subjects. Purpose of this study was to analyze the reactions of moderate-anxious
versus non-anxious subjects to emotional visual stimuli while listening
to emotional background music concurrently. Besides psychophysiological
parameters (event related components and DC-potentials) also subjective
behavior data, as well as performance data was collected. 36 voluntary
subjects, non musicians, were rated concerning their anxiety by means of
the STAI and separated into subgroups, moderate- and non-anxious. By means
of a pretest (n=100) three types of music were chosen to induce either
positive (Pachelbel, "Canon in D Major"), neutral (brown noise) or negative
(Praxis, "Rivet") emotions. A repeated measure design was chosen, where
participants were confronted to the three emotional conditions in consecutive,
permuted order. After 2 minutes listening only, subjects had to evaluate
their mood followed by a period of 8 minutes listening to music combined
with presentation of 99 pictures of the IAPS (International Affective Picture
System) randomized to their emotional content, each 2.5sec lasting. Participants
had to evaluate the pictures on a scale concerning their subjective emotional
impact. Results demonstrate that music is widely able to influence subjects
in the assumed directions. A tendency was visible that non-anxious subjects
shorten their reaction time to affective pictures while listening to Pachelbel,
anxious subjects did not differ in speed over all. Reaction time for affective
pictures (positive, negative) are significant shorter over all compared
to negative pictures. Significant differences in N100 latency and amplitude
were not monitored. Largest P300-amplitude at negative pictures over all
and a tendency regarding largest amplitude during negative music was found;
shorter for anxious subjects. Late component was recorded showing negativity
prefrontal and positivity in other leads with maximum parietal. DC potential
analyses show a significant over all DC potential change over time. Independent
from hemisphere there is evidence that anxious subjects do not show so
much DC-level change towards positivity than non-anxious participants do.
They also show an increase of DC potential during evaluation phase and
stimulation by Pachelbel and Brown Noise but only significant at prefrontal
regions. Comprising DC-recordings point out differences between subgroups,
indicating different processing of affective stimuli in moderate- and non-anxious
subjects during background stimulation.