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Low frequency and infrasound: A critical review of the myths, misbeliefs and their relevance to music perception research

Over the last several decades low frequency and infrasound have become relevant to many fields of research – most recently psychology and musicology, among others. Interpretation of data from experimental research has raised concern that low frequency and infrasound could be potentially harmful to humans’ well-being. While the physiological and psychological effects of infrasound are well documented, a variety of myths promulgated by pseudoscientific authors and newspapers still make it difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction, especially for people with little or no knowledge in acoustics. Myths are widespread today and result mainly from the one-dimensional view on sound, out-of-context citations, and a number of “sensational” findings from biased studies. The aim of this review is to evaluate the relevance of data from a music-psychological and psychoacoustic point of view, to give a consistent overview of the history of research, to examine the transferability of findings, and to trace the origins of myths to debunk them. Additionally, general information about the characteristics of low frequency sound, its production, measurement, and difficulties in experimental research is given to avoid mistakes in future research.