The Brain on Music

Psychology of Music Music is a form of art that utilizes sound and silence. People listen to music every day as a means of filling in silence or passing time. It may seem as though music and science exist in two separate planes; one of beauty and emotions, and the other of logic and reason. In recent years however, studies have found that music has a profound effect on the mind and human psychology. Music affects many different areas of the brain, and plays a vital role brain function as well as our lives. Music exists in every culture, and seems to be a part of much of our biological heritage. Previous texts on music and emotion have focused on the emotional responses of an individual when he or she was exposed to music; however it is much more that that; it can be seen as a very social attribute to our humanity. Consider social events such as weddings, birthdays, and graduations, as well as social settings such as clubs, pubs, and festivals. The influence of a social setting on the emotional responses to music needs to be considered. Research has largely ignored the influence of social factors on emotions, which is unfortunate because music is associated with many social aspects of everyday life. Empirical studies show support for a social bonding hypothesis, in which joint musical activities can improve pro-social and cooperative behavior. Music also heavily influences the fluctuation of human emotions. Emotions, according to Scherer’s Component Process Model (2004), are triggered by a cognitive evaluation process that possesses three components: physiological arousal, motor expression, and subjective feelings. We can usually sense the tone of a piece of music, note if it is particularly happy or sad. This is not just a subjective idea that comes from how music makes us ‘feel’; our brains actually respond differently to ‘happy’ and ‘sad’ music. A study conducted by Nidhya Logeswaran and Joydeep Bhattacharya of the University of London (2009) showed that

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