Chronic stress is related to poor
individual health and associated with an increased predisposition to a multitude
of medical conditions including: diabetes mellitus, ulcers, ulcerative colitis,
atherosclerosis, depression, and schizophrenia [1]. These etiologies have
contributed to substantial financial burden in disease management, and as a
result led to the endeavor for alternative stress prevention/management
measures. Music has been shown to have a powerful effect on physiological,
cognitive, and emotional processes related to stress. Particularly, the most
substantial change is seen in the autonomic nervous system and to a lesser but
positive extent in the endocrine and psychological stress response as well [2].
Thoma et al. observed significantly
increased cortisol (indicator of HPA axis activity) and salivary alpha-amylase
levels (indicator of autonomic activity), and markedly decreased State and
Trait Anxiety Inventory scores (indicator of anxiety) in patients listening to
music before or during medical interventions that the patient considered
stressful (which in theory should yield opposite effects observed in the patients in the
presence of stress) [2]. Thoma et al. found that reductions in perceived levels
of psychological stress, increased coping abilities, or altered levels in
relaxation in music-listening patients facilitated change in cortisol and
amylase levels [2]. This suggested that music's capacity to alter cognitive processes
in the brain yields subsequent physiologic responses that reduce stress.
[1]
Salleh MR. Life Event, Stress and Illness. Malays J Med Sci 15(4): 9-18, 2008.
[2]
Thoma MV, Marca RL, Brönnimann R, Finkel L, Ehlert U, Nater
UM. The Effect of
Music on the Human Stress Response. PLoS
ONE8, 2013.
Hey Erica, great post! It is very interesting that researchers are also using salivary alpha amylase levels as well as cortisol to determine stress response before medical intervention. I found another article where 60 subjects were split into 3 groups of 20, where group 1 listened to new age music, group 2 listened to music of their choice, and group 3 was the control group who listened to normal operating room noises. Interestingly enough, groups 1 and 2 had lower levels of plasma cortisol and higher levels of natural killer cells, while group 3 had high levels of plasma cortisol and low levels of natural killer cells.Its pretty cool how stress can effect such a wide variety of biological functions.
ReplyDeleteLeardi, S., Pietroletti, R., Angeloni, G., Necozione, S., Ranalletta, G., & Del Gusto, B. (2007). Randomized clinical trial examining the effect of music therapy in stress response to day surgery. British Journal of Surgery, 94(8), 943–947. https://doi.org/10.1002/bjs.5914
Erica, This is a really interesting post and sort of explains why so many people find it soothing to listen to music right before a stressful event. Although its not a medical intervention, I always find it helps calm me down to listen to music before test taking. I was also thinking on the same page as Varun about the type of music. I was curious to know if the genre of music a person is listening to affects the cortisol and amylase levels more so than another genre. The study that Varun found is interesting because it indicates that personal preference for a particular genre doesn't really make that big of a difference. This was an awesome find for you to share. It really got me thinking about how to add different components to the study to see more effects of music on stress responses!
ReplyDeleteErica,
ReplyDeleteI am happy to see that there is research behind this! From personal experience listening to music has done more than relax me but help with my own anxiety and stress levels. It is interesting that the stimulation of the brain brought on by listening to music would be enough to increase cortisol levels! Would the music causing the release of cortisol be similar to how the smell and sight of food will make our mouth water, or could it be a completely different process?
One thing that does make me curious about this study if the same results would be given when rather the person just listening to the music they were playing the music themselves--such as sitting down to play the cello. There are possibilities that it could have the same effect, a lower effect or even a greater effect on relieving stress.