Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

Sec. Cognitive Neuroscience

Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1574836

The strength of neural entrainment to electronic music correlates with proxies of altered states of consciousness

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Brainlab - Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group, Barcelona, Balearic Islands, Spain
  • 2 Institut de Neurociències, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
  • 3 Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
  • 4 Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
  • 5 Institut d’Arqueologia de la Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
  • 6 Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute (IRSJD), Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In electronic music events, the driving four-on-the-floor music appears pivotal for inducing altered states of consciousness (ASCs). While various physiological mechanisms link repetitive auditory stimuli to ASCs, entrainment-a brainwave synchronization through periodic external stimuli-has garnered primary focus. However, there are no studies systematically exploring the relationship between entrainment and ASCs. In the present study, we depart from the finding that entrainment to auditory stimuli peaks for stimulation rates around 2 Hz compared to others. Nineteen participants listened to six one-minute electronic music excerpts at different tempos (1.65 Hz, 2.25 Hz, and 2.85 Hz). For each excerpt, they performed cognitive tasks and reported phenomenological experiences related to ASCs through questionnaires. Brain activity was recorded with electroencephalography to assess whether a modulation in entrainment by the beat of electronic music affected objective and subjective proxies of ASCs. Our results revealed a tempo-driven modulation of entrainment at the group level, with entrainment being higher for stimulation rates at 1.65 Hz compared to 2.85 Hz. Similarly, music at 1.65 Hz aroused more feelings of unity compared to music at 2.85 Hz. However, at the individual level, no significant relationship was found between entrainment magnitude and phenomenological experience. Instead, a positive relationship was observed between entrainment and participants' reaction time. The results suggest that brainwave entrainment modulate processes relevant to rhythm-induced ASCs. While we cannot determine whether participants entered an ASC due to design constraints, the observed relationship between entrainment and reaction time at the individual level supports its functional significance.

    Keywords: altered states of consciousness, entrainment, Electroencephalography, Electronic music, Absorption, frequency-tagging

    Received: 11 Feb 2025; Accepted: 25 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Aparicio-Terrés, López-Mochales, Díaz-Andreu and Escera. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Carles Escera, Brainlab - Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group, Barcelona, Balearic Islands, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

    Research integrity at Frontiers

    Man ultramarathon runner in the mountains he trains at sunset

    95% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good

    Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.


    Find out more