“Heavy” music is good for health, concerts prolong life, and tracks influence food choices – what music research revealed in 2018
Music is an area in which much scientific research is also being done. ITMO.NEWS tells about the most curious ones that explain how concerts affect people, how music is processed by the brain of people with high levels of empathy, how music helps children develop language skills, why “heavy” music is good for health, and how to track choice affects our choice between healthy and unhealthy food. Read more in the story.
Scientists find benefits of listening to “heavy” music, University of South Australia.
Paula Rowe and Bernard Guerin of the University of South Australia found that “metal” positively affects young people aged 18-24 in their study Contextualizing the Mental Health of Young Metal Players: A Community of Social Protection, Identity, and Musical Empowerment.
Researchers found that social community and musical interaction positively affected the psychological well-being of young “metal” fans, despite the common perception that heavy music harms health. Twenty-three Australian boys and five girls took part in the study. All respondents claimed that they closely associate themselves with “metal” and feel that this community protects them from mental illness. I suggest you to find, as an essay writer free online resources on this topic and explore this issue further, if you are interested, of course.
According to the survey, all of these young people had four main aspects in common: they were bullied or ignored at school; being outcasts or feeling angry, they enjoyed the influence of heavy music and lyrics; they felt protected within the metal community, although in many cases this feeling was somewhat imaginary at their age; their commitment to metal helped them stand up to bullies as well as make friends.
Researchers concluded that the metal community and heavy music helped young people cope with personal problems and helped them mature in the face of family or social setbacks.
Regular concert attendance prolongs life and makes people happier, Goldsmiths University.
A report by Patrick Fagan, a behavioral science specialist at Goldsmiths University, said that being at a concert for just 20 minutes leads to a 21 percent improvement in overall well-being. Further research found a direct correlation between “high levels of well-being and an increase in life expectancy of nine years.”
Study participants underwent special psychometric and heart-rate tests, which revealed increased self-esteem (25%), increased feelings of intimacy (25%), and mental excitement (75%) after attending a concert. The study also found that those who attend shows once every two weeks are most likely to experience feelings of “happiness, satisfaction, and self-esteem at the highest level.”
Music lessons improve language skills, MIT.
Researchers have found that piano lessons have a specific effect on children’s ability to distinguish different tones, which leads to improved word recognition. Many studies have shown that music training can improve language skills. However, it has been unknown whether music lessons improve overall cognitive abilities, leading to better language proficiency, or whether the effects of music are more specific to language processing.
A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown that piano lessons have a very specific effect on children’s ability to distinguish between different tones, resulting in the improved distinction between spoken words. However, piano lessons do not appear to benefit general cognitive abilities as measured by IQ, attention span, and working memory.
The researchers told us that the children did not have higher cognitive scores, but they improved word discrimination, especially for consonants. That said, it was the piano group that showed the best improvement.
Music Advantage.
Previous studies have shown that, on average, musicians perform better on tasks such as reading comprehension, distinguishing speech from background noise, and rapid auditory processing. However, most of this research was done based on people’s feedback about their past music education. Researchers at MIT wanted a more controlled study in which they could randomly assign children music lessons and then measure the effects.
The 74 children in the study were divided into three groups: one group received 45 minutes of piano lessons three times a week; another group received additional reading instruction for the same period, and the third group received no intervention. The children, ages 4-5, spoke their native Chinese (the study was conducted in a Beijing school).
After six months, the researchers tested the children on their ability to discriminate words based on differences in vowels, consonants, or tone (many Chinese words differ only in tone). Better word discrimination usually corresponds to better phonological awareness – awareness of the sound structure of words, which is a crucial component of learning to read.
Children who had piano lessons showed a significant advantage over children in the supplemental reading group in discriminating words that differed by a single consonant. Children in both the piano and supplemental reading groups performed better than children who received no intervention when distinguishing words based on vowel differences.
The researchers also used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain activity and found that children in the piano group had stronger responses than other children when they listened to a series of tones of different pitches. This suggests that greater sensitivity to differences in pitch is what helped children who took piano lessons to better distinguish between different words. This skill, in turn, is very important for children in language learning.
How music influences our decision to order healthy or unhealthy food at a restaurant, University of South Florida
The music playing in restaurants plays an important role in ordering healthy or unhealthy food. A study shows that the volume of ambient music (a style of electronic music) has a systemic effect on consumers’ preferences for healthy and unhealthy foods. This is because music directly affects heart rate and arousal. Soft music has a calming effect, making us more mindful of what we are ordering. This usually leads to healthier choices, such as a salad. A louder atmosphere increases stimulation and stress, making customers want a greasy cheeseburger and fries.
The study was conducted at a cafe in Stockholm, Sweden, where different genres of music were alternately played at 55 dB and 70 dB. The menu items were coded as healthy, unhealthy, and neutral (a category used for products such as coffee or tea). During the experiment conducted over several hours over several days, the researchers found that 20 percent more diners ordered something unhealthy when the music was louder, compared to those who dined at quieter times.
