According to a McGill University study, researchers found that music causes the release of dopamine in the brain, similarly to sex, drugs, food, money, etc.
The McGill team at the Montreal Neurological Institute is led by neuroscientist Robert Zatorre, and recently published the results of their study in the journal Nature Neuroscience. According to Zatorre, "If you are hooked on music, it won't cause you to waste away, it won't give you health problems." Probably unlike some of the alternatives of drugs and sex...
Out of an initial group of 200 volunteers, 10 were chosen to undergo a brain scan while listening to music that in the past would have given them goosebumps. Unlike similar studies of the past, the music was chosen by the volunteer, not the experimenter. One stipulation was this favorite music couldn't contain lyrics, so as to limit external influences. "We wanted to be sure the response was due to the music, not the words that accompanied it," Zatorre said.
According to Zatorre, the type of music chosen by the volunteer did not effect the amount of pleasure release in the brain, it was just important that it was the music the specific individual enjoyed most. "All types of music activated the same part of the brain," Zatorre said. "It doesn't matter if it's punk, classical, tango or even bagpipes."
For years, people have looked at me like I was crazy when I was listening to the music I most enjoy. I'm the guy who drives home listening to his favorite song and has to sit in the driveway until it's over because I can't cut it off. I'm the crazy person who has made people sit in a room with the lights off and just close their eyes and listen to the buildup and resolution of this song because it's just amazing. Apparently, my brain was just equating it to shooting up and getting laid.
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