BEIJING: Music may do more than lift your mood after a stressful experience because a new MRI study suggests it can help the brain and body recover faster by changing communication between key brain regions.
Research led by Yi Du, Ph.D., of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, found that healthy adults who listened to music after a stressful task showed faster recovery in heart rate, sweating, heart-rate variability and cortisol levels than those who listened to calming water sounds.
The study involved 120 healthy volunteers who were asked to complete a time-pressured mental math task designed to trigger stress. Afterward, participants were divided into groups and listened to either music or water sounds while researchers monitored changes in their mood and physical responses.
Participants who listened to music reported greater improvements in positive mood and recovered more quickly from the physical effects of stress. Their heart rates and sweating decreased faster, while measures of heart-rate variability and cortisol also showed signs of quicker recovery.
Researchers then used functional MRI, to examine what was happening inside the brain as participants listened to the sounds. The scans revealed changes in communication involving three important brain regions in the auditory cortex, insula and thalamus.
The auditory cortex plays a central role in processing sound, while the insula is involved in emotional and bodily awareness. The thalamus acts as an important relay center for information traveling throughout the brain.
The researchers found that the stress-reducing effects appeared after participants completed the stressful task. Listening to music before the task did not produce significant benefits. That finding suggests timing may be an important part of how music influences stress recovery.
But researchers cautioned that the findings do not yet mean music should be considered a medical treatment for stress, as researchers said future research will examine whether personally selected music produces stronger effects, since musical preferences and listening environments can vary widely from person to person.
The researchers also plan to study more diverse populations, including people experiencing chronic stress or stress-related clinical conditions. The long-term goal could be the development of personalized music-based interventions that take into account an individual's musical preferences and physiological state.
For now, the findings suggest that putting on the right song after a stressful moment may do more than simply provide a pleasant distraction. Music may help the brain switch gears and move from the body's stress response toward recovery.
