Effects of Relaxing Music on Salivary Cortisol Level after Psychological Stress

Abstract

The goal of the present study was to determine whether relaxing music (as compared to silence) might facilitate recovery from a psychologically stressful task. To this aim, changes in salivary cortisol levels were regularly monitored in 24 students before and after the Trier Social Stress Test. The data show that in the presence of music, the salivary cortisol level ceased to increase after the stressor, whereas in silence it continued to increase for 30 minutes.