Could listening to Justin Bieber be good for you?
An unexpected reaction to a Justin Bieber song has led to new research from the Australian National University (ANU) which could radically change the way we listen to music.
PhD researcher Jessica Sharmin Rahman says while we’re surrounded by music every day, we don’t know much about its impact on our body.
“I’m not a Bieber fan – but it turns out my brain is!” Ms Sharmin Rahman said.
“When I heard his 2015 song ‘Love Yourself’ I’m a bit embarrassed to say I didn’t hate it – in fact, it gave me chills.
“Then I realised this type of reaction is actually surprisingly common. So I decided to deep dive into examining the impact music has on our brain - with the help of artificial intelligence.”
As part of her research, Ms Sharmin Rahman asks people to listen to music while wearing a watch and headset to record physiological signals – for example sweat glands on the skin, heart rate and brain waves.
“Using this data I’ve built an AI system that learns from the participant’s physiological responses as they listen to music. The system then predicts the emotions they are feeling, almost better than they can,” Ms Sharmin Rahman said.
“96 per cent of the time my system knows what genre of music they’re listening to and how it makes them feel.”
Ms Sharmin Rahman hopes her work will help improve people’s mental health.
“The chills and tingles we get while listening to music have an effect on our neurological activity,” she said.
“Devices such as smartwatches could learn your responses and suggest music to improve your emotional wellbeing – and songs to avoid. Imagine listening to Spotify for your health!”
Ms Sharmin Rahman was the People’s Choice winner in the 2020 ANU Three Minute Thesis competition.
You can watch her video presentation about her work here:
Do you think listening to the right music could be good for your health? What type of music makes you feel better?
Have no expertise in the area but think there's gotta be something in this ...
Often wonder why I almost feel like crying every time I hear Xmas songs like 'Fairytale of NY' and can barely keep myself from dancing when I hear 'Feliz Navidad'...such different impacts must involve brain connections somewhere...
Even really young children, babies barely into toddlerhood, will rock from side to side to music they like...just so gorgeous to watch, their enjoyment obvious.
Think I saw something somewhere where harp music was used in hospital palliative care wards to soothe people suffering from terminal illness, but not sure which doco or TV show I heard it from..
Again think I heard or saw somewhere where music from a persons's youth when memory was strong and completely intact, was used with dementia patients who responded positively with animation and singing along with specific songs..Strewth I'm transported back to the 60s and 70s when I hear songs from youth....
Not exactly music I guess but love the sound of early morning and early evening birdsong but not sure if that's in the same brain vein as music but there might be some neurological connection...
Yep use music to relax, energise, reminisce etc. And have listened to music a fair bit in 2020 particularly at times of Covid news overload...And fast thinking I might have to resort to same to escape US presidential election coverage - interested ...but can only take so much before I need a break.
But the Justin Bieber phenomenon has passed me by and no virtually nothing about his music..