Heart Rhythms Helped with Music Therapy
Tempo may be key to how well music soothes the savage breast - meaning an Irish jig and a Debussy nocturne may not be created equal when it comes to improving well-being.
New research shows that slow music produces a relaxing effect, while musical pauses further modulate heart rhythms and circulation patterns in a beneficial way, according to a report in Heart, a British Medical Journal publication.
The effects were most striking for those people who have musical training.
Tempos Address Different Pacing Needs
Calm music with a slow tempo can [affect] respiration to produce slower breathing, says Dr. Peter Sleight, study author and a researcher at the University of Oxford in England.
Slower breathing has been linked to lower blood pressure and may help the lungs work more efficiently.
For their new research, Dr. Sleight and his colleagues investigated physiologic responses to six different types of music in 12 musicians and 12 non-musicians.
The music selections consisted of raga (Indian classical music), Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (slow classical), rap (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Vivaldi (fast classical), techno, and Anton Webern (slow, dodecaphonic music).
Each participant listened to different sequences of music for two minutes at a stretch, followed by the same selection for four minutes. The sequences included a two-minute pause.
Music with faster tempos and simpler rhythmic structures resulted in increased ventilation, blood pressure, and heart rate, the researchers found.
When the music was paused, heart rate, blood pressure, and ventilation decreased, sometimes even below the starting rate.
Slower music caused declines in heart rate, with the largest decline seen with raga music.
The pause effect occurred regardless of the type of music but was stronger among musicians, who are already trained to measure their breathing with the music.
Overall, a person's musical preference was less important than the music's pace, the researchers say.
"Stress has its impact on cardiovascular disease," says Dr. Vincent Marchello, a physician at Metropolitan Jewish Health System. "Music can not only reduce stress, but it can enhance the therapy that one gets."
Earlier research has shown that reading rhythmic poetry like Homer's The Odyssey aloud can synchronize the body's heart and respiration rates.
Similar positive effects have been linked to the Catholic rosary prayer and the yoga mantra. Indeed, Dr. Sleight's team has published similar effects from yoga and repetitive prayer.
Music, also, has been shown to have beneficial properties including reducing stress, improving athletic performance, and enhancing motor function in people with neurological impairments.
Up until now, however, there had been no comprehensive comparisons of how different types of music and the way in which they are presented might affect autonomic (involuntary), cardiovascular, and respiratory functioning.
Music Helps Various Medical Problems
The authors also speculate that different types of music could play a role in modulating (affecting the rate and quality of) breathing in a medical setting.
In some settings, music already plays such a role: Dr. Marchello's staff uses music to successfully calm the behavior of agitated Alzheimer's patients.
And in the post-surgery cardiac rehabilitation ward, Dr. Marchello says, "Music can improve rehab therapy sessions and can make the therapy sessions more efficient and shorten the time needed to get better."
In such cases, however, age and preference may make a difference. Elderly cardiac patients typically respond to light "muzak" and classical music, while those 55 to 60 years old seem to benefit from slightly faster music, Dr. Marchello notes.
"What you're trying to do is make therapy time more efficient and maybe have longer sessions," says Dr. Marchello. "Music is one thing we do to motivate patients. It has to be what they prefer."
Always consult your physician for more information.
Online Resources
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Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Music Therapy Association
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Certification Board for Music Therapists