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A recent investigation suggests that listening to birdsong can alleviate sadness about as effectively as a guided mindful breathing exercise. The study also indicates that for individuals with depressive symptoms, the natural sounds of birds may offer unique benefits for physiological recovery. These findings were published in the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being.

The sounds of nature are increasingly being recognized as a potential resource for supporting mental health. While visual exposure to natural scenery has been widely studied, the auditory components of the environment are now receiving more focused attention. Researchers are exploring how sounds like flowing water, wind, and birdsong can influence human emotion and physiology.

Among these natural sounds, birdsong is particularly noteworthy. It is often considered a restorative element in soundscapes and has been shown in some studies to be more effective at reducing stress than other natural sounds. Birdsong is also highly accessible, present even in urban parks and backyards, making it a practical option for widespread exposure.

A team of researchers from the Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences and the College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science at Zhejiang University in China sought to understand its specific effects on sadness, a core emotion associated with depression.

Past research frequently bundled birdsong with other nature sounds or compared it only to silence or urban noise. This made it difficult to isolate the effects of the birdsong itself. To create a more rigorous test, the Zhejiang University team decided to compare it against a well-established technique for emotion regulation: audio-guided mindfulness.

Mindfulness practices require active, controlled attention to one’s thoughts and physical sensations. Listening to birdsong, in contrast, is a more passive experience, engaging the senses with a lower cognitive demand. The researchers hypothesized that this passive quality might make birdsong an especially suitable intervention for individuals with depressive symptoms, who can sometimes find cognitively demanding tasks difficult to engage with.

To measure the body’s response in addition to self-reported feelings, the scientists used a technique called heart rate variability analysis. Heart rate variability is a measure of the small variations in time between each heartbeat. It provides a window into the nervous system’s ability to adapt to stress and regulate emotions. Generally, greater variability is associated with better emotional and physiological resilience, while reduced variability is often observed in individuals experiencing sadness or depression.

The research team recruited 187 university students for their study. Participants were first assessed for depressive symptoms using two standardized questionnaires. Based on their scores, they were categorized as either having depressive symptoms or not. This created two large pools of participants. Each pool was then randomly split, with half assigned to a birdsong intervention and the other half to a mindful breathing intervention. This resulted in four distinct groups for comparison.

The experiment for each participant proceeded in three main stages, each lasting six minutes. First, a baseline resting phase allowed researchers to record initial emotional and physiological states. Next, participants underwent a sadness induction phase where they watched emotionally charged clips from one of two sad films. This step was designed to produce a consistent feeling of sadness across all groups.

Following the sadness induction, the intervention phase began. Participants listened to one of two audio recordings. The birdsong group heard a high-quality recording of mixed birdsongs, selected in consultation with ornithology experts. The mindfulness group listened to an audio track guiding them through a typical mindful breathing exercise, which involved focusing on breath and bodily sensations.

Throughout all three phases, researchers collected electrocardiogram signals to measure heart rate variability and asked participants to rate their emotional state on three dimensions: valence (the pleasantness of the feeling), arousal (the intensity of the feeling), and dominance (the sense of being in control of the feeling).

The analysis of the data produced several key observations. The sadness induction procedure was effective for all participants. After watching the film clips, individuals across all four groups reported feeling significantly less pleasant, more emotionally aroused, and less in control. Their physiological data showed corresponding changes, including a decrease in heart rate and an increase in short-term heart rate fluctuations, a pattern consistent with an acute state of sadness.

Both the birdsong and the mindful breathing interventions successfully counteracted these effects. After the six-minute listening period, participants in both intervention types reported a significant increase in pleasant feelings, a decrease in emotional intensity, and a restored sense of control. This confirmed that both methods were effective at reducing the subjective experience of sadness.

Subtle differences emerged between the two interventions. The mindful breathing exercise resulted in a slightly greater improvement in emotional pleasantness compared to the birdsong recording. Participants who practiced mindful breathing were also more likely to select positive emotion labels to describe their state after the intervention.

The physiological data revealed another layer of complexity. For individuals without depressive symptoms, the mindful breathing practice was more effective at stabilizing short-term fluctuations in heart rate. For participants with depressive symptoms, however, listening to birdsong produced a more pronounced stabilizing effect on these same heart rate fluctuations. This finding suggests that the passive, low-effort nature of listening to birdsong may be particularly beneficial for promoting physiological regulation in individuals experiencing depressive symptoms.

The study provides a nuanced look at how different auditory experiences can aid in emotion regulation, but the researchers acknowledge some limitations. The experiment was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting, and its effects were measured only immediately after the intervention. The long-term benefits of repeated exposure to birdsong remain an open question for future investigation.

The participants were all university students, a relatively narrow demographic. Studies involving a more diverse population could help determine if these effects are consistent across different age groups and cultural backgrounds. Researchers also suggest that future work could explore which specific acoustic characteristics of birdsong, such as its pitch, rhythm, or complexity, are most responsible for its positive effects. Including a neutral sound condition, like white noise, could also help clarify the mechanisms at play.

This research contributes to a growing understanding of how simple, accessible elements of the natural world can be harnessed to support mental well-being. It suggests that while active practices like mindfulness are powerful tools, passive engagement with natural soundscapes may offer a complementary and sometimes more suitable path toward emotional balance, especially for those navigating the challenges of a low mood.

The study, “Birdsongs and audio-guided mindful breathing: Comparable sadness-reducing effects in the lab,” was authored by Xuanyi Wang, Tian Lu, Wanlin Chen, Jing Zheng, Hang Chen, and Shulin Chen.