Animal Signals, Music and Emotional Well-Being

Abstract

Playing music or natural sounds to animals in human care is thought to have beneficial effects. An analysis of published papers on the use of human-based music with animals demonstrates a variety of different results even within the same species. These mixed results suggest the value of tailoring music to the sensory systems of the species involved and in selecting musical structures that are likely to produce the desired effects. I provide a conceptual framework based on the combined knowledge of the natural communication system of a species coupled with musical structures known to differentially influence emotional states, e.g., calming an agitated animal versus stimulating a lethargic animal. This new concept of animal-based music, which is based on understanding animal communication, will lead to more consistent and specific effects of music. Knowledge and appropriate use of animal-based music are important in future research and applications if we are to improve the well-being of animals that are dependent upon human care for their survival.

Effects of Music and White Noise Exposure on the Gut Microbiota, Oxidative Stress, and Immune-Related Gene Expression of Mice

“…This work delves into three crucial facets of farm animal welfare research: music, noise, and microbiota. In the established conceptual framework for farm animal welfare, music has been employed to mitigate unfavorable sounds or provide sensory stimulation [ 75 , 76 ]. Noise, on the other hand, is undesirable and is addressed by improving housing facility design or masking it with music [ 77 , 78 ].…”

Enrichment with classical music enhances affiliative behaviours in bottlenose dolphin

“…Music can indeed trigger different kind of behavioral responses in both human and non-human animals (for a review, see Snowdon, 2021) and acoustic features of auditory stimuli can trigger specific emotional states in humans (Juslin and Laukka, 2003;Bresin and Friberg, 2011). However, it is still unclear what specific traits of music are responsible for the variety of responses toward music observed in animals.…”

“…Moreover, dolphins may perceive classical music as consonancy and rhythmicity. Consonant music is hypothesized to be "therapeutic" for most uses with animals (Snowdon, 2021), and human infants (Trainor and Heinmiller, 1998), infant chimpanzee (Sugimoto et al, 2010) and birds (Chiandetti and Vallortigara, 2011) preferred consonant compared to dissonant music. Furthermore, in humans, synchronization of movement to a beat increases trusts and cooperation (Tarr et al, 2014) and is associated with positive emotions (Trost et al, 2017).…”

Neurobiology of emotions in animal relationships: Facial expressions and their biological functions in mammals

“…Based on this evidence, it is possible to establish that emotions have a regulatory function for individuals. However, when referring to the possibility of transmitting effective emotional communication, some authors mention that this can provide information about the internal state or about events in its environment that can serve as valuable information for the recipient, as seen in the presence of food or predators (Seyfarth et al 2010;Snowdon 2021). These signals can inform others about the internal state of the animal.…”