Work flow playlists have begun popping up on music distribution sites, claiming that users who listen to them while working will see improvements in concentration, mood, and indirectly ...

And if the director also happens to have had a hand in the writing of the music, ... Flow was released to rave reviews, with the Oscar for Best Animated Feature being the icing on the cake.

On the other hand, when study volunteers listened to music they perceived as stressful, their blood vessels narrowed, producing a potentially unhealthy response that reduces blood flow.

A small team of neuroscientists, psychologists and musicologists affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. reports that music created specifically to enhance work performance does just that.