Listening to classical music lowers blood pressure and heart rate

A classical music sound can help people with high blood pressure?
There are certainly some people who find classical music very relaxing. But does this relaxation also have a positive effect on our health? Researchers have now discovered that classical music by Mozart and Strauss is able to lower blood pressure and heart rate.

Can classical music actually trigger changes in our body? Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum have now found out in an investigation that the music of Mozart and Strauss can really help lower blood lipid levels and heart rate. The physicians published the results of their study in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2016; 113: 347-352).

Music is known to change our mood, but does music directly affect our bodies? Researchers now discovered that certain types of music can even alter our blood pressure and heart rate. (Image: DeshaCAM / fotolia.com)

Study examines effects of musical genres on the cardiovascular system
Classical music can help people with blood pressure or heart rate problems. This is the result of a study on the effect of different musical genres on the cardiovascular system, explain the authors. To this conclusion, the researchers of the Ruhr University Bochum came in an investigation of 120 subjects. Half of all study participants were divided into three different groups, each of which listened for 25 minutes to the music of different composers or performers, say the doctors. For example, one of the groups heard Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the second group of subjects heard music by Richard Georg Strauss and the third group listened to music by the popular pop band ABBA. The remaining 60 participants were assigned to a control group who spent the entire time in silence, explain the scientists.

Classical music lowers blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol concentration
The physicians measured blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol concentration before and after exposure to the different music (or the time of silence). Most of all, classical music by Mozart and Strauss lowers blood pressure and heart rate, say the authors. The study found no significant effect from the songs of the group ABBA, add the scientists of the Ruhr University Bochum. The control group spent the time resting in a supine position. This also led to a reduction in blood pressure, but the effect was much less pronounced than in the exposure to classical music by Mozart or Strauss, explains the research team.

Mozart and Strauss especially reduce cortisol levels
All music genres led to a significantly lower concentration of cortisol, the researchers say. However, the scientists suspect that the decline in cortisol concentration is also dependent on the sex of the participants. The decline was more pronounced among participating men compared to women from the test groups, the experts explain. Especially after a sonication by music by Mozart and Strauss, there were clear differences in the reduction of the cortisol level. It was also clear that the positive effect of classical music was much stronger than the effect of silence in the participating control group, the researchers add.