A new study from McGill University has found that music can help relieve pain, especially when played at a tempo that matches a person’s natural rhythm. This discovery could lead to new ways of using music as a tool for pain management.
How Music Eases Pain
People have used music to manage pain for centuries, and scientists have been studying its effects in medical treatments for conditions like Parkinson’s disease, strokes, and chronic pain. However, researchers still don’t fully understand how music interacts with the brain to reduce pain.
In the past, many believed that relaxing or soothing music worked best, but the McGill research team wanted to explore a more specific factor: tempo—the speed at which music is played.
“We wanted to see whether the tempo of music could influence its ability to reduce pain,” explained Professor Caroline Palmer, a co-author of the study.
The Link Between Personal Rhythm and Pain Relief
Research shows that everyone has a natural internal rhythm, which is the speed at which they comfortably tap, sing, or move to music. This rhythm, known as spontaneous production rate (SPR), may be connected to our body’s internal biological clock.
According to the researchers, when music is played at a tempo that closely matches a person’s natural rhythm, it may help shift brain activity away from the neural patterns associated with pain.
Testing Music’s Effect on Pain
To test this idea, the researchers conducted an experiment with 60 participants, including both musicians and non-musicians. First, each person’s natural rhythm was measured by having them tap out the beat to the nursery rhyme Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star at a speed that felt comfortable.
Then, over a 30-minute period, participants were exposed to mild heat pain on their forearms. The pain was applied in 10-second intervals, followed by breaks. During some of these tests, participants sat in silence. In others, they listened to a melody they had chosen, played at their preferred tempo, 15% faster, or 15% slower. After each test, they rated their level of pain.
The Findings
The results showed that music, regardless of its tempo, helped reduce pain compared to silence. However, the most significant reduction in pain occurred when the music was played at the participant’s natural tempo.
This suggests that adjusting music to match a person’s internal rhythm could maximize its pain-relieving effects.
Future Research
The researchers plan to take their study further by using brain scans to see if the brain’s activity truly syncs with the external music tempo. They also hope to test their findings on people with chronic pain or those undergoing medical procedures.
These results open the door for new, personalized pain management techniques, where technology could adjust music to fit each person’s unique rhythm. This could offer a simple, drug-free way to help patients cope with pain more effectively.
If you care about pain, please read studies about how to manage your back pain, and Krill oil could improve muscle health in older people.
For more information about pain, please see recent studies about how to live pain-free with arthritis, and results showing common native American plant may help reduce diarrhea and pain.
The research findings can be found in Pain.
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