This is a most interesting thread, on one of my favourite topics! Thanks for the info, everyone.

I'd like to add that researchers have discovered that listening to music stimulates the production/release of endorphins, the brain's natural painkillers. That's probably one reason why soothing music is so effective as a healing agent.

According to James Kalat's "Biological Psychology", "...listening to 'thrilling' music - the kind that sends a tingling sensation down your back or all over your body - also decreases pain."

It's interesting that exposure to stress can also release endorphins. For example, the mere presence of a cat causes the release of endorphins in rats, thereby reducing their response to (anticipated) pain. Maybe that's why the "stimulation" of my son's beloved "death metal" at full volume has yet to evoke a murderous response from me!

daylia