Could listening to Mozart increase the effectiveness of your pain medication? A new study by researchers at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, USA, found that listening to classical music increased the effectiveness of various pain medications on mice. The study, the results of which were published in the journal Frontiers in Neurology, measured the effectiveness of different pain relief medications on mice, with and without classical music, and the effectiveness of music on seizure control in epilepsy.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The researchers used two pain models, the carrageenan model, which simulates inflammation-related pain, and plantar incision, which simulates surgical pain. While the experimental group was exposed to a three-hour session of Mozart, daily, for three weeks, the control group was exposed to ambient noise. The study was run four times, with four different pain relief medications: ibuprofen, cannabidiol, levetiracetam, and NAX 5055. The mice treated with ibuprofen seemed to respond particularly well to music, with the group in the carrageenan model exhibiting a 90 percent reduction in pain responses compared with the mice given ibuprofen but not exposed to Mozart. Music and cannabidiol reduced swelling...