Sound Bath · Nature immersion

The Effect of Music on the Human Stress Response

Thoma MV, La Marca R, Brönnimann R, et al. · PLoS ONE, 2013

Sixty healthy women with an average age of 25 were randomly assigned to one of three conditions before a standardized stress test: listening to relaxing choral music (Allegri's Miserere), listening to the sound of rippling water, or resting in silence. Researchers measured cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase, heart rate, heart rate variability, perceived stress and anxiety. Surprisingly, cortisol response to the stressor was highest in the music group and lowest in the rippling water group. However, after the stressor, the music group's alpha-amylase, a marker of the autonomic nervous system, returned to baseline faster than the silent rest group. Heart rate and self-reported stress did not differ between groups. Limitations: the sample was small and included only young women, and the results were mixed rather than pointing in one direction.

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