This is Scientific American ― 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.There's a whole genre of music called "relaxation music."It's also called "Meditative Binaural Music," because it includes sounds recorded in stereo,and sometimes sine tones with a beating pattern, called "binaural beats."But is all that any more relaxing than some gentle Chopin?Researchers attempted to answer that question by sitting 30 people, aged 18 to 80,in a comfy chair, one at a time, with noise-cancelling headphones on.On a desk in front of them was a slider, on which they could indicate their changing levels of alertness versus relaxation,as the researchers played new-agey calming music; the subdued Chopin... or a more lively piece by Mozart.Based on the slider info, the participants were all jolted into alertness by Mozart's strings, regardless of age.And the "relaxation music" was indeed a relative chill pill.But not any more of one than the Chopin.And in a post-listening survey,only listeners in their teens and 20s described feeling slightly more sedate when listening to harps and birds chirping in stereo.