Physiological Responses To Music Stimuli: Literature Review

Abstract

Introduction. Studies show that music can induce different physi­ological responses such as changes in blood pressure, heart and respi­ratory rate, anxiety and limiar pain reduction, and increase of quality of life. Objective. The objective of this work is to study the influence of music on physiological mechanisms in the human body, especially in variable blood pressure as well as identify the neural mechanisms of music processing. Method. We conducted a review of the literature using the databases of Medline, Bireme, PEDro, Lilacs and Scielo. Results. The results suggest that music interferes in some respects in the physiological variables, significantly influencing the control of blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate. We believe that this func­tion could be involved with a balance between sympathetic auto­nomic nervous system and parasympathetic, in favor of this last one, with the participation of limbic cerebral areas that modulates function hypothalamic-hypofisis. The authors propose the neurophysiological mechanism involved for the regulation of blood pressure for the mu­sic. Conclusion. We conclude that music can have real role in regu­lating blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate, and other benefits as like anxiety and pain reduction