The biological impact of listening to music in clinical and nonclinical settings: A systematic review
- PMID: 29779734
- DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.03.007
The biological impact of listening to music in clinical and nonclinical settings: A systematic review
Abstract
This systematic review explored the evidence base on the impact of listening to music on biological response in both clinical and nonclinical settings. Human studies exploring the effects of listening to recorded music on biological markers were included. Studies had to involve a non-music control condition. Keyword searches were carried out of five major databases (Cochrane/Wiley, PsycINFO, PubMed, Sage, and Science Direct) and bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Randomized Studies (RoB 2.0). Forty-four studies assessing the biological impact of music listening were identified: 27 in clinical settings and 17 in nonclinical settings. Eighty-two percent had examined the effects of short-term listening interventions, while the remainder had looked at longitudinal interventions. Thirteen of 33 biomarkers tested were reported to change in response to listening to music. The most commonly analyzed biomarker was the stress hormone cortisol, with half of clinical studies demonstrating a stress-reducing effect of music listening. Blood glucose was also found repeatedly to reduce in response to music listening. Many of the other biomarkers analyzed are also part of biological stress pathways, which suggests that the primary way by which music listening affects us biologically is via modulations of stress response. Effects were shown irrespective of genre, self-selection of the music, or duration of listening, although a majority did use classical music. The evidence base for understanding biological responses to music is still developing, but there is support for the application of listening to music, especially within clinical settings for stress reduction.
Keywords: Arts in health; Biomarker; Cortisol; Cytokines; Glucose; Hormones; Hospital; Music; Psychoneuroimmunology; Stress.
© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Similar articles
-
Music interventions for mechanically ventilated patients.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014;2014(12):CD006902. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD006902.pub3. Epub 2014 Dec 9. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014. PMID: 25490233 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Assessing the Effects of Music Listening on Psychobiological Stress in Daily Life.J Vis Exp. 2017 Feb 2;(120):54920. doi: 10.3791/54920. J Vis Exp. 2017. PMID: 28190047 Free PMC article.
-
Music for stress and anxiety reduction in coronary heart disease patients.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Dec 28;2013(12):CD006577. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD006577.pub3. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013. PMID: 24374731 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Sex-specific Effects of Music Listening on Couples' Stress in Everyday Life.Sci Rep. 2019 Mar 19;9(1):4880. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-40056-0. Sci Rep. 2019. PMID: 30890714 Free PMC article.
-
Folic acid supplementation and malaria susceptibility and severity among people taking antifolate antimalarial drugs in endemic areas.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022 Feb 1;2(2022):CD014217. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD014217. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022. PMID: 36321557 Free PMC article.
Cited by
-
The effect of receptive music therapy on older adults with mild cognitive impairment and depression: a randomized controlled trial.Sci Rep. 2023 Dec 13;13(1):22159. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-49162-6. Sci Rep. 2023. PMID: 38092791 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
-
Effect of Selected Music Soundtracks on Cardiac Vagal Control and Complexity Assessed by Heart Rate Variability.Physiol Res. 2023 Nov 28;72(5):587-596. doi: 10.33549/physiolres.935114. Physiol Res. 2023. PMID: 38015758 Free PMC article.
-
How is music listening purpose related to stress recovery? - two preliminary studies in men and women.Front Psychol. 2023 Oct 10;14:1108402. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1108402. eCollection 2023. Front Psychol. 2023. PMID: 37901088 Free PMC article.
-
Nocturnal selective pressures on the evolution of human musicality as a missing piece of the adaptationist puzzle.Front Psychol. 2023 Oct 4;14:1215481. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1215481. eCollection 2023. Front Psychol. 2023. PMID: 37860295 Free PMC article.
-
Effect of classical music on growth performance, stress level, antioxidant index, immune function and meat quality in broilers at different stocking densities.Front Vet Sci. 2023 Aug 3;10:1227654. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1227654. eCollection 2023. Front Vet Sci. 2023. PMID: 37601747 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical