This is Scientific American's 60 Second Science.

I'm Christopher Intagiyata.

There's a whole genre of music called Relaxation Music. It's also called meditative binaural music because it includes sounds recorded in stereo and sometimes

sign tones with a beating pattern called binaural beats.

But is all that any more relaxing than some gentle Chopin? Researchers attempted to answer that question by sitting 30 people aged 18 to 80 in a comfy chair one at a time with noise cancelling headphones on.

On a desk in front of them was a slider on which they could indicate their changing levels of alertness versus relaxation,

as the researchers played newe-g calming music, the subdued showpan,

the subdued Chopin, or a more lively piece by Mozart.

Based on the slider info, the participants were all jolted into alertness by Mozart strings, regardless of age, and the relaxation music was indeed a relative

chill pill, but not any more of one than the Chopin.

And in a post-listening survey, only listeners in their teens and 20s describe feeling slightly more

sedate when listening to harps and birds chirping and stereo. All of which suggests

that relaxation music, while effective, doesn't have any unique soothing powers compared with peaceful classical music.

And that's true even when the relaxation music has binaural beats. The study is in the Journal of Music Therapy.

Still, the scientists say the new relaxation music has its advantages. It's got fewer

cultural connotations than classical music, which could be preferable in, say, a hospital waiting room.

And if you're trying to relax before bed, the new stuff is probably not as likely to get stuck in your head.

Thanks for listening.

For Scientific American 60 Second Science,

I'm Christopher and Daliata.