Research reveals music may aid in “blood pressure regulation”
//Summary - Level-B2//
A new study suggests music may help regulate blood pressure by synchronising it with musical patterns, especially changes in loudness. Professor Elaine Chew and her team at King’s College London found that predictable phrase structures in music made blood pressure align more strongly, possibly enhancing the body’s natural ability to control it. The research, based on 92 participants listening to piano pieces, points to potential future uses of personalised music therapy as a form of precision medicine for preventing or managing heart disease. However, the findings are still preliminary and need peer-reviewed confirmation.
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Can music help regulate blood pressure?
The English phrase “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast” suggests music can calm anger, but it appears to have a similar effect on heart health. A new small-scale study has revealed that blood pressure may “synchronise” with musical patterns.
Elaine Chew, Professor of Engineering at King's College London and a pianist who conducted the research, suggests this ‘may help enhance baroreflex sensitivity, the body's ability to regulate blood pressure.’
The findings were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress (ESC Congress 2025, 29 August–1 September, Madrid, Spain).
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Professor Chew stated, "This research opens the possibility of designing music therapy to elicit specific biological responses in the future.
Tailoring music therapy to individual patients is conceivable, bringing us a step closer to utilising music as precision medicine. Long-term, it may become possible to use music to prevent heart disease, or to slow its progression, halt it, or promote recovery."
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Dr Chew and colleagues' research focused on an aspect of music known as ‘phrase structure’. During performance, musicians alter tempo and dynamics to accentuate phrase boundaries, creating musical patterns that captivate the audience.
According to Chew and colleagues, some pieces possess more predictable phrase structures than others. Their previous research had established that the more predictable a piece's phrases, the more effective it is at regulating breathing and heart rate.
They therefore sought to investigate whether the same principle applies to blood pressure.
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In this study, Chew and colleagues examined the cardiac activity of 92 participants (average age 42, 60 women). At the same time, they listened to nine pieces from a collection of 30 piano recordings performed by a renowned pianist.
The ‘boundaries of musical tempo and loudness phrase arcs’ for each piece were identified using a computer algorithm. Chew and colleagues focused particularly on “entrainment” – the body's ability to synchronise physiological rhythms with external stimuli like music.
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The results showed that blood pressure tended to synchronise more readily with changes in loudness than with tempo changes.
Furthermore, in pieces with highly predictable phrase structures, listeners could anticipate upcoming changes, leading to stronger synchronisation between blood pressure and the music. Chew and colleagues suggest this mechanism may enhance the body's capacity to regulate blood pressure.
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This makes intuitive sense, Chew notes. Across cultures and eras, humans have enjoyed moving their bodies to music.
The ability to synchronise one's movements with an external rhythm may confer biological and social advantages, as seen in rowers coordinating their strokes on a boat, he observes.
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Such coordinated actions require the ability to predict the start and end of rhythmic cycles, Chew explains.
He added, ‘This very prediction likely influences our heart and breathing rhythms,’ further noting, ‘Synchronising with music's structure feels pleasurable. Research shows music engages the same reward system as food, sex, and drugs.’
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Research findings presented at conferences are generally considered preliminary until they are peer-reviewed and published in medical journals. (HealthDay News 2 September 2025)
(Reference Information)
https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/Predictable-structures-in-music-synchronises-blood-pressure-the-most-and-could-be-used-to-create-personalised-music-based-cardiovascular-therapies
Research reveals music may aid in “blood pressure regulation”
https://dime.jp/genre/2022886/
