Saccular acoustic sensitivity is a measurement of the ear's affectability to sound. The saccule's normal function is to keep the body balanced, but it is believed to have some hearing function for special frequencies and tones. Saccular acoustic sensitivity is considered to be simply an extension of the sense of hearing through the use of the saccule.
Effects Saccular acoustic sensitivity has a variety of physiological as well as mental/emotional effects.
Physical effects Perhaps the most observable physical response is goose bumps. A similar effect is the manifestation of chills. Some sounds have been known to cause reflexive muscle movements like a twitch or even a jump.Eckart Altenmüller, et al. "Chills In Different Sensory Domains: Frisson Elicited By Acoustical, Visual, Tactile And Gustatory Stimuli." Psychology Of Music 39.2 (2011): 220-239. PsycINFO. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. Since these physical effects are easily recorded and are linked consistently with strong emotion, they have been used in several types of psychological studies.McCrae, Robert R. "Aesthetic Chills as a Universal Marker of Openness to Experience." Motivation and Emotion 31.1 (2007): 5-11. Print.
Mental/Emotional effects Certain sounds, such as fingernails drawn down a blackboard, cause strong feelings of aversion or even fear in most humans. A 2004 study claimed that the blackboard sound was very similar to the warning cry of Siamang gibbons and hypothesized that a vestigial reflex is what causes the fight or flight reaction in humans.Todd, Neil P. McAngus, and Merker, Bjorn. "Siamang Gibbons Exceed the Saccular Threshold: Intensity of the Song of Hylobates syndactylus." Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 115.6 (2004): 3077-3080. Print. Other sounds, such as a person coughing or vomiting, provoke responses of disgust. These emotional reactions are thought to be caused by the body's natural tendency to avoid disease.Ray, C. Claiborne. "Nasty Noises." New York Times 24 June 2008: 2. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.
Stimulation Negative Stimulation While each individual is extremely sensitive to different sounds, there are some nearly universal saccular acoustical stimulants. For example, the sound of fingernails scratching a blackboard will stimulate negative emotions along with chills in the majority of the population. Trevor J. Cox, of the University of Salford, was fascinated by this fact and conducted an online study to identify the "most horrible sound" in the world. Participants were asked to listen to recordings of various "bad" noises and rate them by their horribleness. "Vomiting" was selected as the most horrible sound by a wide margin. Surprisingly, "nails on a blackboard" was only ranked 16.Cox, Trevor J. "Scraping Sounds and Disgusting Noises." Applied Acoustics 69.12 (2008): 1195-1204. Print. Rank Sound Title 1 Vomiting 2 Microphone Feedback 3* Multiple Babies Crying 3* Scrape of Train Wheels 5 Squeak of Seesaw 6 Violin Played Badly 7* Whoopee cushion 7* Single Baby Crying 9* Soap Opera Argument 9* Mains hum 11 Tasmanian Devil 12* Cough 12* Cat Spitting and Howling 12* Mobile Phone Ringing 15 Creaky Door 16* Barking Mad Dog 16* Sniff 16* Fingernails on a Blackboard 16* Polystyrene 20 Dentists' Drill 21 Cough and Spit 22 Alarm Clock 23 Fast Electrical Drilling 24 Apple Munch 25 Creaky Stairs 26* Squeaky Trolley 26* Snoring 28* Electrical Throb 28* Cat Eating Noisily 30 Reverberated Whoopee Cushion 31 Aircraft Take-off 32 Drums 33 Gong 34 Low, Not-Quite-Eerie Noise (* signifies a tie)
Positive Stimulation There are various sounds that correspond to positive physical and emotional reactions as well. Therapists use these soothing sounds for therapy in stress relief and relaxation. However, most of the sounds that invoke positive responses tend to be more subjective. Familiarity tends to play a large role in the amount of positive stimulation observed. For example, a man listening to a familiar song is more likely to experience pleasure and have goosebumps than a man listening to an unfamiliar song.Grewe, Oliver, Reinhard Kopiez, and Eckart Altenmüller. "The Chill Parameter: Goose Bumps And Shivers As Promising Measures In Emotion Research." Music Perception 27.1 (2009): 61-74. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.
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