Why does listening to sad music help in times of sadness? IIT Mandi researchers explain

The researchers focused on brain regions involved in emotion and memory processing: the cingulate cortex complex and the parahippocampus. EEG was measured under three states. In the first, EEG was recorded with no input – the baseline. In the second state, EEG was recorded as the participants recalled a sad experience and wrote about it – the Sad Autobiographical Recall (SAR) condition. In the third, EEG was measured when they were made to listen to an Indian Classical Raga, Mishra Jogiya Raga.

Through this process, the researchers found that when recalling a sad experience (i.e. during SAR), there is enhanced gamma wave activity, while listening to sad music leads to increased alpha brain activity.

“Listening to Mishra Jogiya Raga (sad music) appears to promote processing of emotions and memories in the brain, through a three-channel framework involving the alpha brain wave. These mechanisms include increased global and local connectivity in brain areas involved in emotion and memory processing, and increased alertness,” explained Prof Behera.

The finding, as per IIT Mandi, shows that the brain’s activity when listening to sad music is unique and distinct from both the SAR state and the baseline resting state. The coping mechanism of sad music arises from better processing of emotions and memories under the alpha state. “The coping effects are not simply due to the aesthetic appeal of the music, as previously believed, but an inherent property of sad music”, explains Ashish Gupta, a PhD scholar.

However, scientists believe that more research is needed to understand the relationship between sad music and the brain entirely. Now, they intend to study the deeper sub-cortical areas using fMRI scans in the future.