Correspondence (letter to the editor): Music and Neurophysiology

Trappe and Voit’s interesting article on the cardiovascular effect of listening to music is the first to approach an interesting topic in a systematic fashion (1). In our opinion, the next step to be investigated should be the question of an association with neurophysiological parameters. This could be done relatively simply by using non-invasive, non-ionizing methods (for example, multichannel EEG surface mapping, functional near-infrared spectroscopy). In this way, it would be possible to verify whether the delinking between individually preferred musical styles and the measured effects also happens at the cerebral level. Subsequently, further controlled studies would be desirable, to compare the cardiovascular and neurophysiological measurements in healthy subjects and patients; patients with (chronic) pain or insomnia could be of multifarious interest in this setting (2, 3).