Did you know: there is anecdotal evidence that neurodivergent people are overrepresented amongst Electronic Dance Music (EDM) spaces and listeners? Some neurodivergent report that the space to be themselves, the repetitive and structured rhythm, and the release of energy provides relief.¹

But is this the case? Hannah Adams, an MSc student at Queen Mary University of London is investigating if and why this might be, and to help understanding of predictive processing in neurodivergent brains and how this translates into musical enjoyment.

Hannah is looking for neurodivergent and neurotypical adults aged 18 and over to take part in a study investigating the connection between neurodivergence and EDM music. Participation involves a single session at QMUL lasting around 30-45 minutes, where participants will listen to music, tap along to the beat on a keyboard, and wear a small non-invasive wristband that records heart rate and arousal.

Hannah also notes that “After each track participants will answer a few short questions about how it felt. Everything is fully anonymised and participants are free to stop at any point.”

Anyone interested in hearing more and participating is encouraged to reach out to Hannah at ec25974@qmul.ac.uk.

1. See this external blog post for more: https://ukf.com/read/connecting-electronic-music-and-neurodiversity/ ↩︎