Here's a mind hack you might not have heard of. Apparently, similar to the way some people alleviate stress by swearing aloud, listening to some extra loud music may actually have some benefits for your noggin'.
Check it out, we don't make this stuff up.
According to researchers at Manchester University:
"Music fans are stimulating part of the inner ear known as the sacculus, which responds to the beat in music. This gives the brain pleasure and makes us feel good — during the music and afterwards.[When loud music is playing,] the brain is stimulated into releasing feelgood hormones that make us calm, happy and responsive. So to trigger a dose of happy hormones on a Monday morning, you should, in theory, choose Black Sabbath over chamber music."
Of course, this does not in any way suggest that blasting music at full volume, deafening your ears and angering your neighbors is in any way a good idea. Also, we'd take this research with a grain of salt as it suggests the effects would only be felt at about 90 decibels (approximately the same as a jet plane flyby). We love hearing bad habits are good for us every once in a while, but perhaps this research may be pressing for too much of a good thing.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
90 dB is "approximately the same as a jet engine airplane"? What are we really talking about here?
First of all, sound pressure levels are dependent on distance from the sound source. Are we talking inside the jet airplane at take-off? Standing 25 feet away on the tarmac as it idles? Fly-by at an air-show?
As it pertains to jet engines, 90 db would be about equivalent to a fly-by at an air show. A more accurate description of 90 dB would be standing in the middle of a four-lane highway. Loud, but not even truly harmful when experienced for short periods of time. Riding a Harley or mowing your lawn is louder. And a French Horn player like myself can easily be exposed to 90 dB while playing almost anything by Berlioz.
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