Emotional responses to music: towards scientific perspectives on music therapy
Abstract
Neurocognitive research has the potential to identify the relevant effects of music therapy. In this study, we examined the effect of music mode (major vs. minor) on stress reduction using optical topography and an endocrinological stress marker. In salivary cortisol levels, we observed that stressful conditions such as mental fatigue (thinking and creating a response) was reduced more by major mode music than by minor mode music. We suggest that music specifically induces an emotional response similar to a pleasant experience or happiness. Moreover, we demonstrated the typical asymmetrical pattern of stress responses in upper temporal cortex areas, and suggested that happiness/sadness emotional processing might be related to stress reduction by music.
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Some laboratory-based studies report that music was effective in suppressing a stress-related increase in cortisol.
“some report that music was effective in suppressing a stress-related increase in cortisol [25]”
From The Effect of Music on the Human Stress Response (2013) · cites this paper as [25]
A major shortcoming in previous work is the vast neglect of the control of confounding variables.
“From the perspective of biopsychological stress research, a major shortcoming is the vast neglect of the control of confounding variables [25–27].”
From The Effect of Music on the Human Stress Response (2013) · cites this paper as [25]
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References 24 · Cited by 107
- Authors
- Suda, M., Morimoto, K., Obata, A., Koizumi, H., & Maki, A.
- Affiliations
- The University of Osaka (JP)
- Hitachi (Japan) (JP)
- Corresponding author
- Suda, Miyuki
- Venue
- NeuroReport
- Published
- 2008-01-08
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 75-78
- ISSN
- 0959-4965 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2086451598
- Cited by
- 107
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 12.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuroreport (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Music Therapy and Health
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Keywords
- music therapy, emotional response to music, stress reduction, salivary cortisol, mental fatigue, happiness and sadness, optical topography
- MeSH terms
- Acoustic Stimulation, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Auditory Perception, Emotions, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Music, Music Therapy, Saliva, Stress, Physiological, Tomography, Optical
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