Human emotions have always been linked to sound and music, as a form of communication and a survival tool, using specific sounds to prevent a dangerous situation. More than 30,000 years ago, man used instruments made of bones to express himself emotionally during his different rituals and dances. However, from that moment to the present, the brain has been evolving and during this process the individual's relationship with music has become increasingly closer. This musical stimulus is now a fundamental piece in daily life, to such an extent that it is capable of altering the emotional state as well as creating behavioral patterns of the human being. It also helps release tension and evoke memories.
But why are sounds so related to emotions? Thanks to the fact that both share the same region of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, emotions have the job of transforming the sounds that an individual perceives into something understandable and known. This association allows us to understand the context in which we are, to be able to react according to what we experience. For example, it can be detected that police sirens are a warning signal that a dangerous situation is happening in the vicinity.
The same goes for music, since it is a sound and uses the same region of the brain along with emotions. Listening to happy songs stimulates the production of neurotransmitters (dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin), which have the fundamental role of being responsible for the transmission of information between neurons and also increase the listener's happiness and optimism. The individual will be more predisposed to action, to be more creative, to finish or start projects and mainly to use their own resources more effectively.
On the other hand, if you are sad or depressed, and that is why you choose to listen to songs that accompany these emotions, it will be very difficult to carry out any action. The physiological changes are totally different from those previously mentioned, because the heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and brain activity decrease.
Music is related to emotional intelligence, this being the ability of individuals to recognize their own emotions as well as those of the people in their environment and to be able to adapt them to their context. One of the skills that music develops and that is related to this type of intelligence is empathy, that is, the ability of a person to put themselves in the place of another and try to understand or imitate their feelings. This development occurs because the musical stimulus activates the areas of the brain where the mirror neurons are located, which are the ones that play the role of reflecting the intentions and actions of other individuals as if they were their own. It is thanks to them that human beings can share emotions such as joy and pain with their environment and in this way create emotional social bonds, much stronger than any other.
Another function that music has is to calm disturbed emotions and moods, such as fear, in individuals. This happens thanks to the constant rhythm and harmony that generate tranquility and calm. This is why lullabies are sung to children, since the stable and constant sound causes the heartbeat to decrease, causing the infant to fall asleep.
Due to the stimulating influence that music has on the two hemispheres of the brain, various research has been carried out to understand its emotional structure through it. Professor Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis, who teaches at Princeton University where she is also director of the Music Cognition Laboratory, has taken the influence of music on cognitive science as the focus of her studies. His research is based on various theoretical methods, as well as the analysis of brain behaviors through functional neuroimaging. In his book “On Repeat: How Music Plays in the Mind,” he explains why different individuals like different songs. She claims that 90% of the music we listen to is made up of melodies we already knew, so the songs that become our favorites we had already heard at some point. This feeling of “known terrain” is what causes individuals' favorite songs to generate joy and tranquility. But this repetition does not only refer to the number of times we listen to a melody, but it is also important that it has a repetitive structure with few elements and this is why songs have choruses and repeat words or phrases.
However, not all repetitive songs have the same effect on all people, because other elements that are associated with a specific song come into play. There are studies that show that memories have a great weight in the songs that the individual chooses, but also in the different emotions that each one awakens. Each person keeps a personal musical story that relates the songs to the most important moments in which they were heard. For example, the song from the first dance as husband and wife at a wedding or the music played during a graduation. When listening to it, these memories are revived, producing emotions such as joy, sadness and nostalgia.
Because music helps evoke sensations, making sensory descriptions easier, cinema uses soundtracks as a main tool in many films. The best-known genre that uses this element is musical comedies, which use it as a means for the character to express their emotions. However, instrumental music accompanies all types of scenes, such as battles, romantic scenes, deaths, moments of tension, etc. Many times viewers do not pay attention to it or do not realize it is there, but from the background it influences the cinematographic experience.
Summary:
Music accompanies human beings at all times, which is why it ends up becoming the soundtrack of their own lives. Because music and emotions share and activate the same part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, every song awakens feelings. Either because it revives a memory or accompanies what the individual feels at a specific moment.