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The effects of music and auditory stimulation on autonomic arousal, cognition and attention: A systematic review

The effects of music and auditory stimulation on autonomic arousal, cognition and attention: A systematic review
The effects of music and auditory stimulation on autonomic arousal, cognition and attention: A systematic review
According to the arousal-mood hypothesis, changes in arousal and mood when exposed to auditory stimulation underlie the detrimental effects or improvements in cognitive performance. Findings supporting or against this hypothesis are, however, often based on subjective ratings of arousal rather than autonomic/physiological indices of arousal. To assess the arousal-mood hypothesis, we carried out a systematic review of the literature on 31 studies investigating cardiac, electrodermal, and pupillometry measures when exposed to different types of auditory stimulation (music, ambient noise, white noise, and binaural beats) in relation to cognitive performance. Our review suggests that the effects of music, noise, or binaural beats on cardiac, electrodermal, and pupillometry measures in relation to cognitive performance are either mixed or insufficient to draw conclusions. Importantly, the evidence for or against the arousal-mood hypothesis is at best indirect because autonomic arousal and cognitive performance are often considered separately. Future research is needed to directly evaluate the effects of auditory stimulation on autonomic arousal and cognitive performance holistically.
Arousal, Auditory, Autonomic, Music, Sound
0167-8760
Chee, Zhong Jian
8435b827-6144-45fa-b9c0-b57ee4d445c4
Chang, Chern Yi Marybeth
21c67dba-73df-4eb8-b939-2015be65228d
Cheong, Jean Yi
29cbae1e-c109-43af-bb49-665be03c0980
Malek, Fatin Hannah Binte Abdul
b866583b-2858-4693-8631-97cbb47d6dce
Hussain, Shahad
720c7424-4768-4158-b856-c117b834e7b2
de Vries, Marieke
a82bf25a-a3d5-4391-bba3-307232902135
Bellato, Alessio
0ee4c34f-3850-4883-8b82-5717b74990f7
Chee, Zhong Jian
8435b827-6144-45fa-b9c0-b57ee4d445c4
Chang, Chern Yi Marybeth
21c67dba-73df-4eb8-b939-2015be65228d
Cheong, Jean Yi
29cbae1e-c109-43af-bb49-665be03c0980
Malek, Fatin Hannah Binte Abdul
b866583b-2858-4693-8631-97cbb47d6dce
Hussain, Shahad
720c7424-4768-4158-b856-c117b834e7b2
de Vries, Marieke
a82bf25a-a3d5-4391-bba3-307232902135
Bellato, Alessio
0ee4c34f-3850-4883-8b82-5717b74990f7

Chee, Zhong Jian, Chang, Chern Yi Marybeth, Cheong, Jean Yi, Malek, Fatin Hannah Binte Abdul, Hussain, Shahad, de Vries, Marieke and Bellato, Alessio (2024) The effects of music and auditory stimulation on autonomic arousal, cognition and attention: A systematic review. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 199, [112328]. (doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2024.112328).

Record type: Article

Abstract

According to the arousal-mood hypothesis, changes in arousal and mood when exposed to auditory stimulation underlie the detrimental effects or improvements in cognitive performance. Findings supporting or against this hypothesis are, however, often based on subjective ratings of arousal rather than autonomic/physiological indices of arousal. To assess the arousal-mood hypothesis, we carried out a systematic review of the literature on 31 studies investigating cardiac, electrodermal, and pupillometry measures when exposed to different types of auditory stimulation (music, ambient noise, white noise, and binaural beats) in relation to cognitive performance. Our review suggests that the effects of music, noise, or binaural beats on cardiac, electrodermal, and pupillometry measures in relation to cognitive performance are either mixed or insufficient to draw conclusions. Importantly, the evidence for or against the arousal-mood hypothesis is at best indirect because autonomic arousal and cognitive performance are often considered separately. Future research is needed to directly evaluate the effects of auditory stimulation on autonomic arousal and cognitive performance holistically.

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Accepted/In Press date: 4 March 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 6 March 2024
Published date: May 2024
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors
Keywords: Arousal, Auditory, Autonomic, Music, Sound

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 488356
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/488356
ISSN: 0167-8760
PURE UUID: 8bdaa2ab-317f-42f3-86b0-f27b53687e6d
ORCID for Alessio Bellato: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5330-6773

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Date deposited: 21 Mar 2024 17:30
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:19

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Contributors

Author: Zhong Jian Chee
Author: Chern Yi Marybeth Chang
Author: Jean Yi Cheong
Author: Fatin Hannah Binte Abdul Malek
Author: Shahad Hussain
Author: Marieke de Vries
Author: Alessio Bellato ORCID iD

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