Brainwave analysis reveals the restorative power of music on a mentally fatigued mind

A new study has found that listening to relaxing music is an effective way to recover from mental fatigue. The research also identified specific, measurable changes in brainwave activity that reflect this recovery, providing a biological basis for music’s restorative power. The findings were published in the journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.

Mental fatigue is a common state of tiredness and low energy that occurs after prolonged or intense mental effort. It can negatively affect work, school, and daily life by impairing concentration and productivity. While many people anecdotally turn to music for relief, the specific brain mechanisms behind this effect are not fully understood. A research team led by Jin Liu wanted to investigate this phenomenon scientifically. The goal was to objectively measure whether listening to relaxing music could alleviate mental fatigue and to identify the corresponding changes in brain activity using a technique called electroencephalography.

To conduct the study, the researchers recruited 30 healthy university students. These participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: a music group or a control group. The experiment was designed with three distinct phases of measurement to track changes over time. At the beginning, a baseline measurement was taken to assess each participant’s initial level of mental fatigue and their resting brainwave patterns.

Next, all participants were tasked with inducing mental fatigue. They performed a cognitively demanding exercise known as the Stroop task for 30 minutes. In this task, participants see the names of colors printed on a screen, but the ink color of the word often mismatches the word itself, for instance, the word “blue” printed in red ink. They were instructed to name the color of the ink, not read the word, which requires sustained concentration and mental effort. Immediately after this 30-minute period, a second round of measurements was taken to confirm that mental fatigue had set in.

For the final phase, the two groups received different interventions. The music group spent 20 minutes listening to a selection of relaxing, instrumental Chinese folk music. The control group, in contrast, sat in a quiet room for the same 20-minute duration. After this intervention period, a third and final set of measurements was collected from all participants to assess their level of recovery.

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To gauge the subjective experience of fatigue, the researchers used a visual analogue scale. This is a simple tool where participants mark their current level of fatigue on a line that runs from “Not at all fatigued” to “Extremely fatigued.” The results showed that the 30-minute Stroop task was effective. Participants in both groups reported a significant increase in their feelings of mental fatigue after completing the task. However, the key difference emerged after the 20-minute intervention. The group that listened to music reported a substantially greater reduction in fatigue compared to the group that rested in silence.

The researchers also collected objective data by measuring the brain’s electrical activity through electroencephalography. This method involves placing electrodes on the scalp to detect and record different types of brainwaves, which are associated with different mental states. The analysis focused on several specific brainwave patterns. One important metric was the individual alpha peak frequency, which is considered a marker of alertness and cognitive efficiency. A lower frequency is typically associated with fatigue.

As expected, after the demanding Stroop task, the individual alpha peak frequency decreased for participants in both groups, indicating a drop in alertness. After the 20-minute intervention, the participants who listened to music showed a significant recovery, with their individual alpha peak frequency returning toward its baseline level. In contrast, the control group that sat in silence showed no such recovery; their individual alpha peak frequency remained low.

The study also examined the power, or intensity, of different brainwave bands. Following the fatiguing task, the researchers observed an increase in slower brainwaves, including delta, theta, and alpha waves, across various regions of the brain. This increase in slow-wave activity is a known indicator of mental tiredness and reduced attention.

The intervention phase revealed a clear distinction between the two groups. In the music group, the 20-minute listening session led to a significant decrease in the power of delta waves in the frontal region of the brain. Additionally, theta and alpha wave power decreased across multiple brain areas. These changes suggest a shift away from a fatigued state toward a more alert one. The control group did not experience these significant reductions in slow-wave activity. The power of their delta, theta, and alpha waves remained elevated, indicating that quiet rest alone was not as effective in reversing the brainwave patterns associated with fatigue. No significant changes were observed in faster beta brainwaves for either group throughout the experiment.

In summary, the subjective reports of fatigue and the objective brainwave measurements pointed to the same conclusion. Listening to relaxing music after a mentally draining task not only helps people feel less tired but also actively promotes the recovery of brain activity patterns associated with alertness. These findings suggest that the individual alpha peak frequency, along with theta and alpha wave power, could serve as reliable biological markers for tracking both the onset of mental fatigue and the effectiveness of restorative interventions like music.

The study’s authors acknowledged some limitations. The research only measured brainwave activity while participants were in a resting state with their eyes closed, not while they were actively engaged in a task. Examining brainwaves during a task could offer additional insights but might also make it difficult to separate the effects of the music from the effects of the task itself. The study also involved a relatively small number of participants, and future research with a larger sample size could help confirm the findings. Finally, the study did not explore how factors like sex might influence the brain’s response to music and fatigue, which could be a direction for future investigation.

The study, “The Effect of Music on Resistance to Mental Fatigue: Evidence from the EEG Power Spectrum,” was authored by Jin Liu, Tingting He, and Zhigang Hu.