Running head: THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ON THE BRAIN

The Influence of Music on the Brain and Body:

Annotated Bibliography
Mark Memley
Center for Advanced Research and Technology
AM Blue Group

THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ON THE BRAIN

Annotated Bibliography
Bernardi, L., Porta, C., Casucci, G., Balsamo, R., Bernardi, N. F., Fogari, R., & Sleight, P.
(2009). Dynamic interactions between musical, cardiovascular, and cerebral rhythms in
humans. Circulation 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.108.806174
In this study, 24 healthy people were selected to participate in an experiment that
recorded multiple body changes when listening to different types of music. Participants
included 12 musicians and 12 non-musicians. Heart rate, respiration, blood pressure,
middle cerebral artery flow velocity, and skin vasomotions were recorded. Participants
listened to music with vocal or orchestral progressive crescendos, uniform emphasis, 10second rhythmic phrases, or silence, in random order.
The study found that vocal and orchestral crescendos produced significant correlations
between cardiovascular or respiratory signals and music type. Ten second rhythmic
phrases caused cardiovascular autonomic variables. Autonomic responses are
synchronized with the music, which may convey emotions through autonomic arousal
during crescendos or rhythmic phrases. The study also found no significant difference
between musicians and non-musicians.
Brattico, E., Pereira, C. S., Teixeira, J., Figueiredo, P., Xavier, J., & Castro, S. L. (2011). Music
and emotion in the brain: Familiarity matters. Plos One 10.1371/journal.pone.0027241
This study included 27 volunteers
Gold, C., Voracek, M., & Wigram, T. (2004). Effects of music therapy for children and
adolescents with psychopathology: A meta-analysis. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry and Allied disciplines 45(6): 1054-1063
Participants in this study were children and adolescents aged between 4 and 19 years old
and had psychopathology, ranging from developmental disorders to conduct disorders.
This study contained 11 sub-studies with a total of 188 participants. These sub-studies
included one randomized control study (n=26) and five non-randomized studies without a
control group (n=57). Music therapy with instruments was used in individual and group
based experiments to observe behavior, test development, and receive self-reports of selfesteem from the children and adolescents.
This studys results suggest that music therapy is clinically effective in children and
adolescents with psychopathology, but more studies and further research on different
models of music therapy is needed. In the 11 studies, differences were shown in the
results. For example, in one study, effects of music therapy were greater for behavioral

THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ON THE BRAIN

and developmental disorders than for emotional disorders. In another study testing similar
effects, music therapy expressed greater results for behavioral and developmental
disorders than for social skills and self-concept. In contrast, effects for psychodynamic
and humanistic approaches were shown more than for behavioral models.
Jameson, C. (2013). The effect of music on recall ability of words and digits. Dublin Business
School http://esource.dbs.ie/handle/10788/1590
In this study, 84 full-time and part-time students from Dublin Business School of Arts
participated in an experiment to test the effects of music on a persons ability to recall
words and digits. 57 males and 27 females were divided into three groups, which
included a 29 person group for vocal music, a 28 person group for instrumental music,
and a 27 person group for silence (control group). 52 words and 52 digits were put into 8
different sequences for the participants to test their memory. The hypothesized effect of
music was not told to the participants prior to testing in order to not be an uncontrolled
variable. Each sequence was shown with a projector and contained 3 words and 3 digits
for a total of 9 seconds. (1 stimulus for 3 seconds, 10 stimuli for 30 seconds) After each
sequence was shown for the allowed time, a blank slide was displayed for 10 seconds.
Participants wrote down what they remember.
One hypothesis in this study was that there would be significant differences between male
and female recall accuracy, but results did not support this. Another hypothesis was that
music would affect recall ability, depending on the type of music. Results suggested that
silence yields greater results than instrumental and vocal music did. This study also
correlated with Furnham and Bradley study that suggests the same results that vocal
music lessens recall ability.
K., & J. (2011). An experiment investigating the effect of background music on students ability
to recall a list of words. Marked by Teachers
http://www.markedbyteachers.com/international-baccalaureate/psychology/anexperiment-investigating-the-effect-of-background-music-on-students-ability-to-recall-alist-of-words.html