Research note 09
Allostasis and allostatic load, the cognitive control of emotion, the stress-buffering effects of social support and the use of music for mood regulation explain what a night of collective movement does for the body, and what it cannot change.
Research note 10
People use music to change, maintain and release emotional states. This note reviews meta-analyses of music and stress, studies of how people regulate mood with music, and what the evidence cannot yet say about resolution.
Research note 03
What moving in time with others does to people: evidence that synchrony increases affiliation and cooperation, that group dance raises pain thresholds, and that musical peaks engage the brain's reward system.
Question 09
Synchrony, exertion and music each contribute something measurable: liking and cooperation, raised pain thresholds, and reward responses to musical peaks. What the experiments measured, and when they stopped measuring.
Advice 07 · Replicated experimental
Dancing, singing and moving in synchrony with others increases closeness and cooperation and lifts mood acutely. Treat these as real benefits, and do not expect them to resolve the difficulties you bring with you.