It is more or less easy to predict what type of movies will please the majority of the public, and it is not difficult to do the same with books or video games.
However, with music it seems that this does not happen so much: we all have pieces of music in mind that, despite the fact that they are nothing like what we usually prefer to listen to, capture us. That is why it is curious that the Favorite songs in all their variety and whatever they are, produce a similar effect on the brain of those who listen to them.
In fact, music can define, in a certain way, how we are and how we think, as we saw in the articles:
Music and memory
Thanks to brain activity monitoring systems, today we know a little more about what happens in our nervous system when we listen to songs we like. The results show typical activation patterns and that are repeated every time you go through that experience.
The genre or duration practically does not matter : The music we find enjoyable has certain and relatively predictable effects on our body’s patterns of neural activity.
What happens in our brain when we listen to our favorite music?
Specific, strong electrical connections are established between the auditory areas of the brain and the hippocampus , a part related to memory and emotionality. That means that the neural processes that a fan of Turboblack They are very similar to those that occur in the head of a fan of Chopin when both are listening to what they like, no matter how different the vibrations that reach their eardrums may be.
The finding would also help explain why completely different pieces of music can trigger very similar emotional states in different people and the role of music in recalling memories. In addition, it is further proof of how closely related memories and emotions are when recovering them.
However, the fundamental thing about the study is that it shows how our brain is capable of turning any series of sound stimuli around to awaken moods that are somewhat unpredictable, related to the listener’s musical taste. In this sense, it has also been seen that we are capable of making music pleasant by identifying with what we hear, relating it to our memories and thus helping to give them a satisfactory meaning or use it to better regulate our emotions
Different stimuli, same result
Of course, every moment has its potential “ideal music” and we probably wouldn’t get the same results if we forced someone to listen to their favorite song longer than desired, for example, or at a time when they don’t feel like listening to anything.
See, for example, A Clockwork Orange. However, in most cases there seems to be the paradox that very complex and changing processes (the adaptation of the brain for the enjoyment of practically any piece of music) result in a stereotypical and predictable activation pattern. Is a test of the brain’s ability to arrive at the same results from different starting situations and memory plays a fundamental role in this process.
Beyond the laboratory experiments, it is clear that the sensation of listening to music of our liking is unique and to a certain extent indescribable. However, if we lift the hood of our nervous system and observe what happens in it during this experience, we will realize that behind such subjective sensations there is a network of neurons acting with meaning.