Natalia Cotic on the Digital Health Stage at the European Society of Cardiology ESC Congress

This year’s ESC Congress in Madrid brought together clinicians, researchers, and innovators from around the world to explore the latest in cardiovascular science and practice. With its mix of cutting-edge research, clinical updates, and digital health innovations, the congress once again proved to be a global stage for advancing cardiovascular care.

Among the many exciting sessions, the Music Theranostics Lab / ERC COSMOS team members shared their work in three presentations at the congress, highlighting the role of music in cardiovascular health.

Natalia Cotic presented “Cardiovascular synchronisation to music : blood pressure entrainment to expressive musical structures” at the Digital Health Stage in the session on Digital innovations in clinical practice chaired by Larissa Fabritz and Sungha Park.

Cotic, N, V Pope, P Lambiase, E Chew (2025). Blood Pressure Entrainment to Expressive Musical Structures: Phrase Arcs and Anticipatory Mechanisms of Cardiovascular Synchronisation to Music. European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress, 29 Aug-1 Sep, Madrid, ES. [ ABSTRACT ]

This presentation was also featured in an official ESC press release, underscoring the growing interest in music-based approaches to cardiovascular health.

This work is part of Natalia’s doctoral research, which highlights how cardiovascular variables synchronise with musical dynamics, particularly loudness. The abstract further showed that predictable musical phrasing strengthens the entrainment effect, potentially by engaging the listener’s anticipatory mechanisms.