The Effects of Traditional Chinese Music and Western Classical Music on Mental Fatigue Induced by Cognitive Tasks

Mental fatigue refers to subjective feelings ranging from tiredness to exhaustion that appear after or during prolonged periods of cognitive activity. Music could be a powerful tool for relieving mental fatigue due to its beneficial effects on attention, which tend to decline when mental fatigue occurs. Moreover, traditional Chinese music is usually neglected and rarely used in music intervention studies, although its potential has been mentioned in China's domestic journals. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of traditional Chinese music and Western classical music on laboratory-induced mental fatigue. Three groups of Chinese non-psychology undergraduate students were assessed in terms of alertness, hedonic tone, and overall fatigue via a pre/post-intervention diary, a visual analogue mood scale, and the psychomotor vigilance test. The results showed that both traditional Chinese music and Western classical music mitigated fatigue-related declines in alertness and hedonic tone, and produced shorter reaction times, although there was no significant difference between the effects of the types of music.