14 DAY TRIAL // A new scientific study goes into more depths on how music affects people. Only this time the scientists didn't focus their research on the effects music entices on the brain, but, rather, they wanted to know how the heart reacted to one's favorite music. They discovered that listening to music they enjoyed caused cells in people's veins and arteries to dilate their lining tissues, thus allowing for a more efficient blood flow.
On the other hand, when subjected to music they did not like, people showed signs of blood vessel tissue reduction, which could potentially cause an unhealthy response to the music. The University of Maryland Medical Center conducted the experiment, led by Michael Miller, M.D., principal investigator, and director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He is also a University of Maryland School of Medicine associate professor of medicine.
"We had previously demonstrated that positive emotions, such as laughter, were good for vascular health. So, a logical question was whether other emotions, such as those evoked by music, have a similar effect. We knew that individual people would react differently to different types of music, so in this study, we enabled participants to select music based upon their likes and dislikes," said Miller.
According to the results of the study, to be presented on November 11, at the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association, in New Orleans, the blood vessels of people who listened to their favorite music exhibited a 26 percent increased ability to handle blood flows than those of people who were subjected to what they termed "stressful" music.
"The emotional component may be an endorphin-mediated effect. The active listening to music evokes such raw positive emotions likely in part due to the release of endorphins, part of that mind-heart connection that we yearn to learn so much more about. 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," Miller concluded.