Music may ease stress

Listening to music may do more than simply distract people from stress.  A new study suggests that music could also influence how the brain responds to and recovers from stress over time.

Researchers from the institute of Psychology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences led the study which was recently published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists have known for years that music can help people feel calm. However it was not clear whether music offers benefits beyond other relaxing sounds when its effects are strongest or what changes take place in the brain.

Music may be more helpful after stress

To explore these questions researchers conducted two experiments involving 120 healthy young adults.

In the first experiment participants completed a stressful mental arithmetic task.  Before or after the task they listened either to calming music or soft sounds of flowing water.

The researchers found that listening to music before the stressful task did not significantly reduce the initial stress response.  However music appeared to be more helpful after stress had already occurred during the recovery period.

Music may improve mood and speed recovery

Participants who listened to music reported greater improvements in their positive mood.  Some physical measures also suggested faster recovery from stress compared with the other condition.

Study finds changes in brain connections

In the second experiment researchers scanned participants’ brains while they were recovering from stress. The results suggested that music changed communication between the auditory cortex and brain regions involved in monitoring the body’s condition identifying important signals and regulating physical and emotional stress.

These areas included the insula and thalamus which play important roles in processing sensory and body related information.

Music may support the brain’s stress recovery

The brain changes were particularly noticeable during the stress-recovery period suggesting that music may support the brain’s natural process of returning to a calmer state.

The findings provide new evidence that music’s effects on stress may involve changes in communication between different brain regions rather than simply distracting people from stressful situations.