Trends in the Studies Involving Music and Psychology: A Review.

Some of the perspectives on the area of research indulging the two disciplines-Psychology and Music are - the studies around the effects of classical music on human brain, hormonal changes, behavior (mood and emotions), effects of lyrical music versus instrumental music, effect of meaningful versus pleasurable music, effects of learning music on the neuroplasticity etc. These studies are focused on the changes in physiology and behavior as variables where the music as the stimulant remains constant. In classical music or performance-based music, the music has to be limited to pre-determined parameters to keep the individual identities of the art forms. In the Social Science context of music and Musicology, the perspectives of music are more expanded as they include folk music as a cultural expression of the thought processes of any community where some indigenous tribes add melody in their day-to-day conversations; i.e., Music becomes the variable depending on the mood and emotions of the person. This paper reviews the existing literature of 10 years on the area of music, human emotions and behavior; and attempts to find out the gaps, if any, in this area of research to explore further scopes of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]