The Surprising Science Behind What Music Does To Our Brains

Written by StyleCraze  • 

What would life be without music? Nietzsche says that it would be a huge mistake, and most of us would agree. Imagine working, walking, jogging, dancing, watching movies, partying, talking, and all other pleasures of life without music. Sounds terrible, doesn’t it? We know that we need music, but what exactly goes on in our brain that processes this supreme art form and leaves us wanting for more?

1. Music Releases High Levels Of Dopamine – The Pleasure Chemical

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One thing that significantly differentiates us from animals is our unique response to music and its distinct effect on our brain. Music triggers the ‘nucleus accumbens’ area of the brain that, in effect, discharges dopamine in the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA). In this corridor of the reward system, we find dopamine – the chemical that gets activated when you experience what you love and keep wanting more. The same chemical arouses great pleasure when we are pleasantly surprised. That’s what happens when you discover a song you enjoy so much and end up playing it on repeat for days.
Get high on music and keep those dopamine levels up!

2. Be Happier And Perform Faster, Especially When Work Is Boring

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Music makes you more efficient in getting things done. The Journal of Neuroscience of Behavior and Physiology published a study to reveal the improved capability of people to process visual information in the presence of music as opposed to without music. Another instance showed the pleasure and competence displayed by assembly line workers when they could work with music on.
Got a boring task to finish? Put on your headphones and get it over with quickly and happily.

3. Stay Error-Free While Doing Work You Love

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Even the most complicated task can be performed better if you enjoy your work and have some tunes playing in the background. Research shows that doctors performed challenging surgeries with more precision and without much error while they were listening to the background music of their choice. You may be an expert and love what you do, but try solving a challenging problem with a background score, and see how fun and rewarding it can be.

Do what you love with some beats and be sure to get a whole lot of success.

4. Tunes Help You Express

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When we engage in music improvisations, either as musicians or singers, we undergo an important physiological transformation. Studies found that this change in our brain’s functionality is a result of the activation of the region that is responsible for creativity and expression while the area that houses the activities of observation and self-regulation switches off.

Keep that creative expression alive and loud.

5. Music Affects Our Emotional Response

We have always known that music affects our mood, and research convincingly proves our brain’s varying responses to different pieces of music. A study published in Neuroscience Letters found that when individuals were exposed to music stimuli, they processed neutral faces presented before them with a sense of perceived happiness or sadness.

In another context, studies found that music elicits two kinds of emotional response – one that is perceived and another that is felt. Occasionally, we are able to comprehend the emotional content present in music without actually feeling anything. This explains the reasons behind our ability to take pleasure in sad music. It is because we don’t feel threatened by the mere act of listening, and hence can enjoy what could potentially make us feel gloomy.

Have you experienced any other effects of music? Do let us know in the comments section below.

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