How Music Can Change How People Feel And Act
According to Wikipedia, the first recorded instance of music was in 3400 BC in Syria. However, it’s almost impossible to separate songs from humans and our way of life. It’s quite possible that people were composing melodies, as far as 40,000 years ago.
This is easy to believe, babies start bashing their fists rhythmically at a few months of age, and go still and calm at the sound of mums hums and singing. A song isn’t just a series of melodic notes strung together; it has the power to bring on tears, calm, or wild dancing.
It really is a fascinating topic, so I decided to do some research and share some amazing information on the effect of music on the brain, and the way music changes the way we feel and act.
The Effect Of Music On The Brain
If we’re going to understand how music affects our actions and feelings, then we have to start with how it affects the brain. Melodies and harmonies affect the neurotransmitters in the brain.
According to this Nature Neuroscience article, and many other scientific studies, when we listen to music, the neurotransmitters in our brain release dopamine and serotonin. Each molecule has its own special functions.
Though there is still much work to be done to understand how these molecules and music affects the brain, there are some things that we already understand.
Dopamine
Dopamine is one of the molecules vital for the function of our brain’s pleasure-rewards system. Dopamine is also released when we learn a new skill. The release of dopamine in our brain acts the same way as giving our dog a treat works to reinforce their positive behaviour.
Dopamine is our reward to ourselves, giving our body a jolt of pleasure and joy when we learn a new skill, listen to a song, or eat a delicious meal. Dopamine is known as the motivator of molecules. When it is released, it inspires us to do things, and we’re excited to do something other than binge-watch our favourite shows.
The Spotify playlists’ that you’ve carefully made can motivate you to do the same thing again and again with little to no negative impact on the body. This is one of the effects of music on the brain.
Serotonin
Serotonin regulates our moods. When we listen to a song, serotonin is released, making us feel calmer and happier. This compound is the equivalent of putting our rose coloured glasses back on.
In this way, music improves our mood, giving us a more optimistic outlook on whatever we may be going through.
How Music Affects Our Actions
Our actions are governed by our brains too. The brain plays host to 100 billion neurons. When we think our thoughts pass an electrical signal between our neurons. In this way, our thoughts become actions too.
The brain helps out, creating easier connections for paths that have already been used before. I’ve always found it very interesting how I don’t understand or directly govern my body’s processes or emotions.
The only thing I govern entirely is my muscles, but I cannot demand that I don’t feel hungry, make myself feel awake when I am tired, or magically make myself not feel a loss or heartbreak and carry on without a shred of grief.
To some extent, it appears that music has more of an impact on these feelings than I can by myself. I can’t tell myself to feel happy, excited, or motivated. Still, when I’m strumming a guitar or whistling a song that’s stuck in my head, it acts as the key that unlocks the door to these emotions by releasing dopamine and serotonin.
In this way, the effect of music on the brain and the way we feel is quite amazing.
Advertising Music
Just like colours are used in advertising and packaging to evoke certain feelings to get consumers to buy a product – like red for excitement, blue for calm, or pink for romance, so too is music used to amplify the brand message in an advert and sell a brand, product, or service.
There are a few examples where music is used to reward players. Televised commercials that are played on Youtube, TV, and social media are an example. Still, other industries, like online gambling, also use music to encourage players to drop a few extra bucks.
Televised Commercials
When companies marketing teams select music for their adverts, they are setting the tone for product sales. It’s no mistake that choices of advertising music in TV and social media ads are often big hits, upbeat pop, inspiring rock, or heart-pumping electronic music.
Online Slot Games
One example of music use is the choice of music in online slot games. When players make a win, they get rewarded with an exciting sound, perhaps a jingle of coins, a loud cheering crowd, or a mood-elevating electronic guitar riff if you’re playing a slot that features that band.
If you want to find an online casino to play some of the slot games with the best sounds, CasinoCanada.com can help you. The team at CasinoCanada.com offers objective reviews on many Canadian online casinos and slot games.
“Don’t let the slot music fool you into believing you are winning it big,” says Michelle H. Thomas. She’s an expert on online gambling and is dedicated to helping players find safe and legitimate online casinos to gamble with.
She’s also one of the authors on the team at CasinoCanada.com.
Music That Makes You Think
Music isn’t only useful for selling products, improving our mood, and encouraging us to do specific actions again. Many people use music while they study and work to help themselves concentrate and think better.
This study even suggested that playing certain types of music in the classroom will increase a student’s ability to concentrate during a lesson. Doesn’t that make you think a bit more about how songs affect us and rethink your views on music?
Conclusion
I hope this article helped you to learn a bit more about the effect that music has on the brain and the way we feel and act. It will be really fascinating to see what new advancements in science tell us about the effect of music on the brain.
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