Each day of our lives we experience different moods and feelings based on what we do and what we perceive. In a modern day world, we are able to reflect on our moods better than we could before, using different methods of expression. One of the many and most common ways people express themselves and communicate their feelings is through music. For countless individuals, engaging with music is not merely an act of entertainment; rather, it is an essential process through which they can process complex emotions and even foster a sense of community with others who share similar sentiments. Along with this, it is also evident through the course of many studies that music is able to evoke specific emotions and responses, therefore affecting your mood.
Music and the Brain
To fully understand as to why music affects our mood to begin with, we need to fully comprehend what connections in our brain are causing us to have these emotions and reactions. Many believe that humans, in our earliest stages, used hearing as a defense mechanism. Whether it was for listening to predators, making us hyperattentive, or depicting different sounds in times of danger, it has led to show that the salience of these different sounds all affects the autonomic nervous system (ANS).
The autonomic nervous system is a network in the brain, part of the peripheral nervous system that is responsible for involuntary processes such as heart rate, breathing, digestion, etc. Once we decipher the negative and or positive response we are listening to, it can affect how our brain processes the sound. Aside from affecting our ANS, music also “lights up” our hippocampus and amygdala that then activate emotional responses through our limbic system, which controls emotions such as that of pleasure and motivation.
How Does Music Affect Us
While it is not guaranteed that music will always enhance one's mood, research indicates that upbeat music can significantly elevate the mood and happiness of listeners. This can occur through musical therapy or simply by listening to uplifting tunes. By listening to higher tempo music, our brains respond with emotions of excitement that are linked to our neurotransmitters. This then induces physical stimulation leading to our emotional reactions. Reactions such as these are also evident in slower tempo music which can lead to calm and peaceful emotions.
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