The Effects of Listening to Music on Physical Performance

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Introduction

Music is a very fascinating universal phenomenon. Almost everyone likes some sort of music, whether it be the twang of a country song or the intensity of a German rap. Music has the ability to completely change the mood of a situation. It has extensively been investigated and used as a form of therapy for the mind. Therefore it would be interesting to see if it had any impact on a person’s physical ability as well.

Music has been suggested to affect the body’s physiological patterns in many ways. A study done in 2003 (Yamamoto et. al) exemplified the wavering levels of neurotransmitters as the type of music was changed. When the participants listen to slow-rhythm music their plasma levels of norepinephrine decreased, and when they listened to fast-rhythm music their plasma levels of epinephrine increased. Norepinephrine is a hormone generally known for mechanisms of the sympathetic nervous system, originating the fight or flight response. When it is lowered, the body’s stress level is suppressed, caused by a decrease in blood pressure. Epinephrine is a similar hormone, commonly referred to as adrenaline, which has been known to produce sudden responses to combat stress. An increase in plasma levels would increase the heart rate and dilate air passages to promote the expansion of oxygen to the body’s vital organs. By simply choosing a different pace of music, the way our physiology works can be completely altered.

A different investigation was done to find the effects of Medical Resonance Therapy Music (MRT-Music) on cerebral blood flow (Shemagonov & Sidorenko, 2000). The arterial make up in the cerebrum is hard to get into through the blood stream due to the blood-brain barrier. Therefore even neurotra...

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