While previous studies have looked at various aspects of environmental influences on food sales, such as lighting, smell, and decor, this is the first study to specifically look at how the volume of music dictates healthy and unhealthy food choices. These results allow restaurant managers to manage music to influence sales.
People who deeply understand the pain or happiness of others process music differently in the brain, Southern Methodist University of Dallas and UCLA
The Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience study compared fMRI studies of people with low and high levels of empathy and found that people with higher empathy differ from others in how their brains process music.
The researchers found that compared to people with lower levels of empathy, people with higher levels of empathy process familiar music with more involvement of the brain’s reward system and areas responsible for processing social information.
People with high and low levels of empathy have much in common when listening to music, including roughly equivalent involvement in brain areas related to auditory, emotional, and sensory-motor processing. Still, there is at least one significant difference. Highly empathic people process familiar music with greater involvement of the brain’s social networks, areas activated when they feel empathy for others. They also experience a greater degree of listening pleasure, as evidenced by increased reward system activation.
A study by scientists at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and the University of California confirmed the connection between music and empathy for the first time. In addition, this study is one of the first to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how empathy is related to music perception.
The 74 children in the study were divided into three groups: one group received 45 minutes of piano lessons three times a week; another group received additional reading instruction for the same period of time, and the third group received no intervention. All of the children, ages 4-5, spoke their native Chinese (the study was conducted in a Beijing school).
After six months, the researchers tested the children on their ability to discriminate words based on differences in vowels, consonants, or tone (many Chinese words differ only in tone). Better word discrimination usually corresponds to better phonological awareness – awareness of the sound structure of words, which is a key component of learning to read.
Children who had piano lessons showed a significant advantage over children in the supplemental reading group in discriminating words that differed by a single consonant. Children in both the piano and supplemental reading groups performed better than children who received no intervention when distinguishing words based on vowel differences.
The researchers also used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain activity. They found that children in the piano group had stronger responses than other children when they listened to a series of tones of different pitches. This suggests that greater sensitivity to differences in pitch is what helped children who took piano lessons to better distinguish between different words. This skill, in turn, is very important for children in language learning.
How music influences our decision to order healthy or unhealthy food at a restaurant, University of South Florida
The music playing in restaurants plays an important role in ordering healthy or unhealthy food. A study shows that the volume of ambient music (a style of electronic music) has a systemic effect on consumers’ preferences for healthy and unhealthy foods. This is because music directly affects heart rate and arousal. Soft music has a calming effect, making us more mindful of what we are ordering. This usually leads to healthier choices, such as a salad. A louder atmosphere increases stimulation and stress, making customers want a greasy cheeseburger and fries.
The study was conducted at a cafe in Stockholm, Sweden, where different genres of music were alternately played at 55 dB and 70 dB. The menu items were coded as healthy, unhealthy, and neutral (a category used for products such as coffee or tea). During the experiment conducted over several hours over several days, the researchers found that 20 percent more diners ordered something unhealthy when the music was louder, compared to those who dined at quieter times.
While previous studies have looked at various aspects of environmental influences on food sales, such as lighting, smell, and decor, this is the first study to specifically look at how the volume of music dictates healthy and unhealthy food choices. These results allow restaurant managers to manage music to influence sales.
People who deeply understand the pain or happiness of others process music differently in the brain, Southern Methodist University of Dallas and UCLA
The Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience study compared fMRI studies of people with low and high levels of empathy and found that people with higher empathy differ from others in how their brains process music.
The researchers found that compared to people with lower levels of empathy, people with higher levels of empathy process familiar music with more involvement of the brain’s reward system and areas responsible for processing social information.
People with high and low levels of empathy have much in common when listening to music, including roughly equivalent involvement in brain areas related to auditory, emotional, and sensory-motor processing. Still, there is at least one significant difference. Highly empathic people process familiar music with greater involvement of the brain’s social networks, areas activated when they feel empathy for others. They also experience a greater degree of listening pleasure, as evidenced by increased reward system activation.
A study by scientists at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and the University of California confirmed the connection between music and empathy for the first time. In addition, this study is one of the first to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how empathy is related to music perception.
The participants in the study were 20 students at the University of California. Each was given an MRI while listening to excerpts of familiar or unfamiliar music that the listener may or may not have liked. Afterward, each respondent filled out a test to assess individual differences in empathy. The researchers then conducted controlled comparisons to see which brain parts correlated with empathy while listening to music.
Brain scan analysis showed that high empathizers experienced greater activity in the dorsal striatum, which is part of the brain’s reward system when listening to familiar music, whether they liked the music or not. The reward system, in turn, is linked to pleasure and other positive emotions.
Today, the Harvard University Music Laboratory (the newest lab in the Department of Psychology) does basic science, conducting experiments with people of all ages, different populations, and genetic conditions. Researchers pay particular attention to infants and people who live in small isolated societies worldwide. Laboratory staff also use citizen science methods to learn more about how the human mind creates and perceives music. To participate in the research, one can choose one of the five-minute games available on the lab’s website and play. For example, the user is encouraged to understand what a particular song is used for or test their pitch perception.
