Music is the fuel for the soul. It is always a delight to listen to good music when the mood is low. Now study has revealed that listening to music gives the same pleasure as one gets while having sex. You may be surprised at first but yes this is the truth. Listening to a favourite segment of music causes the brain to release Dopamine, the chemical which is also released while having sex, using drugs or having food of your choice.
The study by the researchers of the Mc Gill University have pointed out that Music triggers a specific brain activity. Further, the scans/ brain mapping of the individuals has shown that the ‘Pleasure Centre’ became active when they heard a song for the first time.
It triggers the release of Dopamine chemical which drives pleasure in Humans.
Under this study, the participants were made to listen to 60 unheard music excerpts and their fMRI (functional resonance imaging) were recorded. It was further asked as to how much they would pay for any of these in an open auction.
Dr Valorie Salimpoor summarized it as “When people listen to a piece of music they have never heard before, activity in one brain region can reliably and consistently predict whether they will like or buy it, this is the nucleus accumbens which is involved in forming expectations that may be rewarding.
The nucleus accumbens also interacts with the auditory cortex, the area responsible for storing information about the sounds and music we have been exposed to, according to the findings published in Science.
In other words, the brain send signals in the form of chemical activities of dopamine after listening to a piece of music which reinforces behaviors absolutely necessary for our survival – such as sex.
It has been told by Dr Robert Zatorre that music consists of a series of sounds that when considered alone have no inherent value, but when arranged together through patterns over time can act as a reward.
“The integrated activity of brain circuits involved in pattern recognition, prediction and emotion allow us to experience music as an aesthetic or intellectual reward..”
The brain activity in each participant was the same when they were listening to music they ended up buying. Though the pieces they chose to buy were all different.
It was elaborated that It’s the individual choices for music listening to which will give them pleasure levels same as achieved through other activities such as having sex or eating their favourite food.
So it means that listening to music also causes ‘chemical locha’ in our brain. Beware!!!:-)
