Have you ever been listening to a song and suddenly felt a wave of chills wash over you, your skin flooded with goosebumps? It’s a powerful, almost overwhelming feeling that many music lovers experience. The experience of music for various people is entirely subjective. There are pieces of music that could make the hairs on your back stand on end, evoke an intense physical response – but what’s actually going on in your brain and body when music warrants such a visceral response?
Music: More Than Just Sound
Humans have a deep and enduring relationship with music. As the science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke noted, our affinity for music might even seem strange to an outside observer. We dedicate countless hours to listening to sequences of tones that, on the surface, serve no obvious practical purpose – Music is not necessary for humans for any natural function, it is not an imperative tool for our existence. Yet, some people would say they cannot live without music. Humans consistently rank music high amongst the things that bring us the most pleasure, even surpassing material comforts like money or food.
Charles Darwin himself was perplexed by our musicality, stating that our enjoyment and capacity to produce musical notes are not of the least use in reference to our daily habits of life. Music can elicit the most varying of emotional responses – from instilling crippling terror to incredible levels of ecstasy in an individual. This begs the question, why did humans evolve to respond so strongly to music?
Read More: 5 Dark Psychology Tricks Often Used in Dating, According to a Therapist
The Evolutionary Roots of Music and Pleasure
Theories abound, ranging from the idea that music played a role in mate selection to the notion that it served as a pre-linguistic form of communication. Some researchers suggest that music may not be a direct adaptation but rather a byproduct of other cognitive developments, such as language. Others propose that music simply “pushes our pleasure buttons”.
Interestingly, our closest evolutionary relatives don’t share our passion for organized pitch and rhythm. While some bird species can and do emit “musical” sounds naturally (such as mating calls or bird whistles), little evidence is available that they respond to music in the same way humans do. Other primates may create rhythmic sounds as part of mating calls, or naturally; their response to music and its complexity is unlike that of humans, making humans’ invested interest in music a particularly baffling and fascinating one.
Your Brain on Music: A Symphony of Activity
To understand why music gives us goosebumps, we need to delve into the brain. Neuroimaging studies have revealed that listening to music activates a wide network of brain regions, including those involved in auditory processing, emotion, and reward. In Psychology of Music, Sloboda reports that in a questionnaire, answered by 83 music listeners, roughly 80% of those who filled it in, stated that they experienced “music chills” – Physical reactions such as goosebumps, a lump in the throat, tears and even laughter.
Read More: How 13 Key Proteins Impact Brain Aging at Specific Ages
Individual Differences: Why Some Get Chills and Others Don’t
Not everyone experiences goosebumps from music, and the intensity of the response can vary greatly from person to person. Several factors may contribute to these individual differences. A study on the correlation between personality and “chills” found that people who are more open to new experiences and have a greater capacity for emotional absorption are more likely to experience chills from music.
Musicians, or those who show greater aptitude for music, have a refined ability to perceive and appreciate the nuances of music, which leads them to have a deeper connection to music and ultimately exhibit strong emotional responses to pieces of music. Musical preferences and emotional associations are shaped by our cultural experiences. Have you ever listened to a piece of music that floods you with a sense of nostalgia? Maybe hearing your country’s national anthem elicits a response of patriotism and pride in you.
Your mood acts as a filter; if you’re already sad, a melancholic song might resonate more deeply, amplifying the emotional response and potentially triggering goosebumps. For instance, a breakup song might give you chills after a difficult day. Individual factors that are important to consider in eliciting musical pleasure are age, musical acculturation, personality, and musical training.
The waltz of neurons: What Happens in Your Brain?
Researchers collected data from a sample size of 20 post-secondary studies in a study published in Social Cognitive And Affective Neuroscience. 10 students, out of the study, admitted to getting goosebumps while listening to music. Brain scans were performed on each person and revealed that those who felt goosebumps while listening to music had a higher density of fibres between their auditory cortex and parts of the brain related to emotional response.
Essentially, those who experienced goosebumps while listening to music seem to have a stronger connection between those two parts of the brain, meaning that the audio had a greater impact on both emotional and physical. Enjoyable music activates the auditory cortex, reward system (dopamine release in the striatum), and emotional centers (amygdala/hippocampus). This triggers the autonomic nervous system, leading to an acceleration of heart rate and respiration, reminiscent of the “fight or flight” or better known as goosebumps, a physical manifestation of intense emotional arousal. Your pupils dilate, knees weak, arms heavy (but hopefully no vomit on your sweater already, if at all)
In Conclusion
The neurological basis for music-induced goosebumps involves an interplay of brain regions: enjoyable music activates the auditory cortex, reward system (with dopamine release), emotional centers and ultimately triggers the autonomic nervous system. Individual differences in musical preferences, shaped by factors like age, culture, and training, as well as moment-to-moment mood and emotional state, determine the intensity and likelihood of experiencing goosebumps. Revel in the fact, as a species, music has no bearing on our existence yet some of us cannot live without music.
Read More: Scientists Use Matrix-Inspired Learning to ‘Write’ Skills into the Human Brain Without Surgery