The Effect of Classical Music and Rock Music on Rat’s Appetite and Body Weight

Music is a potent emotion modulator. Each type of music shows different effects on emotion. Emotion has an indispensible role on feeding behavior. This study aimed at investigating the effect of classical and rock music on rat’s appetite and body weight. As many as 54 adult male Wistar rats were divided evenly into classical, rock, and control group. Each variable group was exposed to music type of its group for four hours in 15 consecutive days. Each three days, rat’s total food consumption and body weight were measured. The means of rat’s daily food consumption and body weight change over 15 days of study between variable and control groups were analyzed using unpaired t test. The study showed that classical music exposure increased rat’s appetite and body weight insignificantly (p=0.148 and p=0.097, respectively) while rock music did significantly (p=0.007 and p=0.028, respectively). The evidence that rock music increases rat’s body weight may become a basis for future studies over the role of rock music in the phenomenon of global obesity. Keywords: classical music, rock music, appetite, body weight