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How music helps the stressed brain bounce back
Medical Xpress • • health
Key Points:
- A study led by Siqi You at the Chinese Academy of Sciences investigated how music aids recovery from stress by examining brain communication changes during stress recovery.
- Researchers recruited 120 volunteers subjected to a stressful mental arithmetic task, then monitored their responses while listening to either relaxing music or soothing water sounds.
- Participants who listened to music showed faster stress recovery, with quicker reductions in heart rate, sweating, cortisol levels, and improved mood compared to those who heard water sounds.
- Brain scans revealed that music altered communication between the auditory cortex, insula, and thalamus, which are involved in processing sound, bodily sensations, and sensory information routing, respectively.
- The stress-relieving benefits of music were observed only during recovery after stress, not when music was played beforehand, suggesting music helps reconfigure the brain's response to stress rather than preventing it.
