Proposed Physiological and Neurobiological Mechanisms of Music's Effect, with a Focus on the Perioperative Period: Literature Evidence from Human, Canine and Feline Medicine

Abstract

There is growing evidence regarding non-pharmacological therapies such as music as a supportive approach for the treatment of various clinical conditions in humans. Physiological and neurobiological research suggests that music exposure is related to endorphin, endocannabinoid and dopamine release, favourable effects on autonomic nervous system functioning and is associated with decreased pain perception and reduced stress response. Further evidence in humans demonstrates a beneficial role of music application during the perioperative period by improving various outcome measures, such as the perioperative stress and anxiety levels, the sedation or general anaesthetic requirements, the pain levels, the analgesic requirements and other parameters related to patient prognosis, without reported side effects. Accordingly, such interventions have been considered as a method of environmental enrichment for animal welfare enhancement, by masking potentially disturbing background noises and by ameliorating anxiety or aggressive behaviours in different stressful settings in dogs and cats. Furthermore, research has been lately extended to the potential music's effect in these species during the perioperative period, considered a stressful setting, as well. This review presents the existing evidence of music application focusing on the perioperative period of dogs and cats, as part of a multimodal approach, to improve their surgical outcome and welfare.

Keywords: anaesthesia; analgesia; anxiety; cat; dog; music; perioperative period; physiology; stress.

Figure 1

Proposed neurobiological pathways mediating the effects of music in dogs and cats. Most pathways are extrapolated from human literature due to limited veterinary data. Specific species differences (e.g., auditory range, music preferences) may modify these responses and warrant further investigation. ↓ = decreased; ↑ = increased. ANS: autonomic nervous system, HPA axis: hypothalamic-pituitary–adrenal axis, HR: heart rate, RR: respiratory rate, BP: blood pressure, CRH: corticotropin-releasing hormone, ACTH: adrenocorticotropic hormone.