How Music Relieves Stress by Rewiring Brain Communication, Study Finds
- Listening to music can significantly reduce stress by actively reorganizing how different regions of the brain communicate, rather than simply acting as a distraction, according to a comprehensive...
- Afterward, researchers measured participant moods, heart rates, perspiration levels, and cortisol concentrations while they listened to relaxing music or calming ambient sounds like running water.
- Brain scans revealed that music alters communication pathways between the auditory cortex, which processes sound; the insula, which controls bodily sensations; and the thalamus, which routes sensory information.
Listening to music can significantly reduce stress by actively reorganizing how different regions of the brain communicate, rather than simply acting as a distraction, according to a comprehensive study published in the scientific journal PNAS. Researchers found that structured musical elements like tension and resolution help individuals recover faster from stressful events compared to ambient natural sounds.
Study design and physiological measurements in stress recovery
Afterward, researchers measured participant moods, heart rates, perspiration levels, and cortisol concentrations while they listened to relaxing music or calming ambient sounds like running water. Participants who listened to music relaxed more rapidly than those who only heard ambient noises. To understand the underlying mechanics, investigators used functional magnetic resonance imaging to track neural activity during the recovery period.
How music reshapes neural communication during relaxation
Brain scans revealed that music alters communication pathways between the auditory cortex, which processes sound; the insula, which controls bodily sensations; and the thalamus, which routes sensory information.
Au-delà de simplement faire diversion, la musique procure un support architecturé qui modifie la façon dont le cerveau réagit à cette tension.
L’étude démontre clairement que ça va au-delà de la distraction. C’est une étude spectaculaire.
Isabelle Peretz, Université de Montréal
Personal preferences and future musical applications
Bien qu’on doive naturellement écarter les tempos aux accents heavy metal, cela n’exclut pas l’efficacité potentielle de tels morceaux pour certains individus. C’est assez variable.
Isabelle Peretz, Université de Montréal