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Title: What is the evolutionary purpose behind music? Post by: psyche360 on Oct 27, 2017 Has music ever been an evolutionary force for selection? Why did we all evolve to like it?
Title: Re: What is the evolutionary purpose behind music? Post by: cloveb on Nov 16, 2017 A 2001 study was conducted by researchers at McGill University in Canada used brain scans to study the neural mechanics of the goosebumps that great music can sometimes induce. The researchers used a combination of PET (positron emission tomography) and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imagining) techniques to scan the brains of 8 participants as they listened to music over the course of three sessions.
The PET scan showed the researchers that dopamine was released in the striatum during peak moments of emotional arousal when listening to the music. The fMRI scan helped show a distinct difference in timing and structures involved--the caudate was active when anticipating the peak emotional arousal and the nucleus accumbens was more involved when actually experiencing the peak emotion. Blood flow in the brain rises and falls to swells of music in areas associated with reward, emotion and arousal. so when we listen to music, our brain reacts in distinct and specific ways to release the "feel good" chemical dopamine. Ref: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-musical-self/201101/why-music-listening-makes-us-feel-good https://www.livescience.com/32473-why-do-we-love-music.html |