How Music Affects Heart Rate

Music affects heart rate by way of the brain. When we hear music, the rhythm and tempo first create a neurological pulse in our brain. Then our heart beat and breathing pattern "tune in" to the brain waves and replicate the rhythm.

Significance

• Music's affect on heart rate offers inexpensive and even enjoyable health benefits, including relaxation before medical procedures, improved motor abilities for stroke and Parkinson's patients and anxiety reduction for people with coronary heart disease.

Research

• A 2006 randomized controlled trial conducted by researchers at the University of California, School of Nursing, in San Francisco found that among 170 patients about to undergo vascular angiography, those who listened to 15 minutes of relaxing music had a significantly slower heart beat than those who waited in silence for 15 minutes. A 2009 Cochrane Systematic Review of 23 studies involving nearly 1,500 patients found that heart rate and blood pressure were reduced among heart disease patients who listened to music.

Types

• The types of music used in clinical research have included classical, pop, rock and rap. When it comes to affecting heart rate, the type of music does not matter as much as the tempo does. In general, faster music increases heart rate and slower music decreases heart rate.

Musicians

• Studies that have included both musicians and nonmusicians have found that the affects of music on heart rate is higher among musicians. University of Oxford researcher Dr. Peter Sleight speculates that the more pronounced results among musicians happens because they have been trained to coordinate their breath with musical rhythms.

Theories/Speculation

• However, Connie Tomaino of the Institute for Music and Neurological Function points out that everyone is "pre-wired to be receptive to rhythm" because a developing fetus can already distinguish sound pattern changes. Tomaino speculates that we are born with this receptivity to sound so that we can learn from and interpret the world surrounding us.