The Implications of Musical Stimuli on Human Physiological Value

Abstract

The main purpose of this research was to study the effects of musical stimuli on physiological outcomes including heart rate, blood pressure, and reaction time. A sample population of 50 students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison were included in our research. This study used non-probability sampling to select participants from the Physiology 435 class as the sample frame. The experiment consisted of two measuring techniques: Omron Digital Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor and a ComFit Cuff, and an Online Reaction Time Test generated at the University of Washington. Participants engaged in both techniques in a set experimentation timeline to measure physiological outcomes while the musical stimuli was applied. We hypothesized classical music could cause a decrease in heart rate, blood pressure, and maintain reaction time, while death metal music would increase heart rate, blood pressure, and decrease reaction time. The significant findings in this experiment were reaction time got faster for death metal music (p-value=0.0006) and classical music (p-value=0.0143). Significant change in systolic pressure for both stimuli when compared to the initial baseline data was also observed (death metal p-value=0.0349, classical p-value=0.0463), but no statistically significant evidence was acquired to reject the null hypothesis. The implications of musical stimuli on physiological outcomes is further discussed.