| Twenty-four young, healthy test subjects lay quietly | | | | two-minute pauses were inserted in each piece of |
| in a university lab, listening to carefully chosen music | | | | music. |
| through headphones, as doctors and technicians | | | | Here's what they found: fast musical tempos |
| hovered around them meticulously measuring their | | | | increased heart rate, blood pressure and respiration. |
| vital signs. The study concluded quickly and the | | | | Slow tempos reduced them. Pretty standard stuff. |
| subjects returned to their normal everyday lives. But | | | | But then the shocker: the style of music and the |
| as the researchers began sifting through the data, | | | | volunteers' personal musical preferences made no |
| something new and interesting began to emerge. | | | | difference at all. The only thing that mattered was |
| We've known for some time that music is a powerful | | | | the tempo. |
| relaxation tool. Music can decrease anxiety levels, | | | | It didn't matter if the music was classical, rap, techno, |
| lower blood pressure and heart rate, and change | | | | romantic or an Indian raga. Only one thing made a |
| stress hormone levels. It affects your respiration, | | | | difference to their cardiovascular systems--whether |
| reduces muscle tension, increases endorphin levels, | | | | the music was fast or slow. This means that the |
| and boosts your immune system. The effect of | | | | music you hear, whether you've chosen it or not, |
| music is so powerful, hospitals around the world use | | | | whether you like it or not, is going to affect your |
| music to reduce stress in patients waiting for surgery. | | | | health. |
| Now there's fresh evidence on the power of music | | | | There's more: during the silent pauses between |
| to affect our health. Researchers at Italy's University | | | | musical selections, the test subjects' vital signs |
| of Pavia recently confirmed that music changes your | | | | returned to normal, in some cases stabilizing at |
| heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. But as they | | | | healthier levels than before the music. The |
| analyzed their data, they found something new, | | | | researchers say this suggests that listening to any |
| something no one had expected to find. | | | | kind of music--fast or slow--could benefit your heart. |
| Dr. Bernardi and his colleagues were interested in | | | | Finally, the study found that musicians were more |
| expanding the use of music to reduce stress in | | | | sensitive to the effect than non-musicians. Musicians |
| medical patients. Here's how their experiment worked: | | | | may have learned to breathe in time to the music, to |
| the docs recorded the vital signs of 24 test | | | | become more alert during fast passages, and to relax |
| volunteers (12 musicians and 12 non-musicians) for | | | | when the music slows down. Whatever the reason, a |
| five minutes. Then the volunteers listened to six | | | | good prescription for helping maintain your |
| different styles of music in random order. Random | | | | cardiovascular health could be to take music lessons. |