Music has been known to affect a person’s psychology in many ways and there have been various researches done by expert researchers over the years to understand the psychology of music. These researchers mainly focused on studying the effects of certain sounds and tunes on the human brain and how these sounds are capable of altering the person’s mood, memory and other physical and psychological sensations.
Music is a form of art which is created using various sounds, tunes and beats and is inherent to every culture and language in this world. Humans are known to have a predilection to sound with certain parts of our brain that focus on audio-triggered responses. When sound in the form of music reaches the brain, these responses are heightened and this has certain effects on human psychology. To understand these effects and the response of the brain to music many studies have been conducted in an effort to analyse the psychology of music and use music as a form of therapy to get better and improved results.
Through this article we will try to understand the psychology of music by looking into the way our brain reacts to music and understand how well music can work as a therapy to treat psychologically affected individuals.
How does our brain react to music?
The human brain often reacts differently to simple and complex sounds and when these sounds are produced continuously at different decibels they often result in creating noise which affects our brains ability to single out sounds. Music, however, is a combination of both simple and complex sounds that are arranged in a particular manner using tunes and beats with the help of different vocals and instruments. The human brain is capable of singling out these instruments and vocals while also recognising the music tunes, chords, lyrics and having a physical reaction to these sounds all at the same time which is brought about by different sections of the brain working together to analyse and respond to these complex sounds, which are presented in the form of music.
It has been found that one of the first things that music does when it enters our brain is activate the pleasure centres that release a neurotransmitter—dopamine, which makes you feel happy. When you are familiar with a music track and love the tunes produced, this reaction is even faster and the brain gives an early dopamine rush by recognising the most pleasurable tunes.
Although pleasure is the first response that your brain gives to music, it is not the only response as there has been valid evidence that music goes way beyond just making you feel happy. Continued exposure to music is believed to increase the grey matter and works just like the way physical exercise works to tone the muscles. The five main regions in the human brain that respond the most to music and have the most effects on the listener are—temporal lobe, amygdala, frontal lobe, cerebellum and hippocampus. All these areas have different responses to music and thus produce different effects.
The temporal lobe and the different areas present here analyse the song and allows us to understand the lyrics of the song through one of the most important functions of the temporal lobe, which is language comprehension. The wernicke’s and broca’s areas work together to analyse the lyrics that we hear and enables us to form words ourselves so that we can sing to the lyrics. The amygdala which is a part of the frontal lobe is responsible for “fight or flight” response which enables us to react quickly to certain sounds or actions. This area is also responsible for making us smile when we hear the music we love. Through the amygdala, music of different genres triggers different emotional responses from the brain.
As the frontal lobe is mainly responsible for critical thinking and planning, the effects of music on this part of the brain are yet to be completely studied. However, with all the little study that is available, we can say that the frontal lobe is where we decide what our favourite genre is and what songs we like the best. So, it can be said that the frontal lobe is where our response to certain songs or music is decided.
When it is said that our brain responses make it possible for us to groove to our favourite music, what we are specifically talking about is the cerebellum. This is the area of the brain that enables us to physically react to our favourite music. Not only that but learning of instruments is also mainly dependent on the cerebellum. So, when you are learning a new music instrument like the piano or the guitar, you are basically training your cerebellum, which then responds by giving you the ability to hit the right notes.
While cerebellum is responsible for producing physical responses, the hippocampus is responsible for storing information as the memory center of the brain. Whenever you hear a track which has been your favourite for a long time or a track that you relate to a certain emotional situation, the hippocampus triggers an emotional response on hearing that particular track. This also plays an important role in stimulating one’s long term and short term memory. The repetitive nature of music activates short term memories while simultaneously developing long term memories. For example, if you listen to a track while doing a particular activity like cooking or dressing up; you tend to remember that exact same activity on hearing that particular track again no matter how much time has passed in between.
How is music—A therapy?
Given the various effects of music on the brain and the different responses created by music, many experts have considered music to be one of the great forms of therapies that are available out there. Music therapy has been found to be helpful for individuals with all kinds of psychological traumas or negative life experiences.
While it is scientifically known that various kinds of trauma lead to brain atrophy and may hamper some of the brain’s function, it is now believed that music can help tackle this problem by creating compensatory pathways to make up for the loss which has been caused by the trauma. With this knowledge, many psychologists and psychotherapists have been using music as a form of therapy for their patients with all sorts of psychological problems like anxiety, depression, trauma and many more.
The positive brain reaction to music and relevant evidence which suggests that it works towards relieving most individuals of their negative thoughts and improving their brain responses and functions, music has been increasingly used as a form of therapy to give strength to individuals going through a rough patch in their life, both psychologically or physically. Music therapy has also been found helpful in giving strength to patients undergoing difficult surgeries or chemotherapy.
Along with all the other brain reactions to music, the most primary and important one is that it makes you happy which is always the first step towards leading a mentally and physically positive and healthy life.
Understanding the Psychology of Music
As we have already discussed above, the psychology of music is to understand the way the brain reacts to different music and what triggers these responses. But out of all the complicated and complex reactions that may be involved in the brain’s response to music, the most important and core response is that music triggers your pleasure center and it makes you happy. This probably is the main reason why the music is so psychologically stimulating that it has been used as a form of therapy.
Listening to music triggers the same centers in your brain which are triggered on eating your favourite dish, watching your favourite show, meeting your favourite person or even exercising. These are all the activities that get you excited and leave you feeling good and positive. By having the same effect, music therapy works towards healing individuals with anxiety, depression, loneliness and psychological trauma. As music has been found to trigger the release of Dopamine, music therapy is also very helpful in cases of Parkinson’s disorder and epilepsy.
So to conclude, understanding the psychology of music is to understand the effects music has on the human brain and how these effects turn into responses that are helpful in healing the person of their ailment. The psychology of music also includes understanding how this music therapy can be included in a person’s mental health routine in a way that it would reap the most benefits.
