The techno genre is the least effective at reducing anxiety and 80s pop the best. These are the conclusions of a study involving 1,540 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 65 who were connected to blood pressure and heart rate monitors during an experiment conducted by a Turkish company that compared 10 other musical genres.
Previously, other studies had already shown a direct correlation between stress and, for example, hair loss, so the company wanted to find out how effective music was in reducing anxiety and which genre was most helpful to this end.
The music from the hit television series It’s a Sin (British television drama series set from 1981 to 1991 in London), which is full of legendary tunes from bands like Wham !, Pet Shop Boys and Duran Duran, was most effective in reducing blood pressure, an indicator of lower anxiety, than any of the other musical genres.
In contrast, the techno genre was, according to the data, the one that gave the worst result in reducing the stress of the participants. Although many techno fans may not agree with this statement, it is the result of this new study. Apparently, this genre is the “least effective in reducing anxiety.” The research used biological indicators that linked music and emotions. As part of the experiment, these volunteers listened to a wide variety of music. The experiment concluded with techno songs (such as Army of Lovers or Altern-8), dubstep (Skrillex or Flux Pavilion) and 70s rock (Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath) as the top three types of music that registered an increase. in blood pressure and, therefore, less oriented to relaxation.
Participants received a soundtrack that they listened to at the same time, made up of different Spotify playlists . In sum, they used 11 playlists, ranging from 1980s pop to the It’s a Sin soundtrack, modern classical music to the Netflix period drama soundtrack The Bridgertons, techno classics, heavy metal , the golden classics of the sixties and the R&B of the nineties.
The pop hits of the 1980s, with their happy and festive sounds, can induce the release of endorphins and serotonin in the brain, increasing feelings of happiness and calm. On the other hand, much harsher music like heavy metal can help listeners “process their feelings and, as a result, lead to greater well-being,” the researchers comment. For the experiments, they also tasked participants to complete non-verbal reasoning tests, which were specifically designed to produce low levels of stress.
“The results may seem surprising on first inspection, but medically they make a lot of sense,” explains Dr. Ömer Avlanmış, who led the study.
According to the study findings, 80s music lowered blood pressure in an impressive 96% of volunteers and lowered heart rates by an average of 36%. Only 4% of those surveyed recorded an increase in blood pressure after listening to the songs of the eighties. Meanwhile, 78% of the volunteers had an increase in blood pressure after listening to techno music.
The present study appears to challenge a 2016 study, which found that the music of Mozart and Strauss significantly lowered blood pressure and heart rate. However, different musical genres are more than likely to cause different people’s circulatory systems to react unevenly.
