Reichman University researchers show that experiencing music through both hearing and touch enhances emotional response

Study published on 01 October 2025  in Frontiers in Virtual Reality demonstrates how multisensory music experiences can boost enjoyment, reduce anxiety, and open new therapeutic possibilities

A research team at the Reichman University Dina Recanati School of Medicine and the Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology has discovered that experiencing music in a multisensory way, combining both hearing and touch , significantly enhances people’s emotional responses to it. The study, conducted at the Institute for Brain, Cognition and Technology, introduces a unique device that converts sound into tactile vibrations on the hands and body, offering listeners a new dimension of musical experience.

“What we see is that people respond differently to music that is also felt through the body,” says Naama Schwartz, PhD candidate and co-first author of the work. “Imagine you’re at a concert of a band you love—your experience is inherently multisensory: you hear, you see, and you feel the vibrations. Our device captures part of that unified experience in a controlled way.”

Dr. Adi Snir, co-first author and senior researcher, explains: “The human tactile system is quite interesting in how it relates to sound. As humans we are capable of detecting vibration through the body though in a much more reduced frequency range than the auditory system. We had to develop an algorithm to convert streamed music to the correct frequency range in order to allow the experience of music through the hands and body to contain as much musical information as possible.” 

The results were striking. Participants reported greater enjoyment and more positive emotions when music was both heard and felt. The effects were even stronger when listeners could select music they personally liked. Importantly, the study also found a reduction in anxiety, pointing to therapeutic potential.

The researchers see broad applications: from enhancing virtual reality and entertainment technologies to supporting mental health and emotional regulation through multisensory therapies. As Dr. Snir explains: “With VR and haptic devices becoming more accessible, this opens up new avenues for creating enriched experiences, and for harnessing music’s therapeutic benefits.”

Professor Amir Amedi, head of the lab, notes: “When our brain receives matching signals across different senses, our attention is drawn more strongly to the experience. The auditory and tactile systems are particularly interconnected, which helps explain why the effect is immediate and powerful. This work is an important step into understanding not only the mechanisms enabling sensory integration, but how such integration can impact emotional states, and it’s broad therapeutic potential”.