New psychology research shows how music therapy reduces anxiety
The findings emerge from one of the first published and peer-reviewed clinical trials demonstrating the mental health benefits of AI-delivered music.
Managing anxiety is not easy under any circumstances, but having accessible solutions is even more important as we continue to live through the pandemic and adapt to a new normal.
鈥淲ith the pandemic and remote work, there has been a remarkable uptick in the use of digital health tools to support mental health,鈥� said Frank Russo, psychology professor and director of the university鈥檚 .
Russo鈥檚 latest research, , found that adults with moderate anxiety experienced a significant reduction in symptoms after a single session with AI-powered digital music therapy provider .
鈥淭he results of this clinical trial indicate great promise for the use of digital health tools, such as LUCID's digital music therapy, in the management of anxiety and other mental health conditions,鈥� he said.
Co-founded by Ryerson alumni Aaron Labb茅 and Zo毛 Thomson, LUCID delivers personalized therapeutic music experiences based on real-time mood assessment. Its digital music therapy technology combines AI personalization with integrated auditory beat stimulation (ABS), consisting of monaural and binaural beats.
Turning music into medicine
The clinical trial was conducted with 264 participants with moderate to severe anxiety who were taking anti-anxiety medication. The goal was to observe how their anxiety levels changed after one session of LUCID鈥檚 digital music therapy technology compared to the pink noise control group, or regular music and auditory beats stimulation individually.
Participants with moderate trait anxiety who listened to a single 24-minute session with LUCID鈥檚 music therapy AI reported experiencing a 16 percent average reduction in anxiety symptoms.
鈥淭hese findings are remarkable when compared to the research on alternatives,鈥� said Thomson, who graduated from the university鈥檚 biomedical engineering program.
鈥淢any interventions show significant effects after extended use. Mindfulness meditation, for example, has been shown to reduce anxiety by only five per cent after one session. Benzodiazepines reduce anxiety by 20 per cent after a single use, but come with side effects and are not suitable for everyone, and iCBT reaches the 20 per cent mark after a comprehensive program. This highlights music鈥檚 potential role as an effective and accessible tool which provides acute relief from anxiety symptoms.鈥�
For participants with moderate trait anxiety, LUCID鈥檚 system of personalized music with integrated auditory beats stimulation was more effective at reducing anxiety compared to music or ABS individually. LUCID鈥檚 patent-pending AI curates a personalized music mix for each listener based on their real-time mood state and integrates ABS within the music.
In addition, one listening session using LUCID鈥檚 system was found to be significantly more effective at reducing acute state anxiety, compared to the pink noise control. The reduction in somatic anxiety was 13 per cent versus six per cent for pink noise, meanwhile the reduction in cognitive anxiety was 21 per cent versus 15 per cent for pink noise.
鈥淲ith so many people struggling with anxiety right now, we鈥檙e very excited to have clinical evidence for our therapeutic music technology,鈥� said Labb茅.
鈥淲e鈥檝e come a long way on our mission to turn music into medicine since we started our journey at the Transmedia Zone at Ryerson and my new media thesis project at the RTA School of Media. On a personal level, having experienced many hurdles with the mental health system, I鈥檓 excited to be bringing an accessible tool to the forefront.鈥