Neurological imaging shows that the activation of the rewards system for music is enhanced when one is listening to music they like or recognize (Zatorre, 2015) This shows that the music experience is dependent on learning. But why do we like it so much? One study investigated this notion under the hypothesis that music evokes and intensifies emotions, and that these emotions are rewards themselves (Salimpoore, 2009). In their experiment, subjects were selected based on their experience of "chills" while listening to enjoyable music, and the music that was chosen was not associated with any previous memories. The results showed the increased activation of the autonomic nervous system in individuals listening to pleasurable music, and that 80% of the participants experienced chills at what they described as "peak arousal." This indicates that the rewards of music are linked to the emotions experienced while listening, and the increased pleasure while listening to music leads to increased emotional arousal (Salimpoore, 2009).
Music is rare in that it is one of the only stimuli that activates the brain's reward system without being necessary for survival or being associated with obtaining necessary stimuli. Listening to pleasurable music results in the activation of the autonomic nervous system, but more research must be done to finalize the conclusion that the strong emotions are rewards for listening to music.
Zatorre, R. J. (2015). Musical pleasure and reward: mechanisms and dysfunction. Annals of
the New York Academy of Sciences, 1337(1). https://doi-
org.dml.regis.edu/10.1111/nyas.12677
Salimpoore, V.N., Benovoy, M., Longo, G., Cooperstock, J.R., Zatorre, R.J. (2009). The
rewarding aspects of music listening are related to degree of emotional arousal. PLoS One, 4(10).
As soon as I read your title, I couldn't help but click on it because I am one of those people whose favorite things to do is listen to music. Your post got me thinking if different genres of music played different roles on how we feel. A study shows listening to self-select or classical music, after exposure to a stressor, significantly reduces negative emotional states and physiological arousal compared to listening to heavy metal music or sitting in silence. And now I am curious to see if listening to classical music would improve a student's performance in high stress situations like taking an exam.
ReplyDeleteLabbé, E., Schmidt, N., Babin, J., & Pharr, M. (2007). Coping with stress: the effectiveness of different types of music. Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback, 32(3-4), 163–168. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-007-9043-9
Hi Jamie!
ReplyDeleteI always wondered about this question too. There are so many humans in this planet, and we have so many different personalities, views, hobbies, etc. The one thing that can unite us is simply music. It's so crazy!
I just a blog post about how laughter therapy improves our quality of life by reducing our stress levels. Therefore, I wanted to see if there is such thing as music therapy. Fortunately, music therapy has the same effect. Music therapy can be used for individuals who have mental illness and disabilities (Davis et al., 2008). Ultimately, music boosts your quality of life, which is nice to know.
Reference
Davis, William B., Gfeller, Kate E., Thaut, Michael H. (2008). An Introduction to Music Therapy: Theory and Practice Third Edition. American Music Therapy Association.