Music plays a role in every person’s life. From the casual listener to the avid musician, music can have an emotional and physical impact. These effects inspired Havovi Desai to conduct a specialized research project for the 2018 Denman Research Forum.

Desai, a fifth-year student pursuing a dual degree in psychology and music, was interested in the relationship between resting heart rate variability (HRV) and music listening preferences. With the help of psychology postdoctoral researcher DeWayne Williams and psychology professor Julian Thayer, she used an electrocardiogram to collect participants' HRV data and had them answer a series of questionnaires. Their answers were then correlated to their heart signals.

The research took place over multiple months and the results found that individuals with higher resting HRV did more cognitive music listening. However, there was no significant correlation for emotional music listening and background music listening. The results were different from what Desai had anticipated, but she still found the revelation to be important.

Although conducting research proved to be a time-consuming task, Desai said that analyzing the data and finding correlations made it all worth it. Desai also found it incredibly rewarding to be able to incorporate music into her research.

“Being able to combine research with my passion for music was truly a special experience for me,” Desai said. “I have always loved research and been heavily involved in it on campus, and being able to tie in my musical background to the work I do in my lab was so fun and unique.”

Desai’s love for music is well documented. On top of her musically inclined academic and research pursuits, she is also a two-year flugelhorn player in The Ohio State University Marching Band. She hopes to pursue a career in the field of music therapy and plans on getting her master’s degree after graduating this autumn.

“Understanding the correlation between one's music listening tendencies and their health can be a great tool for therapists to use in the workplace,” Desai said. “If this study is continued and further explored in the future, we could develop new interventions based on cognitive music listening for patients in the clinical setting.”

Desai said the research would not have been possible without the resources and support that Ohio State and the College of Arts and Sciences provided her. Looking back on her undergraduate research experience, she sees the possibilities she had as a gift.

“I've been able to dive into research and find something I'm genuinely passionate about because the opportunities are so endless here,” Desai said. “Everyone here is so passionate and willing to foster my growth as an undergraduate researcher, and I am so appreciative.”

Hannah Smith, fourth-year journalism major