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Emotional and Psychological Effect of Music on People

Nolt et al. | Jan 03, 2019

Emotional and Psychological Effect of Music on People

Nolt and Elwonger examine how different types of music impact our emotional and physical states. They found that music can influence a subject's emotional state, with sad music inspiring sadness and exciting music bringing excitement. They were not able to find a clear relationship between heart rate and music type. Music's effect on emotional state can be useful when designing novel therapies for emotional and mental disorders.

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The effect of music on teenagers in combatting stress and improving performance

Josyula et al. | Nov 16, 2024

The effect of music on teenagers in combatting stress and improving performance
Image credit: Stefany Andrade

Here, the researchers investigated how exposure to active versus passive music affects a teenager's ability to perform a challenging task, namely a Sudoku puzzle, under stressful conditions. Following testing 75 high school teenagers split into two group, the researchers found that singing in a choir (active music) yielded a greater improvement in performance compared to passive listening for brief time periods.

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Association between nonpharmacological interventions and dementia: A retrospective cohort study

Yerabandi et al. | Jan 09, 2023

Association between nonpharmacological interventions and dementia: A retrospective cohort study
Image credit: Ross Sneddon

Here, the authors investigated the role of nonpharmacological interventions in preventing or delaying cognitive impairment in individuals with and without dementia. By using a retrospective case-control study of 22 participants across two senior centers in San Diego, they found no significant differences in self-reported activities. However, they found that their results reflected activity rather than the activity itself, suggesting the need for an alternative type of study.

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The influence of music on lexical decision-making in adolescents

Fisher et al. | Apr 28, 2024

The influence of music on lexical decision-making in adolescents

The lexical decision task is designed to test aspects of vocabulary retrieval from short-term and long-term memory by prompting the subject to differentiate between words and non-words. From this task, researchers can determine the effects of certain stimuli on linguistic processing. Numerous studies have investigated the effects of music on various cognitive capacities, like memory and vocabulary. In the current study, we hypothesized that participants would show greater accuracy rates on the lexical decision task when exposed to a selected piece of classical music while completing the task, as compared to completing the task in silence. We tested this hypothesis on a group of 25 participants who completed the lexical decision task once in silence and once while listening to Beethoven's “Moonlight Sonata, 1st Movement”. The results suggest a positive association between the effects of classical background music and improved accuracy. Our results indicate that listening to certain types of music may enhance linguistic processes such as reading and writing. Further research with a larger group of participants is necessary to better understand the association between music and linguistic processing abilities.

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Music's Effect on Dogs' Heart Rates

Aubin et al. | Oct 03, 2017

Music's Effect on Dogs' Heart Rates

Music can affect the behavior of humans and other animals. In this study, the authors studied five types of music with different tempos and demonstrated how each one affected dogs' heart rates.

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The Effect of Music on Heart Rate

Agrawal et al. | Apr 25, 2013

The Effect of Music on Heart Rate

Different songs can seem to evoke different emotions. Here the authors demonstrate that different songs can have a significant effect on the heart rate of listeners. A slower song slows heart rate, and a faster song increases it.

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The feeling of beauty in music: Relaxing and not confusing

Jain et al. | Sep 07, 2022

The feeling of beauty in music: Relaxing and not confusing

Here, the authors sought to better understand how and why people experience beauty in music. They explored this fundamental aesthetic response by considering numerous emotional responses of participants to diverse musical excerpts using a 42-item Aesthetic Emotions Scale assessment. They found that the highly nuanced emotional experience of beauty in music includes positive, negative, and knowledge-related feelings.

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