Sound and music: choosing what you hear

A song can comfort, distract, move or unsettle you. Sometimes you notice immediately; sometimes only when the music stops. What feels helpful depends on taste, memories, mood and the situation in which you listen.

Music and reward

In 2011, Salimpoor and colleagues studied eight people who reliably experienced chills with particular music. PET measurements provided evidence of dopamine release in the striatum during intense musical pleasure. Additional fMRI measurements helped compare activity around anticipation and peak pleasure.

This tells us something about musical experience in a small selected group. It does not mean every song releases the same amount of a chemical in everyone. fMRI also measures changes in blood flow as an indirect measure of activity; it does not itself measure dopamine release.

Anticipation and surprise

Music contains patterns. You anticipate a chord, a pause or a chorus. Research by Salimpoor and later by Cheung and colleagues describes relationships between such expectations, surprise and enjoyment. Familiarity and musical background also matter.

Mallik, Chanda and Levitin studied musical experience with naltrexone, which blocks opioid receptors. Their findings point to the involvement of the opioid system. They do not establish a complete division in which dopamine only controls wanting and opioids only control pleasure.

Rhythm and the body

In rhythm research, brain activity can relate to the beat a listener hears. Studies by Bernardi and colleagues also found differences in breathing and heart rate across musical tempi and pauses. These are group findings under study conditions.

Your response may differ. Fast music may feel helpful while tidying, and slow music may bring back an unpleasant memory. Genre or tempo alone therefore does not tell you whether something will be relaxing for you.

Sad music

Sad music can offer recognition, comfort or beauty. Researchers including Garrido, Schubert and Sachs also describe how mood, motivation and a tendency to ruminate affect the experience. Some listeners feel lower afterwards; others feel supported.

Pay attention to what you notice. Do you keep replaying old conversations after the same playlist? Or does it help you acknowledge sadness and then continue with your day? The radio in the prologue provides an example for asking that question. We did not measure that person’s brain processes and cannot explain the sequence biologically.

Binaural beats and special frequencies

With binaural beats, each ear receives a slightly different pitch, which can create the experience of a pulsing beat. Research on attention and anxiety has mixed findings. A meta-analysis by Garcia-Argibay and colleagues found indications of effects, with differences between studies and limits to the evidence.

Claims that 528 Hz repairs DNA, or that one frequency produces love or health, lack reliable clinical support. If you enjoy such music, you can listen without accepting that explanation. Expectation and a quiet listening moment may also contribute; their role has not been established for every listener.

A listening experiment

Choose an ordinary activity, such as cooking after work. Consider what you want to support: attention, rest, some energy or company. Try a few minutes of music, another sound or silence at a comfortable volume. Note the experience and what you do afterwards. Try a different choice another day.

You do not have to reach a particular feeling. Stop or change the sound when it is uncomfortable. This is not a controlled experiment because your days differ. It can still help you build a selection of choices that suit you.