Chanting altered minds in Hypogeum

The results of recent scientific study suggests that the 6,000 year-old hypogeum in Hal Saflieni could have been specifically designed to conduct and manipulate sound to produce certain effects on the human brain.

In this way, people in the hypogeum experienced mood changes while listening to chanting. 

Some scientists believe that certain sound vibration frequencies created when sound is emitted within its walls are actually altering human brain functions of those within earshot.

According to a laboratory study, exposure to a tone within this frequency, particularly at 110-111 hz seems to create a shift of brain function, "turning on" an area of the brain that bio-behavioural scientists believe relates to mood, empathy and social behaviour.

Studies have focused on one room in the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum known popularly as "the Oracle Chamber" which has been show to have its strongest sound resonance at 110 hz.

An ongoing study conducted by the Mediterranean Institute of Ancient Civilisations  at the hypogeum in 2011 has monitored the brain activity of a number of healthy volunteers by EEG and exposure to different sound vibration frequencies.

Writing in the Old Temples Study Foundation website, writer Linda Eneix claims that "deliberately or not, the people who spent time" in the hypogeum under conditions that may have included a low male voice engaged in ritual chanting or even simple communication were exposing themselves to vibrations that may have actually impacted their thinking.