We may all know what it is like to experience some kind of euphoria, but what about a euphoria caused by listening to good music? Artists like Jennifer Hudson, Kendrick Lamar and Andra Day put us in this mind state that alters our reality for the better while sending chills down our spines. Most of us would know this psychological state of mind as a musical euphoria, which is created by exciting tunes providing a sense of intense emotional pleasure and excitement.
Although we use this term, you tend to wonder if one can really get a cognitive high from just listening to music without any induced states. McGill University answered this question in its study, "Anatomically Distinct Dopamine Release during Anticipation and Experience of Peak Emotion to Music." I conducted an experiment of my own time to test this theory.
McGill utilized several brain-scanning technologies, such as a positron emission tomography machine and a functioning magnetic resonance imaging machine in order to determine whether or not the effects of listening to music would correlate with the effects of other activities such as drug activity, sex and eating food.
These machines detected any difference in brain activity as well. Surprisingly enough, the results depicted that our brains use the same neurotransmitter when listening to music that it uses for sexual pleasure and eating food.
Dopamine is the trigger of our alternating realities. This neurotransmitter is released throughout the mesolimbic reward system, which consists of both the dorsal and ventral striatum, creating the music euphoria. During the release of dopamine, the body endures an increase in heart rate, respiration and electrodermal activity, also known as “the chills.” The final conclusion was that dopamine is released during the anticipation of listening to the song, as opposed to the release being due to the song itself.
With this information, I took it upon myself to conduct my own experiment testing out McGill University’s conclusion by providing two different songs for my roommate, Alexis, to listen to. I then measured her resting heart rate and asked where she felt the most excitement when listening to Big Sean’s “Paradise" and Andra Day’s cover, “Hello."
Fortunately, McGill University’s theory was posed to be true. Alexis’ heart rate increased 20 beats per minute during the Big Sean song and only 10 beats per minute during the Andra Day song. During the survey portion of the experiment, she stated that her most built-up excitement occurred during the slower part of the Big Sean song right before his uptempo verse. She also stated that she felt the most excitement during the high notes in the song and the gradual build up of vocal volume in Andra Day’s song. Both of these conclusions were due to the fact that Alexis was unaware as to what was going to happen next, or simply, the anticipation.
Next time you put on your headphones to pump some tunes through your psychological airwaves, think about getting lost in the music and the music euphoria you engage in.
