Just one hour of singing in a group might help people with Parkinson’s feel a little less sad, even if it doesn’t change their movement or stress hormones.

Singing in a group for one hour doesn’t seem to make people with Parkinson’s disease more stressed, at least not based on their stress hormone levels.

People with Parkinson’s who sing in a group may feel less stressed, because their body’s stress hormone (cortisol) goes down—especially after singing together 12 times.

When adults with Parkinson’s sing in a group, their stress hormone levels sometimes drop, and when that happens, they seem to feel less pain—but only during the first two singing sessions, not the third. So the connection might just be temporary or unpredictable.

When people with Parkinson’s sing together in a group for an hour, their heart beats faster—but when they quietly read instead, their heart slows down. This suggests singing gets their body more stirred up than reading does.

When adults with Parkinson’s sing in a group, their stress levels (measured by a chemical in saliva) seem to drop after the second time they sing—but not every time—so singing might sometimes calm their nervous system, but not always.