Music as a countermeasure to fatigue: A driving simulator study

Orsini, Federico; Baldassa, Andrea; Grassi, Massimo; Cellini, Nicola; Rossi, Riccardo · 2024 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2024.04.016

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This study investigates the effectiveness of listening to music as a behavioral countermeasure for passive task-related (PTR) driving fatigue, a condition arising from mental underload during monotonous driving. While music is a common coping strategy, prior research has been limited by methodological constraints, such as restricted music selection or confounding variables like spoken words in radio broadcasts. The authors aimed to quantify the magnitude and duration of music’s impact on fatigue using both objective and subjective indicators, while also exploring how specific song features influence effectiveness. The researchers conducted a driving simulator experiment with 60 young adult participants divided into a control group (n=26) and an experimental group (n=30). Participants drove for 50 minutes on a monotonous highway scenario designed to induce mental underload. The experimental group drove without music for the first 20 minutes to establish a baseline of fatigue, then listened to a self-selected playlist at their preferred volume for the remaining 30 minutes. The control group drove without music for the entire duration. Fatigue was assessed using objective measures, including the Standard Deviation of Lateral Position (SDLP) and PERCLOS (percentage of eye closure), and subjective measures via the Stanford Sleepiness Scale, Samn-Perelli Fatigue Scale, and Karolinska Sleepiness Scale. Additionally, song features such as tempo, energy, and danceability were extracted from Spotify to analyze their correlation with fatigue reduction. Results indicated that music had a positive acute effect on objective measurements of driving fatigue, but this effect was transient, lasting approximately 15–25 minutes. The impact was more prominent in subjective measures, where participants reported reduced feelings of drowsiness and fatigue. Exploratory analysis revealed that songs with higher intensity, faster tempo, greater danceability, and less instrumental content were more effective at mitigating fatigue. These findings suggest that while music can serve as a viable short-term countermeasure to PTR fatigue, its benefits diminish with prolonged exposure. The study highlights the importance of music characteristics in maximizing alertness and provides evidence that self-selected, familiar music is more effective than imposed tracks. These conclusions support the integration of music as a behavioral strategy for managing driving fatigue, particularly for young drivers, while emphasizing the need for further research into long-term effects and optimal musical parameters.

Key finding

Listening to self-selected music provides a transient acute reduction in objective driving fatigue indicators and a more sustained improvement in subjective fatigue perception, with higher intensity and tempo tracks being particularly effective.

Methodology

simulator

Sample size: 60

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• music audio mood
• drowsiness detection algorithms
• time on task
• drowsiness
• truck driver fatigue
• auditory

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: physiological data
• Methodological Resource: validation psychometrics, tool software