from Frontiers in Pain Research
Music has been shown to lower perception of pain. Taking a closer look, researchers at McGill University examined what kind of music helps ease pain. Their study, in Frontiers in Pain Research, exposed volunteers to uncomfortably warm temperatures on their inner forearm while they listened to different kinds of music. Each kind of music and exposure to pain lasted seven minutes. Soothing music, which you might guess would help alleviate the perception of pain, did not have the same benefit as the person’s chosen favorite music. The study did not provide further explanation about why favorite music seems to interrupt pain stimuli, except for the observation that everybody hurts—but less so when listening to favorite music.