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The effects of different types of music on mood, tension, and mental clarity

Authors:
Rollin McCraty at HearthMath Institute
Rollin McCraty
  • HearthMath Institute
B Barrios-Choplin
B Barrios-Choplin
B Barrios-Choplin
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
M Atkinson
M Atkinson
M Atkinson
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Dana Tomasino
Dana Tomasino
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Abstract

This study investigated the impact of different types of music on tension, mood, and mental clarity. A total of 144 subjects completed a psychological profile before and after listening for 15 minutes to four types of music (grunge rock, classical, New Age, and designer). With grunge rock music, significant increases were found in hostility, sadness, tension, and fatigue, and significant reductions were observed in caring, relaxation, mental clarity, and vigor. In contrast, after listening to the designer music (music designed to have specific effects on the listener), significant increases in caring, relaxation, mental clarity, and vigor were measured; significant decreases were found in hostility, fatigue, sadness, and tension. The results for New Age and classical music were mixed. Feeling shifts among subjects were observed with all types of music. Designer music was most effective in increasing positive feelings and decreasing negative feelings. Results suggest that designer music may be useful in the treatment of tension, mental distraction, and negative moods.
The effects of different types of music on mood, tension, and mental clarit
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Stress hormones, tissue-plasminogen activator (t-PA) antigen, left-ventricular diastolic function and mood immediately before and after listening to three different kinds of music (a waltz by J. Strauss, a piece of modern classic by H. W. Henze, and meditative music by R. Shankar) were measured in 20 healthy persons (10 women, 10 men; mean age 25 [20-33] years) and 20 hypertensives (8 women, 12 men; mean age 57.5 [25-72] years). To recognise haemodynamic effects, mitral flow by Doppler ultrasound was used as a measure of left-ventricular diastolic function. Atrial filling pressure (AFF) was calculated from the flow integral (VTI) of the early E and the late A waves. The Zerssen scale was used to estimate the immediate mood of the subjects. In hypertensives the levels of cortisol (74 vs 78 ng/ml; P < 0.05) and t-PA antigen (4.3 vs 4.5 ng/ml; P < 0.05) were lower after than before the Strauss waltz. The muscle by Henze lowered the concentrations of cortisol (70 vs 84 ng/ml; P < 0.05), noradrenaline (203 vs 224 ng/l; P < 0.05) and t-PA antigen (4.1 vs 4.6 ng/ml; P < 0.05). After listening to the piece by Shankar the concentrations of cortisol (71 vs 78 ng/ml; P < 0.05), adrenaline 14.5 vs 24.5 ng/ml; P < 0.05) and t-PA antigen (4.2 vs 4.3 ng/ml; P < 0.05) were lower. In healthy subjects AFF (29 vs 26%; P < 0.05) rose after the Strauss music, VTI-E fell (69 vs 73 mm; P < 0.05, while natriuretic peptide rose (63 vs 60 pg/ml; P < 0.05.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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