A recent study suggests treatments integrating music and auditory beat stimulation are effective in reducing anxiety in some patients. The study by Adiel Mallik and Frank Russo of the Ryerson University, Canada, was published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. Anxiety has been steadily increasing, especially in the adolescent and young adult populations.
Studies have previously shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, however, quantitative data on the effects of personalised music on anxiety has been lacking. In the new study, the researchers randomised 163 patients' anti-anxiety medications to participate in an at-home treatment session involving music, auditory beat stimulation, both, or pink noise, background sounds similar to white noise.
Auditory beat stimulation involves combinations of tones, played in one or both ears, designed to trigger changes to brain activity. In all groups, patients were asked to download a customised application on their smartphone for the treatment, close their eyes, and listen to a 24-minute session. The music was selected for each patient using LUCID’s artificial intelligence which curates music based on the patient’s emotional state and music preferences.
Among people with moderate anxiety before the treatment session, greater reductions in somatic anxiety- the physical symptoms of anxiety- were seen in people who listened to both music and ABS (p=0.04, effect size=0.83), or those who listened to music alone (p=0.05, effect size=0.52), compared to those who listened to pink noise. Among people with high trait anxiety before the session, the music-alone group had significantly higher reductions in anxiety compared to the ABS-alone group (p=0.04, effect size=0.72).
The authors said, “With the pandemic and remote work, there has been a remarkable uptick in the use of digital health tools to support mental health. The results of this clinical trial indicate great promise for the use of digital health tools, such as LUCID’s digital music therapy, in the management of anxiety and other mental health conditions.”
