And thisiswhere the powerofm usicm ayrealylie.Butthese influencesdon’talwayshave to be negative.The Croatian study,forexam ple,found thatparticipantslistening to Ed Sheeran’sHow W ould You Feeland Beethoven’sFürElise tooktheirfootof the ac eleratoralitle,driving up to 10kph slowerthan those listening to m etalordriving in silence. Karageorghisand hiscoleagues,who conducted aseriesof studiesfunded bythe Econom icand SocialResearch Council in the UK,have also found thatsoft,calm ing m usicm ightbe deployed to help im prove driving on the roads. M usicthatwon’tdrive you crazy “The pleasantfeelingsinduced bysom e form sofm usic engenderam entalstate thatcan resultin saferbehaviours,” saysKarageoghis.And itappearsto be particularlyefective in urban environm ents,where driving isoften m ostdificult.It could be thatalowing people to choose low intensitym usic theyenjoysim plym akesthem happierand so les likelyto getfrustrated ordo anything rash.Itcould also help to preventdriversfrom becom ing overwhelm ed bythe noise, brightlightsand busystreetsofcitycentres,he suggests– notto m ention having adirectafecton how ourbrainssend signalsto ourlim bs. “M usicwith lowerlevelsofenergyholdsim plicationsforthe eferentnervoussystem ,orhow the brain controlsthe working m uscles,m eaning thatthere’salowerlikelihood of hard ac eleration and sharp braking,”he says.Choosing the rightm usicwhen driving could help reduce the riskof ac idents,Karageorghisclaim s.He and hiscoleagueshave even developed playlistsspecificalyforurban driving (they include trackssuch asSia’sCheap Thrils,Closerbythe Chainsm okersand BeautifulPeople byEd Sheeran and Khalid). It’salin the m ind Perhapsinevitably,m oststudieslooking atthe efectsof m usicon driving tend to be sm al,involving afew dozen participants,largelydue to how tim e consum ing theyare to conduct.Itm eanscare should be taken when generalising the results–som e ofuswilreactdiferentlyto others.And there issom e evidence thatsuggestsourpersonalitiesplayarole. “Extrovertstend to seekstim ulation from theirenvironm ent, and there isapropensityforextrovertsto benefitm ore than introvertsfrom the stim ulation thatm usiccan ofer,” says Karageoghis,bywayofexam ple. Butm usicalso hasam ore visceralafecton usthan sim ply influencing the waywe drive.Itisuniversalacros hum an culturesand used in surprisinglysim ilarwaysaround the world.Lulabiesare sung to send children to sleep;repetitive
Photo:W arnerM usic
W antto be saferin traff ic? A certain red-headed Brit m ighthave the answer.
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