Neuroscience of Music

This Song Reduces Anxiety by Up to 65 Percent

Everyone knows they need to manage their stress. When things get difficult at work, school, or in your personal life, you can use as many tips, tricks, and techniques as you can get to calm your nerves.

So here’s a science-backed one: make a playlist of the 10 songs found to be the most relaxing on earth.

Sound therapies have long been popular as a way of relaxing and restoring one’s health. For centuries, indigenous cultures have used music to enhance well-being and improve health conditions.

Now, neuroscientists out of the UK have specified which tunes give you the most bang for your musical buck.

 

The study was conducted on participants who attempted to solve difficult puzzles as quickly as possible while connected to sensors. The puzzles induced a certain level of stress, and participants listened to different songs while researchers measured brain activity as well as physiological states that included heart rate, blood pressure, and rate of breathing.

According to Dr. David Lewis-Hodgson of Mindlab International, which conducted the research, the top song produced a greater state of relaxation than any other music tested to date.

In fact, listening to that one song — “Weightless” — resulted in a striking 65 percent reduction in participants’ overall anxiety, and a 35 percent reduction in their usual physiological resting rates.

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Top 10 Tracks to easy your anxiety

1. “Weightless,” by Marconi Union

2. “Electra,” by Airstream

3. “Mellomaniac (Chill Out Mix),” by DJ Shah

4. “Watermark,” by Enya

5. “Strawberry Swing,” by Coldplay

6. “Please Don’t Go,” by Barcelona

7. “Pure Shores,” by All Saints

8. “Someone Like You,” by Adele

9. “Canzonetta Sull’aria,” by Mozart

10. “We Can Fly,” by Rue du Soleil (Café Del Mar)