[h=1]Great music is 'as good as sex'[/h] [h=2]Listening to great music is as good as sex, according to new research.[/h]3:32PM BST 12 Apr 2013 Telegraph.uk EXCERPT:
It sparks the same part of the brain triggered by a delicious meal or a night of passion.
Scans found areas in the brain's 'pleasure' centre became active when people heard a song for the first time.
And the more the listener enjoyed what they were hearing, the stronger the connections were in the reward region known as the nucleus accumbens. This is operated by the chemical dopamine which promotes desire.
The study by scientists at McGill University, Montreal, pinpoints the specific brain activity that controls the decision to purchase music.
Participants listened to 60 previously unheard music excerpts while undergoing fMRI (functional resonance imaging) and provided bids of how much they would spend for each item in an auction.
Dr Valorie Salimpoor said: "When people listen to a piece of music they have never heard before, activity in one brain region can reliably and consistently predict whether they will like or buy it, this is the nucleus accumbens which is involved in forming expectations that may be rewarding.
"What makes music so emotionally powerful is the creation of expectations. Activity in the nucleus accumbens is an indicator that expectations were met or surpassed, and in our study we found the more activity we see in this brain area while people are listening to music, the more money they are willing to spend."
The nucleus accumbens also interacts with the auditory cortex, an area that stores information about the sounds and music we have been exposed to.
The more a given piece was rewarding the greater the crosstalk between these regions, according to the findings published in Science.
Similar connections were also seen between the nucleus accumbens and other brain areas involved in high level sequencing, complex pattern recognition and assigning emotional and reward value to stimuli.
In other words, the brain assigns value to music through the ancient reward circuitry of dopamine which reinforces behaviours absolutely necessary for our survival - such as eating and sex.
It sparks the same part of the brain triggered by a delicious meal or a night of passion.
Scans found areas in the brain's 'pleasure' centre became active when people heard a song for the first time.
And the more the listener enjoyed what they were hearing, the stronger the connections were in the reward region known as the nucleus accumbens. This is operated by the chemical dopamine which promotes desire.
The study by scientists at McGill University, Montreal, pinpoints the specific brain activity that controls the decision to purchase music.
Participants listened to 60 previously unheard music excerpts while undergoing fMRI (functional resonance imaging) and provided bids of how much they would spend for each item in an auction.
Dr Valorie Salimpoor said: "When people listen to a piece of music they have never heard before, activity in one brain region can reliably and consistently predict whether they will like or buy it, this is the nucleus accumbens which is involved in forming expectations that may be rewarding.
"What makes music so emotionally powerful is the creation of expectations. Activity in the nucleus accumbens is an indicator that expectations were met or surpassed, and in our study we found the more activity we see in this brain area while people are listening to music, the more money they are willing to spend."
The nucleus accumbens also interacts with the auditory cortex, an area that stores information about the sounds and music we have been exposed to.
The more a given piece was rewarding the greater the crosstalk between these regions, according to the findings published in Science.
Similar connections were also seen between the nucleus accumbens and other brain areas involved in high level sequencing, complex pattern recognition and assigning emotional and reward value to stimuli.
In other words, the brain assigns value to music through the ancient reward circuitry of dopamine which reinforces behaviours absolutely necessary for our survival - such as eating and sex.
