Listening to Music with Beat-based Stimulation Can Help Reduce Anxiety, Researchers Find
A dose of music can do wonders for people with anxiety, according to a clinical trial study released this month.
Scientists in Toronto, Canada, and the UK observed what happened to people taking medication for their anxiety after listening to music combined with auditory stimulation. Compared to people who simply heard pink noise, music listeners experienced a significant reduction in anxiety symptoms, they found. The findings show that music can be an effective adjunct to existing treatments for anxiety, the researchers said.
“This study provides further support for the contention that listening to music can be used to reduce state anxiety in people with clinically significant levels of trait anxiety,” they wrote in their paper, published this month in PLOS Mental Health.
A spoon full of music
Previous research has suggested that soothing music can be an intervention for mental health conditions, including anxiety. Some research has pointed to the potential benefits of auditory beat stimulation (ABS), a procedure in which two slightly different, low-frequency tones are played (one in each ear, or in both ears at the same time), causing the perception of a heartbeat intended to stimulate the brain. A 2022 study, for example, found that just 24 minutes of music paired with a loud beat seemed to reduce people’s anxiety.
The authors of that 2022 study collaborated with other scientists on this latest study. They set out to replicate earlier results and test whether longer sessions would have a greater effect.
The new study involved 144 participants who were taking at least one medication for their anxiety. A random set was chosen to listen to pink noise (a continuous sound that sounds like a waterfall) as a type of control group, while the others heard different lengths of music and auditory beat stimulation for 12, 24, or 36 minutes.
As before, people who heard music and ABS reported a significant reduction in their anxiety symptoms compared to controls. While there were potentially significant improvements seen in the 36-minute listening group, people who listened to music for 24 minutes fared better afterward, the researchers found.
“What we’re seeing is a dose-response pattern where about 24 minutes of music with ABS seems to be the sweet spot,” said Frank Russo, a professor of psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University, in a statement from the university. “It’s long enough to change anxiety levels in a meaningful way, but not so long that listeners need to spend a lot of time.”
A useful addition
Researchers are careful to note that music, even when paired with a loud beat, is not a cure for anxiety. In tests so far, the technique seems to provide a moderate level of effect in reducing anxiety on average. And more studies, much larger, are needed to confirm and measure the group’s initial results.
But given the limitations of other interventions—such as the side effects of medications or the high costs of cognitive-behavioral therapy—music therapy could certainly be a valuable and inexpensive adjunct to anxiety treatment, they argue.
“These findings support music with ABS as a potential adjunct to existing treatments for anxiety, particularly when access to conventional behavioral health interventions is limited,” they wrote.
