Metal music has long had a bad rep for its ability to provoke people’s aggression, and its lyrics have often featured violent and misogynist lyrics.
Studies have demonstrated that heavy metal music can actually help you feel less anxious and stressed out. Here are some ways in which heavy metal affects the brain: 1. It stimulates it.
1. It stimulates the brain
Studies have demonstrated that listening to heavy metal music can stimulate and even increase intelligence. This may be because its fast, repetitive beat encourages mental alertness while its heavy drum beats and intense guitar riffs are known to activate the brain’s motor cortex.
Such claims should be taken with caution as they typically rely on correlational research where causal inferences cannot be made. Furthermore, the findings often come from small sample sizes and may be affected by confounding variables (e.g. sex, age, education level, peer group affiliation and musical preferences).
Even though heavy metal songs may contain lyrics with seemingly aggressive or violent themes, no scientific studies have linked this form of music with increased violence. On the contrary, one study revealed how metal music helps people safely release their anger. Still, listeners may find metal too intense; should this be the case, they could try soft styles of music to achieve similar results.
Studies have also demonstrated that metal music can help reduce stress and anxiety by giving listeners a sense of empowerment over their environment. Furthermore, metal has also been linked to positive emotions like joy, love and happiness – giving listeners another outlet from everyday life!
One study has demonstrated that when students listen to their favorite metal band, both their blood pressure and heart rate reduce significantly, providing a much-needed therapeutic element during stressful study sessions. Listening can help students feel calmer and more relaxed when under pressure – making for easier studying!
metal music fans also benefit from cultivating critical thinking skills through listening, as its genre often touches upon controversial subjects such as religion, war, terrorism and even logical fallacies, research design issues or thinking biases.
Being a heavy metal fan can also help improve your immune system and overall health, thanks to music’s stress-relief properties that leave you feeling happier and healthier. Metal can also aid students’ focus during exams by increasing motivation and concentration – so they say “a little metal a day keeps the doctor away!”
2. It reduces negative emotions
Heavy metal music has long been met with criticism due to its violent lyrics and themes, from offensive merchandise to accusations that promote suicide and even school shootings – with heavy metal receiving an unfavorable public perception. Yet research indicates that listeners of heavy metal genre experience positive psychological benefits when listening to this genre.
One study demonstrated how music can help regulate negative emotions. Participants who listened to heavy metal music experienced lower heart rates and respirations rates compared to participants listening to classical or self-selected music, possibly because listening to heavy metal evoked a feeling of control over the situation and made participants more relaxed.
Furthermore, metal music can help fans reduce feelings of aggression and depression. One study demonstrated how students who were depressed experienced a greater decrease in symptoms when listening to metal music; its vibrance helped lift their mood and enhance study focus.
Being part of the metal fan community can also have numerous psychological health advantages. Listening to metal music encourages listeners to be social and open up more opportunities. Furthermore, listening can encourage critical thinking as listeners may challenge any negative claims against it while music can promote understanding of logical fallacies, research design issues and biases within our minds.
Heavy metal music may also help improve short-term memory. When participants were asked to recall a list of words after listening to heavy metal, they performed better on this task than after listening to other genres of music; perhaps because listening to heavy metal elicited an emotional response that helped stimulate short-term memories.
Studies of correlation suggest that aggressive themes in metal music could inspire violent behavior; however, causal inferences from these data remain difficult. One research project in which participants reported their music listening preferences and problem behaviors at two intervals separated by 12 months found that teenage males who preferred heavy metal had more externalizing behaviors than those who preferred other genres.
3. It improves concentration
Heavy metal music may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but studies have revealed its effectiveness for concentration. When students had to complete a word search task faster, those listening to metal music completed it more quickly than those not listening at all – though this was just one study; individuals may react differently when listening to different kinds of music; finding the one that helps you is key when it comes to concentration!
Many people avoid listening to metal music due to negative associations that it holds. Some assume this genre causes aggression and evil-mindedness among its fans, which simply isn’t the case. A 2019 survey conducted among software developers (coding professions) demonstrated how various music genres actually help improve focus; classical, metal and video game soundtracks all helped.
No matter the genre of music you prefer to listen to, the key to finding music that improves focus and makes you happy is finding what enhances both. Doing this will help decrease stress levels and negative emotions which has been proven to boost immune systems – thus the old adage: “Some metal a day keeps the doctor away”.
Studies of non-metal music have demonstrated that those who listen to classical or self-selected calming music after experiencing stressors experience lower levels of anxiety than those listening to heavy metal or sitting silently – however it should be noted that none of the participants in these studies were heavy metal enthusiasts.
Recent neuroimaging research claims to demonstrate how metal music increases activity in certain brain regions, sparking considerable debate on PubPeer with critics asserting that its authors misinterpreted data and employed poor methodology when drawing their conclusions. Other researchers, however, have found music can help reduce negative emotions while simultaneously improving performance – so this makes an intriguing read whether you like metal or not!
4. It makes you feel lighter
Heavy metal music may seem chaotic to some listeners, but studies have proven its benefits. Heavy metal tunes increase blood flow faster and increase oxygen distribution in your brain – giving an energy boost when listening to favorite tracks, particularly helpful during stressful periods in school such as exams or when completing major projects. This has proven especially effective among students during exam periods or major project deadlines.
Not surprisingly, students who enjoy metal music excel at all aspects of their studies, from memory recall to intellectual capacity. This could be explained as they tend to be well-rounded individuals rather than being driven by external forces; regardless of its violent lyrical content, long-time fans do not become sensitized and are in fact more tolerant towards others and capable of integrating their perspectives upon society than non-fan counterparts.
Research has even demonstrated how metal music can help regulate negative emotions like anger. It is thought this is because the arousal created by metal music satisfies an individual’s anger more constructively – so next time you feel angry headbang to Megadeth!
Heavy metal music often gets a bad rep, yet researchers have discovered it can actually help people lose weight! Some researchers even compared the arousal produced from listening to heavy metal to what participants experience when taking part in popular “Couch Potato” game – they discovered similar responses triggered by listening to metal music as with physical activity-involved participants; perhaps due to activating areas of your brain associated with physical activity being stimulated when listening.
Heavy metal music has long been associated with rebellious adolescents and, according to research (Schedel & Westefeld 1999), may lead to suicidal tendencies among adolescents (Schedel & Westefeld 1999). Unfortunately, however, its relationship to suicidal behavior remains tenuous; further investigation should take place into how mental health might be acting as a moderating factor or not.