Effects of classical or heavy metal music in humans and animals: implications for intensive care medicine

Background: The importance of music in intensive care medicine is still controversial and the mechanisms of music are unclear. It is important whether different music styles (classical music [CM], Heavy Metal [HM] show measurable effects on blood pressure (BP) or heart rate (HR) in humans or not. It is also unclear whether behavioral patterns are influenced by music (CM, HM) in animals. Methods: We studied the influence of CM (Bach, Orchestral Suite No. 3, BWV 1068) and HM (Band Disturbed: Indestructible) compared to a control group (CO) without music exposure in 120 healthy subjects (60 study subjects, 60 control subjects) and 36 young pigs (18 Pietrains, 18 Wiesenauer Minipigs) according to an identical study protocol (21 minutes of music exposure (CM, HM) or 21 minutes of no music (C0). Results: We were able to clearly demonstrate in 36 pigs that CM led to significantly more activity behavior than HM or CO (p<0,01). HM caused significantly more stress behavior than CM or CO (p<0,01). In humans, there was a decrease in BPsyst, BPdiast or HR (beats per minute [bpm]) among CM: decrease BPsyst-7,5 +/- 9,1 mm Hg, BPdiast -4,9 +/- 7,5 mm Hg, HR -7,2 +/- 10,2 bpm. This was observed less frequently in HM: BPsyst-3,6 +/- 7,1 mm Hg, BPdiast -2,7 +/- 6,9 mm Hg, HR -5,9 +/- 9,0 bpm. The influence of BP and HR was significantly lower in CO compared to music: BPsyst-2,3 +/- 7,2 mm Hg, BPdiast -2,0 +/- 7,3 mm Hg, HR -5,8 +/- 12,3 bpm. Conclusions: BP and HR in humans and behavioral patterns in animals are clearly influenced by music. CM leads more frequently to activity behavior in animals and to lower BP and HR in humans compared to HM or CO. In both animal breeds, stress behavior was observed more frequently in HM compared to CM or CO. Therefore, music may play a role in intensive care medicine.