For a large part of the population, music plays an important role in our daily lives, whether at home or in our car, during a workout, or even when sleeping. For many, it also plays a notable role in their own culture and in the construction of their identity. Many studies have been carried out on how music, an abstract stimulus, influences the human body, obtaining great results.
For example, music has been proven to reduce anxiety and stress, help relieve pain, and improve sleep quality. Doctor in neuroscience Valorie N. Salimpoor has directed her research towards the interaction between music and the reward system of the human brain, reaching the conclusion that musical stimuli generate a reaction in the brain similar to that of drugs, therefore that it could be confirmed - to a lesser extent - that music is addictive.
The element in common between both is the sensation of pleasure that the individual obtains, which is given by neurochemical processes in the brain that release dopamine. This is a neurotransmitter that is secreted by the brain and is the most important within the central nervous system (CNS) of mammals. It affects various parts of the brain such as motor activity, cognitive functions, socialization and the reward system, the latter being the one that gives the individual a feeling of satisfaction.
Unlike other activities that require the action of dopamine secondarily, since there are other elements that are part of the process, the reward system is the term given to the various stimuli that this neurotransmitter communicates to the brain. in relation to decision making. This implies that when an action generates satisfaction or gives us some type of reward, dopamine levels increase and it is this variation that tells the brain that this action is pleasurable and that it should be repeated.
The system not only deals with pleasurable behaviors, but also reinforces behaviors essential for survival, such as drinking or sleeping, producing motivation in the individual. It is interesting to stop at the latter, since motivation is obtained indirectly, being the product of a pleasant situation. For example, a person's desire to travel again, because he found satisfaction at that time, motivates him to save. It is thanks to this reward system that music has been part of daily life for so long, since it generates pleasure and the brain itself asks to repeat the behavior.
As mentioned above, Dr. Salimpoor conducted a study to investigate whether music generated the same pleasure as any addiction and to do so she gathered a group of participants who were asked to bring their favorite songs. The analysis of the brain response while the stimulus was received was carried out in two parts: on the one hand, the dopamine levels were scanned using a tomography and on the other, all the psychophysiological responses of the human body were measured, such as the pulse. and breathing. After the study, the doctor came to the conclusion that this neurotransmitter was released in large quantities when feeling satisfaction while listening to the song.
However, it must be noted that this reward system is more complex, since all the information collected by dopamine has an essential function, which is to predict or anticipate what we will feel with a certain action or situation. In other words, the brain generates predictions that can then be reflected in dopamine levels. To explain it in a simple way, we will take the three possible situations that an individual can face, which can increase their dopamine level, but reflected at the level of music.
The first possible situation, experiencing a situation already experienced, can be translated into listening to a song again. Pleasure comes from anticipating a musical moment and then feeling satisfaction when listening to it; for example, a familiar phrase or chord. Because it is something known, dopamine levels rise when predicting the satisfaction you will feel after listening to the song. The second moment is similar to the previous one, but with a different result. In this case, dopamine neurons do not increase, but are depressed, because what was predicted did not happen. This leads to the individual not feeling pleasure and not remembering the experience to repeat it. In music, it can be seen reflected in the expectations that an individual feels for a new song by their favorite artist and in the disappointment they feel after it is not to their liking.
Lastly, what about brand new songs? How do you generate a prediction of something that is unknown? McGill University, located in Canada, has carried out a study in which they investigate what happens in our brain when listening to a piece of music for the first time and what leads the individual to want to buy it. To carry it out, the study participants received 60 unknown songs belonging to various musical genres. While they listened to the stimuli, real-time brain activity was analyzed using a fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanner that detected variations in dopamine levels. The result of the study showed that the situations that the reward system had previously stored as pleasurable were related to the auditory cortex, an area of the brain that collects information about all the sounds and music we hear, and it is from this interaction that prediction is born. This means that the mind takes all this information and compares it with the new melody, trying to anticipate how the next chords will develop. The individual reaches a feeling of pleasure when his or her expectations are met and, consequently, he or she ends up liking the song.
The human brain is a complex system that acts in a diverse way when faced with different stimuli from the outside. Some can cause harm, but others can bring pleasure and happiness. There are situations in which two totally different elements, such as music and drugs, are causal for the same response, and it is from this biological similarity that music is thought of as an addiction. However, the level of addiction that music generates in an individual is very mild, even milder than the need to eat, since an individual does not depend on music to survive, nor does it generate dependence.
Summary:
Music is part of the daily life of a large part of the population. When listening to a musical stimulus, a neurochemical process is unleashed in the brain that releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that tells the brain that this situation or action generates pleasure and that it should repeat. This process is similar to that produced by drugs and that is why it is believed that, to a lesser extent, music could be addictive.