How Do the Brains of People Who Don’t Like Music Work?
http://neurosciencenews.com/music-sensitivity-neuroscience-5543/
In this article, researchers from the Cognition and Cerebral Plasticity group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute and the University of Barcelona with the University of McGill, published a recent study in which the brain is observed to determine the association between brain mechanisms and the lack of sensitivity to music. Through our evolution, music has played a significant role in our prominent everyday interactions and plays a role as a stimulus in our emotional areas of the brain and our social surroundings. The article talks about musical anhedonia, a condition in which 3-5% of the population does not experience pleasurable feelings to any type of music. They don't have a problem processing the components of music such as intervals or rhythms but don't show any form of enjoyment from musical stimuli, but show enjoyment when it comes to involving stimuli like money.
To better understand musical anhedonia, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on 45 healthy volunteers. The volunteers were placed in three different groups, determined by their scores on the Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ). They then proceeded with the fMRI session in which the "participants had to listen to snippets of classic genre songs and provide pleasure values on a scale from 1 to 4 in real time." They were also exposed to other types of rewards by playing a monetary wagering task in which they would win or lose real money. When observing the results, they discovered a decrease in pleasurable response to music from the participant with musical anhedonia. When looking at the structures of the brain, they found that the nucleus accumbens' activity was drastically reduced when compared to those individuals who don't have musical anhedonia. They also concluded that other forms of reinforcers like money and betting made the structure much more active.
The research conducted in this article absolutely astonishes me. I would have never known that such a small portion of the population don't feel any form of pleasure from listening to music. I assumed that everyone had the same feelings toward music. I question how much the ear has to do with the impact of sensitivity to the brain. After learning about the pathway of vibrations to the brain I wonder if there could be a study in which different genres produce more emotional sensitivity over others. I wonder if that part of the brain is only reactive to a particular type of music that fits the person's personality and personal preferences. Could that play a role in how active the nucleus accumbens is?
In this article, researchers from the Cognition and Cerebral Plasticity group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute and the University of Barcelona with the University of McGill, published a recent study in which the brain is observed to determine the association between brain mechanisms and the lack of sensitivity to music. Through our evolution, music has played a significant role in our prominent everyday interactions and plays a role as a stimulus in our emotional areas of the brain and our social surroundings. The article talks about musical anhedonia, a condition in which 3-5% of the population does not experience pleasurable feelings to any type of music. They don't have a problem processing the components of music such as intervals or rhythms but don't show any form of enjoyment from musical stimuli, but show enjoyment when it comes to involving stimuli like money.
To better understand musical anhedonia, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on 45 healthy volunteers. The volunteers were placed in three different groups, determined by their scores on the Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ). They then proceeded with the fMRI session in which the "participants had to listen to snippets of classic genre songs and provide pleasure values on a scale from 1 to 4 in real time." They were also exposed to other types of rewards by playing a monetary wagering task in which they would win or lose real money. When observing the results, they discovered a decrease in pleasurable response to music from the participant with musical anhedonia. When looking at the structures of the brain, they found that the nucleus accumbens' activity was drastically reduced when compared to those individuals who don't have musical anhedonia. They also concluded that other forms of reinforcers like money and betting made the structure much more active.
The research conducted in this article absolutely astonishes me. I would have never known that such a small portion of the population don't feel any form of pleasure from listening to music. I assumed that everyone had the same feelings toward music. I question how much the ear has to do with the impact of sensitivity to the brain. After learning about the pathway of vibrations to the brain I wonder if there could be a study in which different genres produce more emotional sensitivity over others. I wonder if that part of the brain is only reactive to a particular type of music that fits the person's personality and personal preferences. Could that play a role in how active the nucleus accumbens is?
After reading this article, I was questioning if more elements played a role in the "enjoyment" aspect of music. Does the anhedonia effect the emotional role that music provides? For example, every time you hear suspenseful music in a horror film, you know something is about to happen to make you jump out of your seat. For the 3-5% of the population that go through this lack of sensitivity to music, do they not experience that emotion of suspense from the music? Would they be able to watch a horror film and not be as stimulated as others who do receive the emotional response from music? The article also lead me to question how these people cope with different emotions. I know when people feel angry or upset, music is one of the first things they go to in order to cope with the feelings they experience, do the people who lack sensitivity to music cope in different ways? And if they do, are their experiences more beneficial? The article was very thought-provoking and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting article, like you, I also did not realize that there are people in the population who did not like music. I wonder if it is that they really do not like music at all or if they just do not feel any emotion when they listen to music. Music can elicit different emotions for many types of people so I wonder about the emotional state of people who do not like music.
ReplyDeleteThanh Duong
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, it gives a different perspective on how a person would react to music differently, could they show emotion or none, or just for enjoyment with no little done at all. As a music lover who uses it for many purposes like background noise, focusing on a task like studying or performing a task; it is beneficial cause it keep your mindset focus to one thing at a time. I also did not realize that people within the population do not like music and I question and wonder if they like music and does not like or show any emotion at all. I hope there will be more research on music affecting a person brain and performance skill and if people who don't like music have no emotion towards it or they just don't have a feeling of it. Great read and thanks.