Experiment proves that ancient Aztec 'death whistle' brings fear to the human brain
by Sascha Frühholz, UZH
Since ancient times, rituals using various musical instruments have been performed around the world, but the Aztec flute, which imitates a skull, has a tone that stands out from the rest. In an experiment in which subjects were played the sound of the flute, which sounds like the screams of the dead, and their brain activity was scanned, it was confirmed that the flute evokes a chilling fear and a complex impression that goes beyond that.
Psychoacoustic and Archeoacoustic nature of ancient Aztec skull whistles | Communications Psychology
Death Whistle | | UZH
https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/media/2024/Totenkopfpfeife.html
Study: Why Aztec “death whistles” sound like human screams - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/11/study-why-aztec-death-whistles-sound-like-human-screams/
Creepy Aztec Death Whistles Have a Strange Effect on The Human Brain : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/creepy-aztec-death-whistles-have-a-strange-effect-on-the-human-brain
The original Aztec 'Death Flute' was found during excavations at the Temple of Ehécatl-Quetzalcoatl in Mexico City between 1987 and 1989. The remains of a decapitated man, believed to have been a human sacrifice to the wind god Ehécatl , were found clutching a clay flute in his hand.
This flute is called the Flute of Death because of its shape that resembles a skull, and several types have been found in ruins dating back to 1250-1521 AD.
by Claudia Orbroki
What the Death Flute was used for is shrouded in mystery, with one theory being that it was used to intimidate opponents or inspire courage during battle, but as no Death Flute has ever been excavated from a warrior's grave or battlefield, this remains merely a hypothesis.
Another theory is that the skull-like shape is an allusion to
To investigate the sound of the Death Flute, Sascha Fruehholz, a cognitive and affective neuroscientist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, and his team performed a CT scan of the Death Flute and created a clay replica and a 3D digital model.
First, simulations using a 3D model showed that the Death Flute's shriek-like sound was produced by a unique internal structure with opposing acoustic chambers. 'This flute has a very unique structure, and we don't know of any comparable instruments in other pre-Columbian cultures or in other historical or contemporary contexts,' Fruhholz said.
In addition, the research team obtained recordings of the original and replica Death Flute and had 70 volunteers listen to them. Below is the sound of the replica Death Flute. Please note that some listeners may find the sound shocking, so please play it with caution.
Participants who heard the death whistle rated it as extremely horrifying and frightening. What was particularly interesting was that while participants perceived the whistle to be of man-made origin, they also perceived it to be of natural origin, like a human scream.
'We found that whistle sounds were primarily perceived as disgusting or fearful and as having a mixed natural and artificial origin,' the team wrote in their paper.
by Jennysnest
Thirty-two of the participants also underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans while listening to the sound of the death whistle mixed in with other random sounds.
They found that the sound of the death whistle primarily activated the inferior frontal cortex, which is responsible for precise sound evaluation and categorization, and the medial frontal cortex, an area involved in associative processing. They found that the sound of the death whistle was classified into a unique group that was similar to warning sounds such as horns, sirens, and firearms, as well as human sounds such as fear, pain, anger, and screams.
'This is consistent with the traditions of many ancient cultures of capturing natural sounds with musical instruments and explains the ritual aspect of the death whistle's sound, which imitates mythical beings,' said Frueholtz.
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