Listening to stressful or disturbing music can be bad for the heart, according to a new study.
An American investigation found that genres like Heavy Metal narrowed arteries and made people more anxious, where as “joyful” music improved blood flow.
John Denver-style country music was found to be the most uplifting.
Dr Miller, who led the study at the University of Maryland Medical Centre in Baltimore, said people shouldn't read to much into the results, “although you could argue that country music is light, spirited, a lot of love songs.”
The Test
The study asked the 10 healthy, non-smoking volunteers to avoid listening to their favourite music to minimise "emotional desensitisation”.
Then, after two weeks, when they listened to music they liked “they would get an extra boost of whatever emotion was being generated," Dr Miller said.
The results found that volunteers' arteries opened 26% wider on average during music they liked but narrowed by 6% when “anxious” music was played.
Dr Miller added: "Needless to say, these results were music to my ears because they signal another preventive strategy that we may incorporate in our daily lives to promote heart health.”
What do you think of the results? Do you feel healthier listening to joyful music? Post your thoughts by filling out the comment form below.
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badscience.net
- What a quack!!!
- The study details surrounding the background of the volunteers (age, musical preference), the types of music played, the circumstances of the exposure (room temp, comfort, time of day) are not discussed in this article. Without those details, it's impossible to directly pin arterial constriction to the type of music being heard.
- What a load of bollocks. If i had to listen to John Denver, i would probably curl up and die, Whereas Rock music makes me come alive.
- I love my University of Maryland physican researchers (my alma mater) but I don't agree. John Denver or country music would definitely stress me out.
» View all 17 comments~ by chockablock 11/12/2008 Report
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~ by Mary in Baltimore 11/12/2008 Report
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