Mr. Blue Sky makes you happy on Blue Monday

Monday January 18th, is Blue Monday: the most depressive day of the year. On this day Radio 10 broadcasts the ‘Feel Good Top 110’, which consists of songs that are scientifically proven to make you happy. The list was created by cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Jacob Jolij, department of Psychology, University of Groningen.

Dr. Jolij developed a formule that can predict what kind of effect a song will have on your mood. He says: “I pay attention to pace, tekst and tonality. I apply a formula to music that can predict the effect it will have on your mood. The songs that scored best on this formula, I tested on subjects by watching their brainwaves while they listen to music. When the left side of their brain responded stronger than the right side when listening to a song, then that song was having a positive effect on the subject’s mood.”

Of all the songs he tested, Mr. Blue Sky from the Electric Light Orchestra appeared to be the song that had the strongest positive effect on people's moods.

You can check the entire list online or listen to Radio 10 today from 07.00am until 04.00pm.