Abstract
[Purpose] Music has been reported to improve the cognitive processing speed and influence exercise performance. We compared response times (RTs) when listening to different types of background music. [Participants and Methods] We instructed 20 healthy adults to listen to the following types of background music in a seated resting position to measure their RTs: Western music, classical music, anime songs, and music box sounds. For comparison, their RT without music listening was also measured. [Results] The RT was significantly shorter when listening to Western music compared with music box sounds and classical music. It also tended to be shorter when listening to anime songs compared with classical music and music box sounds. [Conclusion] The RT may shorten when listening to up-tempo compared with slow tempo music.
