How Live Music Helps Reduce Stress and Affects Hormones
Many people are familiar with how just a few minutes of their favorite music can lift their mood, relieve fatigue, or even help them collect their thoughts. Recent studies provide further evidence for these observations: listening to concert, that is, “live,” music can affect not only emotions but also the body’s biochemistry. Why does a concert hall sometimes become a real laboratory for stress management, and does this really work for most listeners?
The Impact of Live Music on the Body
A study conducted by the Centre for Performance Science (United Kingdom) showed that after a concert, most volunteers experienced a decrease in the levels of key stress hormones—cortisol and cortisone. This result confirms that music affects us much more deeply than just entertaining or distracting us from worries. According to leading specialists at the center, this finding expands our understanding of how intangible factors can support a person’s physical health.
How the Experiment Was Conducted
For the experiment, 117 people with various levels of musical experience were selected. Among them were both professional musicians and those who attended a concert for the first time in six months. The participants were invited to two performances with the same program, after which saliva samples were collected for analysis before and then 60 minutes after listening. This approach made it possible to cover different age and professional groups, but the sample size still limits the generalizability of the results to the entire population. This caution is necessary, since emotional and physiological perception of music is individual.
Hormones and Emotions—What Happens in the Body
The researchers assessed the dynamics of the following biomarkers:
- Cortisol and cortisone—the main stress hormones that help the body respond to danger
- Dehydroepiandrosterone—a substance that acts as an antagonist to cortisol and supports the immune system
- Progesterone and testosterone—sex hormones that also play a role in emotional reactions
Under stress, a person’s cortisol level rises, preparing the body for quick action. In calm conditions, the opposite happens: cortisol decreases, and dehydroepiandrosterone maintains balance and aids recovery. Such hormonal changes are familiar to anyone who has experienced anxiety before an exam or a sense of relaxation after a walk.
Scientific Explanations
Modern science explains the influence of music through the concept of neuromusicology—a discipline that studies how sounds affect the brain and biological processes. It has been established that the perception of music activates complex neural circuits responsible for emotions and motivation. Unlike recordings, live music creates a sense of presence and a special feeling of being part of the event, which can enhance the physiological response.
If laboratory experiments with recorded music previously yielded similar results, now this effect has been confirmed in a real concert setting. Still, according to specialists at the Centre for Performance Science, some mechanisms of this influence remain a mystery.
Nevertheless, despite this mystery, such methods are already actively used in many fields. Take, for example, the virtual gambling industry. Today, by searching for no deposit bonus Canada, one can find dozens of well-known online casinos with thousands of games. Many of these games feature very dynamic music. Players admit that music maintains their interest in the game and makes them want to try their luck again and again.
Gender Differences and Other Factors
An interesting result of the experiment was the discovery of differences between men and women. In women, after the concert, the levels of progesterone and dehydroepiandrosterone decreased less, while in men, there was a slight increase. According to scientists, the reasons may lie in different degrees of involvement in listening or individual characteristics of music perception. At the same time, the age of the participants did not have a significant effect on the body’s response. How can it be explained that one person leaves a concert inspired, while another—without any significant change?
Historical and Scientific Context
Music has accompanied humanity since ancient times, but people began to seriously consider its properties relatively recently. Early studies were limited to the analysis of harmony and rhythm, and later scientists began to study the psychological effects of music. This led to the emergence of neuromusicology, which combined methods from psychology, physiology, biochemistry, and even computer science. A vivid example of the importance of music for humans is the tradition of using songs and rituals to boost morale in difficult moments of history.
Although the study confirms the positive effect of “live” music on the level of stress hormones, its scale cannot yet be called global. The sample size and cultural characteristics of the participants may limit the universality of the conclusions. In addition, the question remains whether listeners react the same way to different styles or forms of music. Can regular concert attendance over time take an important place among methods of stress prevention?