Document Type

Honors Paper

Advisor

Joseph Schroeder and Jeff Moher

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

The interrelation between music and the brain is an evolving interdisciplinary interest within neuroscience research. Relying on the capacity of music to elicit emotional and physical responses, as well as scientific principles like entrainment, this area of research explores the potential for utilizing targeted music as a holistic non-pharmacological therapeutic intervention. This is often executed via musical entrainment, which is the basis for this study. Utilizing a complex, yet elegant design, this research incorporates a cross disciplinary approach into a randomized controlled study bridging science and the arts. The purpose of this study is to expand this body of knowledge by examining the connections between music, pain, stress through assessment of electroencephalography (EEG), resting heart rate (RHR), cortisol levels, and self-reports via questionnaire. While employing the cold pressor test (CPT), participants were exposed to either stressful music, relaxing music, or silence with EEG and RHR data collected continuously and cortisol levels collected intermittently. Research was conducted on the Connecticut College campus, with undergraduate student participants over three two-hour experimental periods. The data demonstrates that intentionally selected music is capable of bidirectional influence on the physiological and psychological pain and stress response. The data also suggests that previous musical training and gender modulate the stress and pain response in unanticipated ways to both physiological and psychological stressors. The findings of this study suggest that further investigations should examine how gender and music experience modify responses to stress, pain, and music and explore how this may be better employed in an integrated therapeutic capacity.

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The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.