People have always loved music, showing their appreciation either by composing or by listening to it. New York Times journalists had investigated the reasons for why we are so attached by something that doesn’t actually provide financial benefits (at least not for the most of us).
A relatively quick and easy answer is that music creates pleasure. But scientists have tried to get to the bottom of the phenomenon in order to understand how music and the human brain connect.
More than a decade ago, a team of scientist (led by two neuroscientists, Robert J. Zatorre and Valorie N. Salimpoor) had demonstrated that music, which people describe as being capable of kicking up strong emotions, activates parts of the brain which are involved in reward, motivation and emotion.
More than that, the research had underlined the fact that dopamine (a chemical that functions as a neurotransmitter) is released into the body when we listen to what we could call a “moment of emotional peak” – those moments in which we can feel a joyful chill running through our spine when we listen to a certain musical sequence.
In order to learn more about the way in which music triggers the reward-motivated behavior in the brain, the scientists have initiated a study by which they simulated the process of buying music online. Their purpose was to determine what exactly happens in the brain when someone listens to a song and decides he/she likes it enough to buy it.
The results shown that the activity associated with the reward was directly proportional with the amount of money people were willing to pay.
The sound of music can be tagged as a drug, provided the fact that it can affect the brain as a chemical stimulant capable of inducing joy, arousal or satisfaction similar to those given by sex and even drugs. While we listen to cheerful or sentimental songs the pulse, blood pressure and breath are affected.
Somehow, we give ourselves into music, we let it take us away and many of us feel that big musical concerts create a connection between our souls and something that’s bigger than our existence.
On the other hand, not all effects music has on human body are positive. Some genres can cause the asymmetry between the two cerebral hemispheres, learning disabilities and disruptive behavior in children, and can lead to lowering the working capacity in adults.
