Violin Major Music Alleviates University Students’ Anxiety Maybe through the dACC and DLPFC Circuits

University students may encounter high levels of anxiety or depression, which can adversely impact their daily lives and academic performance and even lead to illness. Recently, studies have reported that music therapy can effectively alleviate anxiety, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we assessed therapeutic outcomes and explored several cognitive mechanisms of "major keys", "minor keys", "violin music" and "piano music" for individuals experiencing university-related anxiety. Our assessments included power spectral density values of beta and gamma brain waves, as well as quantitative evaluations of musical pieces and brain localization experiences. The results indicated that anxious participants exposed to major key piano music experienced a significant reduction in anxiety levels compared with those in the minor key piano music group. The brain localization results further suggested that gamma waves are more suitable than beta waves for highly anxious participants. The possible neural circuits involved may include the activation of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dACC) and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Our findings revealed that violin music in the major key can effectively relieve anxiety through the activation of the dACC and DLPFC circuits.