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It is common knowledge that music can have a powerful effect on our emotions. In fact, since the 1930s, music therapists have relied on music to soothe patients and help control pain.

Now psychologists are confirming that music can also help relieve depression and improve concentration. For instance, in a recent study, 15 surgeons were given some highly stressed math problems to solve. They were divided into three groups: one worked in silence, and in another, the surgeons listened to music of their choice on headphones; the third listened to classic music chosen by the researchers. The results of the study may surprise you. The doctors who got to choose their music experienced less stress and scored better than the others. One possible explanation is that listening to music you like stimulates the Alfa-wave in the brain, increases the heart rate and expands the breathing. That helps to reduce stress and sharpen concentration. Other research suggests a second relation between the music and the brain: by examining the students’ blood after they listened to a variety of classic music collections, the researchers found that some students showed a large increase in endorphin, a natural pain reliever. This supports what music therapists have known for years: Music can help rejuvenate or soothe the patient.

Display of Goods

Are supermarkets designed to persuade us to buy more?

Fresh fruit and vegetables are displayed near supermarket entrances. This gives the impression that only healthy food is sold in the shop. Basic foods that everyone buys, like sugar and tea, are not put near each other. They are kept in different aisles, so customers are taken past other attractive foods before they find what they want. In this way, shoppers are encouraged to buy products that they do not really need. Sweets are often placed at children’s eye level at the checkout. While parents are waiting to pay, children reach for the sweets and put them in the trolley. More is bought from a fifteen-foot display of one type of product than from a ten-foot one. Customers also buy more when shelves are full than when they are half empty. They do not like to buy from shelves with few products on them because they feel there is something wrong with those products that are there.

Have you heard of the old saying that laughter is the best medicine? Then listen to this. Seriously, research has already shown that mental stress can restrict blood flow to the heart. But now a study has linked laughter to increased blood flow. Laughter appears to cause the tissue inside blood vessels to expand. As a result, laughing may be important to reduce the risk of heart disease. So says Doctor Michael Miller of the University of Maryland Medical Center. He led a study of 20 men and women, all healthy. To get them to laugh, they watched part of the movie Kingpin, a 1996 comedy. To create the opposite emotions, they watched the opening battle in the 1998 war movie Saving Private Ryan.

The researchers used ultrasound technology to measure changes in blood flow through an artery in the arm. Blood flow increased in 19 of the 20 people after they watched Kingpin. The increase was an average of 22 percent. Doctor Miller says that is similar to the effects of aerobic exercise. Blood flow decreased in 14 of the 20 people after they watched Saving Private Ryan. The decrease was an average of 35 percent.

Studies have shown that stress can reduce the body’s ability to fight disease. When the body is under stress, it produces hormones such as adrenalin. But too much of these hormones can be harmful