The Effect of Music on the Brain

By: Devika and Lynus

Vetted by Dr. Reena

Music is one of the simplest, most common forms of entertainment in today’s day and age. However, what most people fail to realise is the vast effect that it has on the human brain. Scientific research has proven that the brain significantly responds to music in various ways and that music aids in alleviating psychological complaints such as anxiety and depression. Music has also shown to have impacts on the brain that alter our social connections.

Brain’s Biological Response to Music

One of the few initial reactions that the brain has, when music is interpreted in the brain, is the activation of pleasure centres that secrete dopamine, a neurotransmitter that brings about the emotion of happiness. This reaction is so instant that the brain can even expect the most enjoyable highs in familiar music and prepare itself with an early dopamine rush (UAGC, 2021).

The nucleus accumbens secretes dopamine and is in charge of pleasure and reward, and it is said that music heightens the secretion of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens almost similar to that of the effects of cocaine (Pegasus, 2019). The amygdala interprets and triggers emotions and thus listening to music activates the amygdala and can control one’s fears, making you ready to fight and may also increase one’s pleasure. For example, when one feels shivers down their spine, that is a sign of the amygdala being triggered. Next is the hippocampus, known as the central processing unit of the brain and is responsible for producing and retrieving memories and regulating emotional responses. Music aids in increasing neurogenesis in the hippocampus, paving way for more neurons and enhancing memory. Lastly, the hypothalamus links the endocrine and nervous systems and secretes essential hormones to regulate basic necessary functions namely thirst, mood and sleep. In the context of music, if one plays Mozart, it is said that the heart rate and blood pressure will decrease and these are looked over by the hypothalamus (Pegasus, 2019).

Psychological Benefits

Music has multiple psychological benefits such as improving one’s mood, decreasing anxiety and depression and managing stress (Adler, 2020). One of the ways that this is achieved is through music therapy. Music therapy is defined as the clinical and evidence-based use of music to achieve personal goals alongside a professional who has the necessary qualifications to facilitate music therapy (American Music Therapy Association, 2005).

Music helps to trigger pleasure and already stressed individuals can benefit from music’s calming and de-stressing qualities to destress at a faster rate. When listening to music, the reward-centre of the brain is activated, releasing dopamine, a neurotransmitter for reward and motivation. People with anxiety are also known to have higher levels of cortisol which is the main hormone related to stress and the fight or flight response. Music therapy, which is correlated with reductions in cortisol, is seen as a solution to calm the nervous system. A research with 79 participants aged 18 to 50 who were diagnosed with depression were studied to see if music therapy is significant in reducing depression levels. It concluded that participants that attended the music therapy sessions saw major improvement in their depressive tendencies just after 3 months as compared to the participants who did not attend music therapy (Erkkilä et al., 2018).

Influence on Brain and Social Connections

Besides being pleasurable on an individual scale, music aids in the achievement and maintenance of pleasure by improving social bonds. By presenting avenues for individuals to congregate and interact in the production and enjoyment of music, music serves as a catalyst for social connections, cooperation and empathy to be developed.

Similarities over music taste

As with many things in life, individuals have distinct taste and preferences in music as well. Similarities in music taste and production act as fuel in the formation and strengthening of social bonds. Similarities can be further subdivided into two groups, one being perceived likeness, and the other being actual similarities.

Regardless of the type and combination of similarities, individuals who share similarities over music would instantly appreciate the company of the other. One motivating reason behind people’s attraction to others over shared musical preferences can be explained by Aron and Aron’s (1986) model of self-expansion. The model posits that relationships are started and developed for the purposes of including others into one’s life, and subsequently inter-share resources for the purposes of comfort and self fulfillment. As such, individuals who share similar preferences, such as the consumption and production of music, experience a greater and higher level of motivation to start and maintain relationships with other like minded individuals.

Music also aids in the formation and strengthening of social bonds in a more indirect and subtle way. Individuals meet and interact with only a small fraction of the population, and the duration and quality of such interactions are often influenced by an undercurrent of circumstances, one of which being one’s interests and personality. Fans of particular music groups would statistically be likely to interact, and interact to a high quality, at respective music events. Additional opportunities for interaction over shared music interests are presented over more ‘every-day’ interactions, such as tell-tale signs of music preferences, and chatter over such music.

Correlations between personality traits, assessed using the Five-Factor Model, and music preferences support the growth in quality and quantity of social interactions, where music serves as an intermediary. Greenberg et al’s 2022 study, with data collected between 2003 to 2010 and 2015 to 2017, on the correlations between personality traits and music preference across 53 countries found that more extraverted people generally preferred contemporary genres of music, while highly open people preferred sophisticated styles of music.

The subjectivity of music

Besides increasing social bonding by offering an additional avenue for interactions to blossom, music also facilitates social cooperation by presenting opportunities for people to empathise for others, self-reflect, and engage in group processes of interaction and understanding.

To producers of music, music offers an environment for music creators, composers or instrument players, to interact, collaborate, reach consensus and understandings. The process of music creation and sharing involves the vital role of empathy, vulnerability and acceptance. The potential of music to instil and develop one’s empathy is supported by Rabinowitch et al.’s (2013) study on children, which found that children who participated in grouped music sessions were more empathetic by the end of the sessions, relative to themselves pre-music session and the control group.

To listeners of music, music encourages one to conceive the meanings, moods and processes the music producers had while producing the music. Even if one does not like certain works of music, exploring why and empathising with others who like such music helps to develop mutual understanding and acceptance for people who have alternative ideas.

References

Adler, S. E. (2020, June 30). Positive effects of music for Mental Health. AARP. Retrieved from https://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/info-2020/music-mental-health.html

American Music Therapy Association. What is Music Therapy? | What is Music Therapy? | American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.musictherapy.org/about/musictherapy/

Erkkilä, J., Punkanen, M., Fachner, J., Ala-Ruona, E., Pöntiö, I., Tervaniemi, M., Vanhala, M., & Gold, C. (2018, January 2). Individual music therapy for depression: Randomised controlled trial: The British Journal of Psychiatry. Cambridge Core. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/individual-music-therapy-for-depression-randomised-controlled-trial/A1CD72904929CECCB956F4F3B09605AF

Greenberg, D. M., Wride, S. J., Snowden, D. A., Spathis, D., Potter, J., & Rentfrow, P. J. (2022). Universals and variations in musical preferences: A study of preferential reactions to Western music in 53 countries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 122(2), 286–309. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000397

Pegasus. (2019, October 30). Music and the brain: What happens when you're listening to music. Pegasus Magazine. https://www.ucf.edu/pegasus/your-brain-on-music/

Rabinowitch, T.-C., Cross, I., & Burnard, P. (2013). Long-term musical group interaction has a positive influence on empathy in children. Psychology of Music, 41(4), 484–498. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735612440609

Schlechter, P., Hellmann, J. H., & Morina, N. (2022). Self-discrepancy, depression, anxiety, and psychological well-being: The role of affective style and self-efficacy. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 46(6), 1075–1086. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-022-10314-z