Study Finds Music May Help Brain Recover From Stress

Key Developments:

• Study examines how music affects recovery after acute stress
• Researchers studied 120 healthy young adults in two experiments
• Music altered communication between three key brain regions
• Musical tension was linked to changes in mood and physiology

BEIJING (Xinhua) — September 18, 2026: Music may help the brain and body recover from acute stress by changing communication between key stress-regulation networks, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The research, led by scientists at the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, examined whether music offers effects beyond those produced by other calming sounds. The study involved 120 healthy young adults across two experiments.

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In the first experiment, participants listened to relaxing music or calming natural sounds before or after completing a stressful mental arithmetic task. Researchers found that listening to music before the task did not significantly reduce the initial stress response.

The differences became more apparent during the recovery period after the stressful task. Participants who listened to music showed greater improvements in positive mood and faster recovery across several physiological measures compared with the natural-sound control.

The second experiment used functional MRI to examine brain activity while participants recovered from the same type of stress. Researchers found changes in communication involving the auditory cortex, insula and thalamus.

Image representative of the effects of music on the mind. CREDIT: Cleveland Clinic.

The auditory cortex processes sound, while the insula and thalamus contribute to monitoring bodily states and regulating arousal. The researchers observed increased communication from the auditory cortex toward the insula earlier in the recovery period, followed later by increased communication between the insula and thalamus.

The researchers also examined musical tension — the changing sense of anticipation, tension and release that develops as music unfolds. They found that changes in perceived musical tension corresponded with changes in connectivity among the brain regions involved in stress regulation. Those connectivity patterns were associated with improvements in mood, heart rate and autonomic balance.

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Professor Yi Du of the Institute of Psychology said: “Music is a highly structured signal that unfolds through cycles of anticipation, tension, and resolution.” He said the findings suggest that the brain may use this changing structure to reorganise stress-regulation networks and help the mind and body return toward a more balanced state.

Du added: “The study points to musical tension as an important factor in how music supports stress recovery.” He said the findings could provide a framework for studying music-based approaches aimed at supporting stress resilience in daily life and clinical care.

The study does not show that music prevents stress or provides a treatment for stress-related medical conditions. Instead, it examined acute stress recovery under controlled experimental conditions in healthy young adults. The researchers compared music with calming natural sounds rather than with complete silence.

Image represents the link between music and the human brain. CREDIT: Minute Mirror.

The findings suggest that music's potential effect may involve more than distraction or general relaxation. The researchers propose that the temporal structure of music itself may help coordinate changes in brain networks as people recover from a stressful experience.

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The research was published online in PNAS on September 8, 2026, with the journal listing the publication date as September 15. The paper is titled The structural dynamics of music drive acute stress recovery through functional reorganization of stress-regulation networks.

The study was conducted by Siqi You, Lei Zhang, Guowei Wu and Yi Du, with researchers affiliated with the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health at the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Baycrest Academy for Research and Education.

The researchers said the findings provide a possible basis for further investigation into how the structure of music could be incorporated into interventions designed to support stress resilience, but additional research will be needed to determine how these findings translate beyond the controlled experimental setting.

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