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[Music plays] Did Pavarotti finishing Nessun Dorma give you chills? If so, you can thank the molecule dopamine for those shudders of delight. Because a new study shows that musical thrills stem from the same brain chemistry responsible for the joys of food, sex and other more tangible rewards. The work appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience. [Valorie Salimpoor et al, Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music]
Many of the activities that give us pleasure are things that we, as a species, need to survive, like the aforementioned eating and mating. But what about more esoteric enjoyment, from evocative music or other works of art? Do they tickle the brain the same way?
To find out, scientists recruited subjects who reliably gets shivers when they listen to an affecting score. These chills are a more consistent, in-the-moment measure of pleasure than asking subjects to describe what they’re feeling.
The scientists then used brain imaging techniques to find that dopamine peaks along with emotional arousal. Such induced dopamine release could explain why people put a high value on some music. And why music can manipulate our emotions.
—Karen Hopkin
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
Scientific American is part of the Nature Publishing Group
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6 Comments
Add CommentSo when are we making music illegal?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisvery interesting!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisso, could we use this methods as a conducting treatment for Parkinson's Diseas cases?
I know Musical Therapy(MT) use music to threat Parkinson. But seems that method only based on rhythm or beat
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThanks for your suggestions!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYes, you remind of my knowledge
In clinic, we do actually musical therapy by different tempo and visual feedback to treat that kinda patient.
But, not really like chill type.
In addition, the outcome looks progressive on those cases.
I happened to have recently experienced a shudder from that silly, momentary feeling of fear and dread you might have experienced walking past a graveyard at midnight on Halloween, for example. I wonder - is this also the result of a dopamine release? The experience hardly seems pleasurable to me, although I understand that many people enjoy horror movies...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wonder if this is why there's a correlation between substance abuse and musicians. Maybe dopamine-lovers are drawn to the music like they are drawn to drugs and alcohol.
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