Music
Going to concerts scientifically proven to be good for you
by Jeremy Mersereau
April 25, 2016
Scientists studied concertgoers' spit to reveal live music reduces stress.
“New study? Oh my god, dude. I can’t get enough of ephemeral studies saying something totally unexpected about how pop culture is actually good!” Settle down, Beavis, you’ll get your fix… but before we get into that, can I interest you in this, somewhat more substantial examination of how super-Earth planets might be formed? No? Onto the clickable one.
A recent study from the Center of Performance Science in London, snappily titled “Attending a concert reduces glucocorticoids, progesterone and the cortisol/DHEA ratio”, makes the bold claim that attending concerts reduces the level of stress-indicator chemicals present in saliva.
117 volunteers drawn from the audience at two separate Eric Whitacre concerts in London had their saliva drawn before and 60 minutes into the performances, and the study’s authors found a drop in stress-related chemicals across the board. Sounds disgusting… but at least fans of choral compositions’ saliva is probably a little more refined than that of the average Cannibal Corpse fan’s. Or does that count as research bias?
As per the study: “This is the first preliminary evidence that attending a cultural event can have an impact on endocrine activity” and “suggests there is a universal response to concert attendance among audience members”. *starts fanning self like a Southern belle getting the vapours* “I do declare, this study is almost too astonishing!”
Don’t get too excited though, and start planning shows around your quarterly performance reviews or whatever: the study itself notes that it was “uncontrolled”, relied on only a single replication, and focused entirely on soothing, classical choral jams, rather than say, a Gridlink show. Further research is undeniably needed… and I think I know just the researchers they can collaborate with.
