Music Releases Pleasure Brain Chemical, Dopamine: 'What A Rush!' [View all]

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- BBC News, "Music 'Releases Mood-Enhancing Chemical In The Brain," Jan. 9, 2011. Music releases a chemical in the brain that has a key role in setting good moods, a study has suggested. The study, reported in Nature Neuroscience, found that the chemical was released at moments of peak enjoyment. Researchers from McGill University in Montreal said it was the first time that the chemical - called dopamine - had been tested in response to music.

Dopamine increases in response to other stimuli such as food and money. It is known to produce a feel-good state in response to certain tangible stimulants - from eating sweets to taking cocaine. Dopamine is also associated with less tangible stimuli - such as being in love. In this study, levels of dopamine were found to be up to 9% higher when volunteers were listening to music they enjoyed.

The report authors say it's significant in proving that humans obtain pleasure from music - an abstract reward - that is comparable with the pleasure obtained from more basic biological stimuli. Music psychologist, Dr Vicky Williamson from Goldsmiths College, University of London welcomed the paper. She said the research didn't answer why music was so important to humans - but proved that it was.

*What is dopamine? Dopamine is a common neurotransmitter in the brain. It is released in response to rewarding human activity and is linked to reinforcement and motivation - these include activities that are biologically significant such as eating and sex. Read More, https://www.bbc.com/news/health-12135590
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- MORE: Psychology Today, Jan. 23, 2019. "One Neurotransmitter May Alter the Music You Like or Dislike." Dopamine modulates both pleasurable feelings and disinterest in specific songs. Yesterday, an international team of researchers published a new paper, “Dopamine Modulates the Reward Experiences Elicited by Music,” in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This study helps to explain why music listening, singing, and playing can be such a pleasurable experience. The research also shows why some songs fail to elicit hedonic feelings.

This dopamine-based study was led by first author Laura Ferreri. As the authors explain, “The question addressed here is to what extent dopaminergic transmission plays a direct role in the reward experience (both motivational and hedonic) induced by music. We report that pharmacological manipulation of dopamine modulates musical responses in both positive and negative directions, thus showing that dopamine causally mediates musical reward experience.” Read More,
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201901/one-neurotransmitter-may-alter-the-music-you-or-dislike